Long Hall

This room is brilliantly lit from all directions. In fact, it is unclear where the walls and ceiling end. Doorways lead to the east and west, and tunnels open up in most other directions. An archway stands at the south end of the hall, and stairs lead up and down.

You can see: a torch in a wall sconce, Object #1000, note, Official ifMUD Bulletin Board, Object #10000, Beginner's Guide to ifMUD, goat

Players: SaintGermain

Visible Exits: south (to a Cavernous Cavern), north (to the Round Room), west (to the Adventurer's Lounge), east (to the Coder's Tavern), southwest (to the Big Dig), southeast (to the Open Chamber), up (to the 'Carousel Room'), northwest (to the Clay Cube), northeast (to the Rocky Room), down (to Dorm A)

You walk under the archway.

Cavernous Cavern

This long, empty room may once have contained anything -- gold bars, crates of books, radioactive waste, even *people*, stacked up like lumber. Now, though, its emptiness makes it seem even larger than it really is. The south wall is marked up to look a little like the inside of a house, including a front door, but that quickly gives way to bare concrete and even chipped rock towards the north end. Aside from the doorway, archways also lead out to the north and east.

Players: perwil, Biggles2k, Jacqueline, dfabulich, Felix, stadtgorilla, VictorGijsbers, Ellison, mwigdahl

Visible Exits: south (to the outdoors and Edifice Towers), east (to the auditorium), north (to the Long Hall and most of ifMUD)

A velvet rope hangs across the east doorway, which you hesitate to disturb. A sign hanging from the rope reads "Come back March 4th, 4pm EST. See you soon!"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "ifwiki sometimes posts versions of ceremony transcripts, but we haven't been consistent on how often."

djfletch enters through the archway.

Miseri enters through the archway.

Recchi enters through the archway.

Nitku enters through the archway.

jmac enters through the archway.

inky enters through the archway.

Johnny enters through the archway.

Recchi goes east.

Johnny goes east.

VictorGijsbers goes east.

inky unhooks the rope.

djfletch goes east.

mwigdahl goes east.

jmac goes east.

Miseri goes east.

inky goes east.

Biggles2k goes east.

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "I actually should update ifwiki a bit more. I've been slacking."

Jacqueline goes east.

Nitku goes east.

stadtgorilla goes east.

Felix goes east.

You pass under the wide archway.

Massive Auditorium

Rows of comfortably-padded seats form neat semicircles in front of the stage, above which gold inlay spells out "2011 XYZZY AWARDS". Curtains hang on either side of the stage, marking out the area for the presenters, while waiters circulate throughout the auditorium delivering light snacks and drinks to the audience members.

You can see: READ THIS PLEASE

Players: Recchi, Johnny, VictorGijsbers, djfletch, mwigdahl, jmac, Miseri, inky, Biggles2k, Jacqueline, Nitku, stadtgorilla, Felix

Visible Exits: west

DavidW arrives from the west.

maga arrives from the west.

inky leaves the auditorium to the west.

[peanut-gallery] * mwigdahl has joined the channel.

[peanut-gallery] * stadtgorilla has joined the channel.

inky arrives from the west.

BrenBarn arrives from the west.

SaintGermain walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

Ellison arrives from the west.

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "ah good. My outfit arrived."

lpsmith walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers says, "Test..."

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers says, ".. and test. Works."

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to VictorGijsbers), "You pass!"

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers asks, "Wow! Do I get a certificate?"

a chalkboard listing the XYZZY Award winners materializes.

Iain walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

inky erases the chalkboard.

[peanut-gallery] BrenBarn says, "you win Best Use of Semicolon"

jmac exclaims, "Exciting!"

Jacqueline says (to DavidW), "You're... certainly dressed for... some occasion. Not sure it's this one, but some occasion, definitely."

olethros walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

Guest2 walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side.

lue walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

olethros says, "Good evening, people."

DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "heh. thanks."

Guest2 waves.

MrPatient arrives from the west.

Felix exclaims, "Hello!"

GDorn arrives from the west.

Wade arrives from the west.

MrPatient says, "Hi"

Pacian arrives from the west.

perwil arrives from the west.

DrSliss walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side.

olethros asks, "This looks like a good night for xyzzy awards. Are some nominees already here?"

[peanut-gallery] * lue has joined the channel.

