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Thread Statistics | Show CCP posts - 4 post(s) |
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CCP Abraxas
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Posted - 2007.08.27 15:03:00 -
[1]
Welcome to Black Mountain.
Black Mountain, or BM for short, is a long story that I'll be publishing in serial form on a biweekly basis. I expect it to end in April or May of 2008, after which we'll return to the usual type of solitary chronicles. The very first installment is called "On This Earth" and introduces its protagonist to a dangerous and alluring organization. The next installment comes out in two weeks' time, on Monday September 10.
BM has two main characters, one of whom is a good person and one of whom is not. In time, this may change. The story is about personal freedom, and doing good things for bad reasons, and doing bad things for good reasons, and how people handle trauma and setbacks. It is also about temptation, and power, and what might have happened if a known historical character had fallen for a famous temptation. And, since this is me writing, it is about blood and violence and ducklings. You heard me.
Be aware that BM's two main characters have already appeared in my chronicles, and I strongly recommend that you read " Post Mortem" before reading today's chronicle. For those of you who want to be fully prepared for the, you can also read " The Greatest Joke", which introduces BM's other main character.
It's been a strange and difficult story to write. I hope you enjoy it.
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Victor Valka
Caldari Archon Industries
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Posted - 2007.08.27 15:39:00 -
[2]
I fear for the sanity of your readers, Abraxas.
Me? Don't worry, me and I will be just fine.
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Big Pick
Caldari Task Force Ranger
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Posted - 2007.08.27 16:51:00 -
[3]
Two weeks! How am I supposed to wait two weeks for that which brings me to rapture?!
Blast! I never should have read this first installment. Now I am doomed to inexorable biding.
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Kyoko Sakoda
Caldari Omerta Syndicate Exuro Mortis
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Posted - 2007.08.27 17:50:00 -
[4]
Ooh, sir. I must say that I am intrigued.
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Freyya
Axe Gang
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Posted - 2007.08.27 18:43:00 -
[5]
Edited by: Freyya on 27/08/2007 18:44:15 very intriguing indeed...
I assume the well dressed man we get to meet in this story is not the despaired and severely ill man we got to meet in The Greatest Joke? If he is he sure did undergo a tremendous transformation...to the readers eye at this moment though... I cannot wait to read the second installment as this opening piece has left me wanting...
One thing i do wonder though, did you plan on PM and TGJ to be the prologues for the main characters in BM or did it just happen to become this way? ________________________________________________ NOW COLLECTING ISD AND CCP AUTOGRAPHS please sign :) i want purrty colours :( It'll be worth something someday. -Rauth
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wiggyman
Caldari Gallentean Industry Syndicate
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Posted - 2007.08.27 18:51:00 -
[6]
excellent story, can't wait for the rest.
i love the image above it, hope i can get a wallpaper version of it :) ----------- missiles - the cause of, and solution to, all ur PvE problems. |
Matalino
Gallente Ki Tech Industries
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Posted - 2007.08.27 20:07:00 -
[7]
Originally by: CCP Abraxas I expect it to end in April or May of 2008.
Your going to leave us hanging every second week for 8 or 9 months.
Looking forward to more. Just be sure to keep your promisses. No vacation for you until June.
Originally by: CCP Prism X P.S. If you think you're reading some information through the lines here, you're wrong. I'm actually just bored.
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Barrick Stormsworn
Minmatar Rho Dynamics Electus Matari
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Posted - 2007.08.27 20:31:00 -
[8]
Fantastic :-P I wasn't aware this was a series until this episode. Love seeing them tie together, and I look forward to future releases. |
sugark
Blackguard Brigade
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Posted - 2007.08.27 22:27:00 -
[9]
Really nice - thank you. I also enjoyed "Post Mortem" alot and canŠt wait for the next part :D _______________________________________________
Click pic to get a sig! |
Grimpak
Gallente Trinity Nova KIA Alliance
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Posted - 2007.08.27 23:04:00 -
[10]
oh my ---
truth about EVE: Quote: "Guns are fine, boost players"
Quote: "Players are fine, boost guns"
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Big Pick
Caldari Task Force Ranger
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Posted - 2007.08.28 01:10:00 -
[11]
Originally by: wiggyman i love the image above it, hope i can get a wallpaper version of it :)
The bewildered look on the inspector's face as his brains are flying across the room is classic.