Jacqueline takes a seat.

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "Since my outfit last year was based on 69,105 Keys, I thought I'd do a Cheeseshop inspired outfit this year."

Wade exclaims, "I'm here!"

MrPatient says, "Me too."

dfabulich arrives from the west.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Ah, I see."

olethros says (to Jacqueline), "that's _my_ spot"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Fortunately, I don't see too much."

Emerald walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Thanks for the Danskin."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "No prob,."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline smiles.

djfletch looks around at all the celebrities.

Pacian looks at DrSliss.

Wade says, "Hi Emerald"

Jacqueline asks (of olethros), "What are you going to do about it?"

DrSliss looks at Pacian.

Pacian sits down far from DrSliss.

DrSliss inspects her nails.

Emerald says, "hi Wade"

olethros says, "I am going to politely ask you for your ticket number"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline asks (of Pacian), "Wait, you're English? How did I never realize this?"

Johnny sits down on one of the available milk crates.

lue has retreated to his house.

Wade says (to Emerald), "what time is it where you are? It's 8 am in Sydney"

mwigdahl exclaims (at lpsmith,), "thanks!"

Jacqueline shows her ticket to olethros, and they compare tickets, and... How are there two tickets for the same seat?

Emerald says (to Wade), "5 o'clock in the MORNING"

Wade says (to Emerald), "hehe, now that's dedication"

Jacqueline says (to olethros), "I'll move, if you're that set on sitting here."

Emerald says (to Wade), "but it's a public holiday so I thought why not"

(From mwigdahl) test

Miseri says, "Hm. All the seats appear to have the same number."

SaintGermain twirls his moustache

Jacqueline sits on the floor in front of her seat.

Johnny twirls SaintGermain's mustache.

Jacqueline says (to Miseri), "The budget for this thing goes downhill every year. You just can't get good help these days."

olethros says, "damned organisers. They always overbook the xyzzys"

Wade says (to emerald), "oh wow, labour day WA"

Tale walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

Felix says (to olethros), "Hard to resist the profits."

olethros says, "Never mind, there are some empty seats in the gallery"

ShadowK arrives from the west.

Emerald says (to Wade), "yeah, plus I've got a long bus trip this afternoon so I can catch up on sleep then"

DavidW sits on a pouffe. The iguana just sits.

Emerald says (to Wade), "hard to believe, but I actually used to get up in the middle of the night to join Club Floyd"

Wade snickers.

Jacqueline says (to Emerald), "Yay... except, wow."

Tale says, "Yeah, 10pm here"

lue walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

Wade says (to emerald), "This is my 2nd time on IFMud. I came on the other day to learn how to move my limbs and speak."

[peanut-gallery] * ShadowK has joined the channel.

Jacqueline exclaims (at Wade), "Do the Robot!"

olethros asks (of emerald), "where are you now?"

Emerald says (to Jacq), "I was young enough then that getting up in the middle of the night to hang out with strangers online was cool"

Wade does the robot, free from any signs of crippling arthritis.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "yeah, I never guessed that Pacian was English, either"

Jacqueline says (to Emerald), "You speak as if, at some age, that goes out of style."

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "er, is"

Emerald says (to Jacq), "well, then I got a job"

Wade says, "not style, it's just that your freaking tired"

Jacqueline says (to Emerald), "Ah."

Emerald says (to olethros), "still in West Australia"

olethros says, "aiech"

inky says, "I guess it's too bad you didn't have a night watchman job"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I also didn't realize that jmac is actually a traffic cone."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "But with a bow tie today. Spiffy."

Ellison says, "I so strongly believe that ClubFloyd is worth getting up in the middle of the night for that I suggest we move the official time to 'middle of the night', MUD time"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Yes."

Emerald says (to inky), "funnily enough, I do work for a security company - but as admin, not security"

[peanut-gallery] olethros says, "I look as always"

[peanut-gallery] jmac says, "In fact I just updated my description."

Nitku asks, "as a night admin?"

Ellison says, "ha"

olethros says, "ha ha night admin"

Emerald says, "haha"

[peanut-gallery] jmac says, "I have been a cone since 1998 or 9 or whatever."

Emerald says (to Nitku), "thankfully not"

[peanut-gallery] olethros says, "cones are interesting, especially their sections"

Jearl arrives from the west.

Tale says, "oh yeah, description changing time"

[peanut-gallery] (from Johnny) jmac says, "Since the accident."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Tale), "Nice suit."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "You kinda remind me of Miami Vice."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline asks, "Do you have any sunglasses?"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "ah yeah"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "No"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "In RL, I don't wear a panama hat to my white linen suit"

olethros says, "OK. That looks better"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "in honor of the XYZZYS, I am like a ceremonial helicopter"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "ha"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline asks, "What is a ceremonial helicopter, precisely?"

[peanut-gallery] Tale asks, "You have 4 blades on your head? You're a boss enemy from Silent Hill, aren't you?"

[peanut-gallery] olethros says, "a helicopter that doens't actually fly"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "well, it's like a helicopter but more ceremonial"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I see."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "(Not really.)"

Wade nods.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I like how the organizers are making this seem more important by not starting on time."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "I imagine inky snoring at disk."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "Er, at his desk."

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "not me this year!"

lpsmith runs in from a side door, looking at his watch, and panting as he makes his way to the podium.

Jacqueline applauds!

lpsmith exclaims, "Hello, everyone!"

olethros says, "overbooked _and_ late."

maga holds up a sign saying 'APPLAUSE'

olethros says, "just like easyjet"

Wade claps.

Jacqueline gets up off the floor to applaud more.

Emerald sits down hurriedly.

Tale holds up a sign UNEASY SILENCE

olethros asks (of maga), "for what? an 'arrival on time'?"

inky says, "hooray"

ShadowK says "yay"

Johnny claps.

olethros claps.

djfletch applauds

SaintGermain politely applauds.

jmac huzzahs

Miseri says, "Arrrr!"

lpsmith exclaims, "Welcome to the Annual XYZZY Awards for the Best Games of 2011!"

lue applauds

Biggles2k politely claps.

Emerald claps gently, conserving her energy.

DavidW claps.

lpsmith says, "Sorry for being late, my hair wasn't growing fast enough to escape the tower I got stuck in."

Ellison claps and laughs

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers asks, "I thought you needed long her to let someone else in?"

lpsmith says, "So I had to borrow ten minutes from somewhere, and the only spot left was the beginning of the show."

Jacqueline says (to maga), "Hold up the sign that says 'LAUGH' now."

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says (to lps), "well you sure TOOK YOUR TIME"

lpsmith exclaims, "So!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I guess I should mock on this channel."

olethros coughs.

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says (to Ellison), "bravo."

jpt arrives from the west.

lpsmith says, "Before we begin, there's been a little bit of a change to the results this year."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says (to VictorGijsbers), "Someone else who frees you"

[peanut-gallery] olethros says, "Putin!"

lpsmith says, "So, this year in the voting results, it became clear that two different communities were voting. There was some danger of these awards becoming a competition to see which community was larger, instead of being focused on the games themselves."

lpsmith says, "In the end, to try to shift the focus back to the games, the organizers decided to split the votes from the two communities, and present the winners from each group."

lpsmith exclaims, "One community clearly loved one game above all others, so we'll go with that one first!"

[peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "schism?"

Afterward arrives from the west.

Guest2 watches with interest.

lpsmith says, "So, this year, the award for 'The Choice IF of the Choice-IF Community' goes to:"

[peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "is it adrift vs non-adrift?"

[peanut-gallery] inky says (to Afterward), "you're early!"

lpsmith cues a drum roll from the orchestra.

Jacqueline leans in.

[peanut-gallery] * jpt has joined the channel.

[peanut-gallery] djfletch says, "elaborate dance fight!"

lpsmith exclaims, "Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo!"

[peanut-gallery] SaintGermain says, "No, it's the ChoiceScript CYOA games."

DavidW applauds!

[peanut-gallery] olethros says, "CYOA? This is the first I hear of this"

Wade exclaims, "Zombiiiiies!"

inky says, "hooray!"

Jacqueline applauds.

[peanut-gallery] olethros says, "woah"

mwigdahl applauds!

jmac aiees!

Tale says, " 1) applauds 2) claps 3) woos"

Biggles2k: "Brains!

Wade applauds.

jmac says, "I mean yay"

Emerald claps.

ShadowK whistles

lue claps happily

VictorGijsbers applauds.

Recchi applauds!