However I would have depicted Alad as nonchalant, even bored. Dispassionately dispatching a police inspector in a crowded bar, in front of another officer no less, is a very powerful statement of control and aplomb.
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Stitcher
Caldari legion of qui Freelancer Alliance
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Posted - 2007.08.28 10:12:00 -
[12]
Fething. Cool. - The game is not the problem. The problem is that you are not adapting to the game.
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CCP Morpheus
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Posted - 2007.08.28 11:09:00 -
[13]
Absolutely brilliant, now you'll have me hanging over your desk wanting previews every day! I'll make sure he doesn't get a vacation folks. |
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Per Bastet
Amarr B.O.O.M
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Posted - 2007.08.28 11:22:00 -
[14]
MORE, I, and my Whole Corp are Demanding More.
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maya ibuki2
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Posted - 2007.08.28 13:07:00 -
[15]
very interesting premise abraxas-cant wait for more. liked the catching the truncheon in mid air bit :)
very bruce lee lol
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Liisa
Infinitus Odium The Church.
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Posted - 2007.08.28 14:23:00 -
[16]
Originally by: Big Pick
Originally by: wiggyman i love the image above it, hope i can get a wallpaper version of it :)
The bewildered look on the inspector's face as his brains are flying across the room is classic.
However I would have depicted Alad as nonchalant, even bored. Dispassionately dispatching a police inspector in a crowded bar, in front of another officer no less, is a very powerful statement of control and aplomb.
It is a demonstration of the power that he has behind him as well as control. I am guessing that in eve the local police force is, well, kind of like a security guard is to us. If you are a member of a group that has access to its own fleet of starships and maybe even capsuleers, then killing a local cop is only a problem so long as you are on the colony or on the station. Once you make it back to your ship and undock you are as free as the wind. ----------------------------------
Currently pursuing a "deviant playstyle." |
Pang Grohl
Gallente Sudo Corp
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Posted - 2007.08.28 16:45:00 -
[17]
Reread The Greatest Joke and Post Mortem. I have to say that those are two very different recruiting methods. It makes you wonder who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.
Si non adjuvas, noces (If you're not helping, you're hurting) |
Indra Sebuchiore
Sebiestor tribe
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Posted - 2007.08.28 20:52:00 -
[18]
Excellent as usual. Another good thing about it was that it made me go back and read the other 2; I'd forgotten how good they were as well. __________________________________________ "In girum imus nocte, et consumimur igni."
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Riley Craven
Caldari Copacetic Corporation
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Posted - 2007.08.29 03:11:00 -
[19]
I want to say you rock and you suck at the same time... awsome intro, but man I HATE WAITING
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Franga
Caldari NQX Innovations Southern Cross Alliance
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Posted - 2007.08.29 08:48:00 -
[20]
Well played, Abraxas. Good game. _____________________________ Eldo spanked my sig but I can't be bothered changing it just now. |
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Freki Grimnir
Minmatar The Plexus Syndicate The Order of New Eden
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Posted - 2007.08.29 10:02:00 -
[21]
This is the kind of chronicle I like and I'm so happy that it's going to last for ages. It's the little nightmare-ball-in-the-box aspect that I like; for me this adds to the mythos of Eve in general and helps fill out the universe.
Just one thing though Abraxas - I am watching you! I need my fix of these and if you miss an instalment, if you're even a few hours late with one I'll....be very very upset and may have to write a strongly worded letter!
Anyway enough o' my pish - superb work yet again mate. If I was wearing a hat I would doff it to you, if knew what doffing was. Keep it up.
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Stakhanov
Katana's Edge
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Posted - 2007.08.29 11:33:00 -
[22]
Awesome chronicle.
Originally by: Cipher7 If you manage to get baited, what's your skill, being a good victim?