Miseri says, "brains!"

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "it was nominated for almost every category"

olethros says, "br3n"

djfletch applauds, looks around in fear

Pacian cheers.

MrPatient claps.

lpsmith asks, "Is Jim here?"

[peanut-gallery] * Afterward has joined the channel.

Johnny'plauds.

olethros tries to clap, but he misses some necessary parts

Ellison claps

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "I'll have to play it someday."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "It's pretty good, I thought."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I enjoyed it, anyway."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "(Likewise, all the other winners too. There's lots of games I need to play.)"

Miseri gnaws a little on djfletch's cranium.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to DW), "I guess that is what ClubFloyd is for."

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "It is pretty good, but for some reason Marine Raider was the ChoiceScript game that really grabbed me"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "ClubFloyd certainly helps."

lpsmith says, "Well, in his absence, I'll give it to this decaying-looking gentelman, who I'm sure will make sure it arrives safely."

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "even though technically it was the weakest of the ChoiceScript Xyzzy nominees"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says (to lpsmith), "Hahaha"

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "Zombie Exodus is available on Floyd, btw"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "ooh, I really liked Marine Raider, too."

Jacqueline laughs.

inky says, "safely but slowly"

Tale says, "Damn, should've showered"

[peanut-gallery] djfletch says, "I haven't even played Zombie Genesis yet."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to inky), "Yes, thank you. I'd kind of like the other two... need to ask DanF about tha-OH WAIT HE'S HERE."

lpsmith hands over the award to a hunched-looking individual who takes the trophy and tries to eat it.

Felix chuckles.

[peanut-gallery] jmac says (to djfletch), "very good"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline laughs at djf.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "The New Zombie Testament is where the detached eyeball really gets rolling."

lpsmith exclaims, "The other community picked all sorts of different games, so we'll go through them all! First up, a new category this year, 'Best Supplemental Materials'!"

Jacqueline says, "w00t"

maga hisses, "Last year."

DavidW says, "Actually, that category was added last year."

lpsmith exclaims, "Whoops, right!"

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says, "Sorry, I was afk"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "hm. Zombie Leviticus, Zombie Numbers, Zombie Deuteronomy ... Zombie Joshua, Zombie Judges, Zombie Kings, Zombie Chronicles ... a lot of these sound like legitimate zombie story titles."

lpsmith exclaims, "A brand-new one-year-old award!"

Wade exclaims, "I didn't win twice last year!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to olethros), "Dock 'em another point for technical expertise."

lpsmith exclaims, "The first nominee is "The almanac from "Lost Islands of Alabaz", by Michael Gentry!"

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "ZombieBibleComp!"

DavidW claps.

Wade applauds.

Jacqueline claps.

mwigdahl clap

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "Well, the bible already has Jesus"

Tale claps

inky says, "hooray for feelies"

lpsmith exclaims, ""The PDFs and screencast tutorials for Kerkerkruip, by Victor Gijsbers!"

lue claps

Pacian applauds.

djfletch claps

DavidW cheers.

Wade claps.

Jacqueline cheers.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to Tale), "ITYM Methuselah."

mwigdahl claps! "Woohoo!"

ShadowK cheers

jmac applaudles

Emerald says, "woo, Kerkerkruip"

baf walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

MrPatient cheers.

lpsmith exclaims, "The manual and feelies from Six, by Wade Clarke!"

Recchi cheers

VictorGijsbers asks, " Hey?"

mwigdahl cheers!

DavidW applauds.

MrPatient cheers loudly.

maga claps

Wade claps hisself.

Emerald applauds all the nominees.

Jacqueline applauds.

Johnny says, "woo"

lpsmith says, "and the winner is..."

lpsmith exclaims, ""The PDFs and screencast tutorials for Kerkerkruip, by Victor Gijsbers!"

Wade applauds.

Johnny woos.

Recchi claps!

DavidW says, "Hurrah!"

jmac woohoos

Tale concentrates.

Nitku exclaims, "hooray!"

Emerald claps wildly.

SaintGermain applauds

lue applauds

mwigdahl applauds wildly! "Congratulations!"

Biggles2k applauds.

inky says, "huzzah"

ShadowK says, "woooooo"

Pacian raises his glass.

djfletch says, "woo!"

DavidW says, "good work."

Jacqueline exclaims, "Excelletn!"

maga exclaims, "Speech!"

Emily walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side.

Ellison claps

Tale says, "A nice Victor-y"

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "I don't think I listened to the screencast, which is why I don't know how to pronounce Kerkerkruip"

VictorGijsbers says, "Hey, guys, I'm glad you enjoyed them."

[peanut-gallery] lue says, "feelies are great, especially ones you can't lose."

lpsmith hands the award to Victor.

Miseri applauds.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to inky), "Ker-ker-kruip."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to inky), "That's one of the best reasons to watch them."

VictorGijsbers says, "As one of the reviewers said: it is more phone to watch Victor play the game than to play it."

mwigdahl claps!

VictorGijsbers says, " fun"

VictorGijsbers says, "Freudian slip."

DavidW says, "heh"

baf kerkerkruips

Jacqueline smiles.

Wade says, "I thought maybe you were using text to speech software and it went awry."

lpsmith says, "Hey, nobody thinks you phoned it in."

inky updates the SPECIAL RECOGNITION entry on the chalkboard.

VictorGijsbers says, "Nope, but I was just ending an important phone call. ;)"

Wade says, "hehe"

inky updates the BEST SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS entry on the chalkboard.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "Closing the deal on Kerkruip: The Movie."

maga steps up on stage

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "Dang it, Kerkerkruip"

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers says, "Yeah, we're already planning Kerkerkruip 2: Kruip Harder."

[peanut-gallery] ShadowK says, "It's a different movie everytime you watch"

lpsmith exclaims, "Next, to present 'Best Technological Development': Sam Ashwell!"

[peanut-gallery] mwigdahl says, "I've heard the problem is the chain golem keeps holding out for more money in the sequel..."

Wade claps.

Johnny says, "woo"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "It's funny, because Kerker kinda means Dungeons in german"

Jacqueline fox-whistles.

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "The Kruipening"

DavidW says, "hi Sam!"

DrSliss studies him with scientific interest.

mwigdahl claps!

MrPatient applauds.

Jacqueline says (to DrSliss), "Back off, babe."

Tale says, "The guy who knows all the fancy words!"

maga says, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a tragic announcement. Andrew Plotkin will not be joining us today."

[peanut-gallery] djfletch says, "Electric Kruiperluip"

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers says, "Yeah, but I've told him I'll put in more rust grenades if he doesn't come to see reason. I think that'll work."

DavidW says, "*gasp*"

Johnny studies the ground.

maga says, "Apparently he is at some sort of game developing wotsit."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "heh"

Jacqueline says, "Bah"

baf says, "He's probably here under a pseudonym."

jmac says, "har"

Emerald says (to baf), "haha"

maga says, "But he did ask us to convey this very special message."

Teaholder says, "ha"

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "Just look for someone in an indescribable hat."

Jacqueline asks, "Why does that one guest have such out of control hair?"

Johnny bates breath.

maga wheels an improbable contraption out from behind a curtain

DavidW says, "oh dear"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "heh"

maga puts a wax cylinder into the contraption

maga begins turning the crank

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Yay wax cylinder."

maga | Good afternoon. You are hearing my voice via an AUDIO RECORDING DEVICE which was invented here at EDISON LABORATORIES.

maga | I am not actually present in the room with you! I am in SAN FRANCISCO. I apologize for the inconvenience.

[peanut-gallery] mwigdahl asks, "we're sure this isn't a wax hyperboloid?"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "hahaha"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "this is great"

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says, "Mental note: next year send a very special message via morse code"

maga | Soon the miracle of AUDIO RECORDING will be installed in movie theaters throughout the country -- every city will have one.

[peanut-gallery] djfletch says, "witchcraft!"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "that would have been cool if the speech were an actual MUD toy"

maga | Technology marches on, you see. Once we played INTERACTIVE FICTION on tiny hand-cranked ZOETROPES, a nickel for ten moves. Those were the days!

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says (to Ellison), "That can be done."

maga | Now INTERACTIVE FICTION is available by the bushel on every street corner. It costs two bits a throw now, but that's the MARCH OF TECHNOLOGY for you.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says (to DW), "and it would have been cool!"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "That's cheaper than any arcade."

maga | Who knows what the future will bring? Only I know! And soon -- and soon -- and soon --

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Gosh"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "Ha ha"

maga thwacks the player a few times, but it keeps skipping

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says, "I, for one, never believed that those zoetropes were truly Interactive Fiction."

maga says, "One moment."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "yay"

maga extracts the wax cylinder and studies its surface

Guest2 grins.