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BranBresil
Caldari Exanimo Inc Triumvirate.
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Posted - 2007.08.29 15:10:00 -
[23]
One thing that just niggled at me though, was the use of "rapprochement" intentional, or was the intended meaning more akin to "reproach"? Because if rapprochement was correct I didn't quite anticipate her trying to ingratiate herself in such a manner, but they're your characters so obviously you know best heh, just wondering if you clear that up though. Other than that, great chronicle.
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Multi Point
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Posted - 2007.08.29 18:29:00 -
[24]
Edited by: Multi Point on 29/08/2007 18:33:44 Abraxas,
While not having the least bit of interest in this thread and what it represents per se, it seems a good place to ask; to whom were you intending to appeal by using the graphic execution-style head shot to advertise your story?
Why bother to comment if I'm not interested, you ask? Because you subjected everyone who visits the EVE Online home page to this picture unwillingly and without warning. The artwork is very good, and therefore the impact is quite visceral. That may have been your goal, so yes, you may indeed infer that it worked and that I am a bit put off by it.
However, while hoping to attract an audience, it is not unfair to ask how many repelled with that graphic who might otherwise have been interested, unless your writing also appeals only to a small niche. If not, though, a different lure may serve you better.
Respectfully, Don Griffith |
Big Pick
Caldari Task Force Ranger
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Posted - 2007.08.30 03:34:00 -
[25]
Edited by: Big Pick on 30/08/2007 03:34:28
Originally by: Multi Point Edited by: Multi Point on 29/08/2007 18:36:16 Edited by: Multi Point on 29/08/2007 18:34:07 Abraxas,
While not having the least bit of interest in this thread and what it represents per se, it seems a good place to ask; to whom were you intending to appeal by using the graphic execution-style head shot to advertise your story?
Why bother to comment if I'm not interested, you ask? Because you subjected everyone who visits the EVE Online home page to this picture unwillingly and without warning. The artwork is very good, and therefore the impact is quite visceral. That may have been your goal, so yes, you may indeed infer that it worked and I am a bit put off by it.
However, while hoping to attract an audience, it is not unfair to ask how many were repelled with that graphic who might otherwise have been interested, unless your writing also appeals only to a small niche. If not, though, a different lure may serve you better.
Respectfully, Don Griffith
Let me being by complimenting you on the eloquent and tasteful expression of your concern. I, admittedly neither the creator of the work in question nor whom to which your comment is addressed, posit that the image should be viewed in a different context. The image is not, as you intimate, an advertisement for the chronicle. It is a visual representation, an illustration if you will, of a pivotal event in the chronicle. The difference between the two is subtle but important.
Eve is a dark and brutal universe. The characters introduced to us through the backstory are flawed, fallible and controversial. They are so because they are human. This means that while dark and brutal, Eve is a fundamentally human universe. As such, there is no definition of good and evil. Remember, one Minmatar's oppressor is another Amarrian's embodiment of the divine. Good and evil are products of our, the player's, individual interpretations of the stories and characters.
The chronicles are not, therefore, statements, nor analyses, nor arguments. The chronicles are bits of information, snapshots from the Eve universe. Each one provides a little more insight with which we can formulate our own interpretations. What good does it do to advertise information? It would be a bit like trying to advertise history.
To more directly answer your question: the devs are intending to appeal to you with the graphic execution-style head shot. But not in an effort to attract attention; you are a captive audience, being that you yourself are part of the Eve story. They are appealing to you because they want you to react and think, exactly as you have. So by responding so eloquently to the image, you have demonstrated why the image exists in the first place.
For that, I thank you.
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CCP Abraxas
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Posted - 2007.08.30 10:19:00 -
[26]
Originally by: Freyya I assume the well dressed man we get to meet in this story is not the despaired and severely ill man we got to meet in The Greatest Joke? One thing i do wonder though, did you plan on PM and TGJ to be the prologues for the main characters in BM or did it just happen to become this way?