[peanut-gallery] jmac grins

maga says, "And the nominees are:"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "Looks like wax cylinders are only useful ... so far."

[peanut-gallery] Johnny asks (of jmac), "Are you piloting Guest2?"

maga says, "ADRIFT Web Runner."

[peanut-gallery] jmac says, "yyyy no! Let's say no."

DavidW says, "oooh. I must try that."

Johnny runs around yelling.

mwigdahl claps!

VictorGijsbers applauds.

maga says, "Hugor."

DavidW says, "yay, Hugor!"

Recchi applauds

MrPatient exclaims, "Yay, Hugor!"

mwigdahl applauds!

lpsmith chers!

Wade claps.

Johnny beats his chest and wails.

VictorGijsbers applauds.

lpsmith cheers, too.

djfletch applauds.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I was so blown away by the presentation that I didn't actually parse that this is the best tech development award."

maga says, "TADS 3.1."

Jacqueline applauds.

Recchi claps

DavidW woots!

mwigdahl applauds!

Johnny claps.

ShadowK woots

Emerald says, "yay!"

VictorGijsbers applauds, while distancing himself from people who are beating their chest.

maga says, "And Vorple."

Recchi says, "aw yeah"

Johnny vorples.

jmac omgs

Emerald applauds.

mwigdahl applauds Vorpliciously!

VictorGijsbers applauds.

Jacqueline says, "Heck yeah," and applauds.

Tale says, "yay Vorple"

DavidW looks puzzled. "What's a vorple, daddy?"

maga says, "And the winner is..."

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "pretty good field this year"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Yeah"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "yeah"

maga makes a half-twist to the cylinder, pulls it open, and extracts a tiny papyrus scroll

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Wow, you're here."

Grocible materializes.

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "the if comp site is using the adrift web runner now, I believe"

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "darn it, I still haven't got the online-playable version of It finished"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says (to Jacqueline), "only for a ittle while"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says (to inky), "cool"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "I'm mostly revising my slides for Tuesday"

maga exclaims, "TADS 3.1!"

ghira materializes.

Emily claps

DavidW says, "Wow!"

[peanut-gallery] lue exclaims, "so that's what was inside the wax cylinder!"

lpsmith cheers!

Tale says, "Woo!"

inky says, "woo"

Biggles2k applauds like the gentleman he isn't.

djfletch says, "hurrah!"

BrenBarn says, "hooray for the language of elite IFers"

mwigdahl applauds! "Woohoo!"

Johnny applauds 3.1 times!

Wade claps.

inky says, "go mjr"

Recchi exclaims, "Congrats, MJR!"

Pacian claps and claps.

Emerald applauds as loudly as possible

lue claps

MrPatient claps

ShadowK exclaims "wooooOooooo!"

Felix stands and applauds!

jmac says, "yays"

Jacqueline applauds.

boucher materializes.

VictorGijsbers claps.

Miseri applauds.

DorianX materializes.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Man, tight category this year, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it wasn't who/what I thought would get it."

perwil claps

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says (to BrenBarn), "I think you need to PROVE TADS 3.1 is the language of elite IFers by writing a new Comp00ter Game"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "yeah, strong category."

[peanut-gallery] BrenBarn says, "heh"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "ha"

[peanut-gallery] BrenBarn says, "comp3.1ter game"

lpsmith asks, "I don't suppose mjr is here?"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says (to Jacqueline), "honestly I wouldn't have been surprised or disappointed by any of them winning"

[peanut-gallery] mwigdahl exclaims, "Very strong!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Yeah"

Fang materializes.

Ellison belatedly claps for Hugor and Vorple and TADS and everything

DavidW says, "okay, I just wanna cheer all the finalists in that category. That was an awesome sauce lineup."

Tale says, "Yay oddly named IF systems and TADS 3.1"

Felix says, "IF truly is moving on the Web."

olethros has ordered three mega-generators to be installed in his boathouse.

jmac thunders HUGOR just because it's fun to say

lpsmith exclaims, "The next award is for the Best Implementation! And, here to present again, Sam Ashwell!"