Nah, it's not that guy. We'll meet him in the next instalment, called "Inertial". Take note, though, that he wasn't severely physically ill as such. He's dying, certainly, but his illness will have no effect on his physical well-being until, well, it ends. "Inertial" goes into more detail on this.
As for planning it ... sort of. I always had plans for TGJ, but they were substantially different from what Black Mountain turned out to be. The next two stories, "Inertial" and "The Room", will basically retcon those plans and provide the reader with a different explanation for the mystical boxes. PM was a one-off, but the character was so popular that I decided to use her for something else. When I got the idea for Black Mountain, she was a perfect fit.
This is the problem with publishing something like TGJ and intending to write more about it later. When you finally get around to it - TGJ is a year old by now - you're a different person and a different writer, with all the change of style and interest and tone that this implies.
Originally by: CCP Morpheus Absolutely brilliant, now you'll have me hanging over your desk wanting previews every day! I'll make sure he doesn't get a vacation folks.
I wonder if I should tell him that the entire Black Mountain series is already available on CCP's private access...
Originally by: Pang Grohl Reread The Greatest Joke and Post Mortem. I have to say that those are two very different recruiting methods. It makes you wonder who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.
It does, yes. And that's not the last time in Black Mountain where you'll be wondering about that issue.
Originally by: BranBresil One thing that just niggled at me though, was the use of "rapprochement" intentional, or was the intended meaning more akin to "reproach"?
It was intentional, and a total brainfart at the same time. Thanks for pointing it out; I'll have it corrected right after I stop beating my head against the desk.
Originally by: Multi Point While not having the least bit of interest in this thread and what it represents per se...
My goodness. You sound exactly like the food critic in Ratatouille.
Big Pick has already given an excellent and detailed answer to this, but I'll add one more detail: The data I have on page access indicates that this piece has not only achieved the highest three-day number of reads of any story, ever, but that it has also acquired a high number of re-reads. In addition, the time each user is spending on the page corresponds to its reading time; so whatever else the picture did to its viewers' minds, it did not have a detrimental effect on their interest in the story itself. It appears that the "small niche" you mentioned is not the group of people attracted by the picture, but the few bodies who found it distasteful.
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ry ry
StateCorp The State
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Posted - 2007.08.30 13:25:00 -
[27]
Looking forwards to the rest of this - Eve chronicles seem to be the only way for non-roleplayers to tap into Eve's fluff. Certainly the only entertaining way, given how dreadfully dull the PvE experience actually is.
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ry ry
StateCorp The State
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Posted - 2007.08.30 13:38:00 -
[28]
Multipoint: Murder with lasers in space is fine, but murder in bars with handguns is bad?
I give the entire Eve player base my express permission to shoot me in the back of the head should i ever feel the need to condemn and, perhaps worse still, over-analyse a spectacularly tame cartoon on a videogame website.
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Big Pick
Caldari Task Force Ranger
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Posted - 2007.08.30 17:18:00 -
[29]
Originally by: ry ry Multipoint: Murder with lasers in space is fine, but murder in bars with handguns is bad?
I give the entire Eve player base my express permission to shoot me in the back of the head should i ever feel the need to condemn and, perhaps worse still, over-analyse a spectacularly tame cartoon on a videogame website.
The funny thing about a postmodern world is that while it is based solely on the interpretation of the individual, the uniqueness of every individual's life experience makes no two interpretations the same. Thus, no one interpretation can, nor should, be considered more right than any other.
(That was a really smart-assed way of saying that everyone is entitled to their own damned views.)
Originally by: CCP Abraxas Big Pick has already given an excellent and detailed answer to this,
I feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Wait... that could be heartburn... no its a good warm and fuzziness.
Originally by: CCP Abraxas It appears that the "small niche" you mentioned is not the group of people attracted by the picture, but the few bodies who found it distasteful.
My first thought when I saw the Black Mountain image was, "w00t @ AbraXXas!". My second thought was, "What a vulgar display of lawlessness, immorality and gore. Awesome!"
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Kakita Jalaan
Viriette Commerce and Holding
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Posted - 2007.08.31 08:03:00 -
[30]
Moar! ______________ Join the Family |
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