Johnny woo.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Good looking presenters this year."

Wade asks, "Isn't it Innovation time?"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says (to jmac), "fun to say? man, you should see how fun it is to PLAY"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "maga must've cleaned up last year."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says (to Jacqueline), "hah"

maga says, "As the newest, youngest and angriest of the organisers, I've asked to introduce Best Use of Innovation, the award formerly known as the cool half of Best of Medium."

lpsmith says, "Wait, no, Innovation."

DavidW asks, "Those cue cards got mixed up, didn't they?"

lpsmith says (to DavidW), "They all fell out of my briefcase on the way here."

[peanut-gallery] Tale asks, "Will we cut the next guy off if maga takes too long?"

maga says, "One of the greatest things about the IF world is its eagerness to experiment with approaches that are new and different."

maga says, "Sadly, 2011 was mostly just about established authors ploughing the same old furrow."

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "between Curses and Mentula, there's a good argument that Best Use of Medium should have been clarified to Best Use of Mme Sosostris"

Recchi says, "haha"

DavidW says, "oh man"

maga says, "From Aaron Reed, we had another painstakingly-structured, tutorial-heavy work paying homage to a line of fantasy videogames. Meanwhile, Victor Gijsbers cranked out more traumatic meditations on atrocity, multiple perspectives and moral choice."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says (to Emily), "hee"

inky says, "hee hee"

maga checks his earpiece

Fang is told of the death of Christ, and becomes so angry that the brain bursts from his head, and he dies. The blood from the wound baptises him as a Christian, and his soul goes to heaven.

VictorGijsbers laughs.

Ellison says, "ha ha"

maga says, "Or possibly the other way around."

[peanut-gallery] Emily says (to maga), "yay"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "ha ha"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "He makes atrocity amusing, somehow."

maga says, "Zombie Exodus was also nominated in this category, for its work advancing the exciting field of Awards Management."

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "ha ha"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "maga is so great."

jmac golf claps

lpsmith falls over.

MrPatient laughs.

Tale grins.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to DavidW), "Yes, though I'm biased."

maga says, "And the winner is..."

[peanut-gallery] mwigdahl says, "tries to supprress a laugh and snorts."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "oh my. I'm dying of laughter here."

maga opens the envelope

maga exclaims, "Kerkerkruip!"

inky says, "hooray"

Emily claps

MrPatient claps.

Emerald says, "hip hip hooray"

[peanut-gallery] Iain says, "It's always better when the host has terrific legs."

Johnny gives a standing 'ovation.

DavidW cheers!

Jacqueline says, "w00tittyw00tw00t"

djfletch says, "woooo"

VictorGijsbers bows.

Miseri kerkerklaps!

mwigdahl stands and applauds! "Congratulations!"

Recchi exclaims (at Victor), "Congrats!!"

ShadowK claps

Wade says, "Way to wield innocation Victor."

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "also a field in which both contenders were awesome"

maga claps

Tale slays a monster in celebration.

lpsmith cheers!

Wade says, "Innovation."

jmac says, "dood"

Wade rolls eyes at hisself.

lue applauds

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Yes"

Iain applauds

VictorGijsbers says, "Thanks, people. I'm really happy that my experiments turned out to be interesting to more people than... well... just me."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Though Aaron's was so innovative I couldn't play it."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "(Like, mentally.)"

Jacqueline laughs at Victor.

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "Which game was Aaron's? maga didn't actually say."

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "Best Job Of Making The Player's Decision To Quit Meaningful"

Wade says, "My favourite thing is winning by praying to Aite and then the impaley thing kills the wizard."

inky updates the BEST USE OF INNOVATION entry on the chalkboard.

Biggles2k applauds like the gentleman he isn't.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Yes."

Tale says, "Yay experimentation"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says (to DavidW), ""maybe make some change""

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "aha"

VictorGijsbers exclaims, "I'll try to take less than a year to release the post-comp version I already promised in the original game!"

Ellison says, "woo"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "yet another game I must play"

VictorGijsbers says, "Currently, my changes have made the game unplayable, but let's assume I can still fix that. ;)"

inky updates the BEST TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT entry on the chalkboard.

lpsmith laughs.

Wade says, "hehe"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "it's astonishing -- custom fonts and images, background video, all kinds of presentational stuff that I would have thought just about impossible to pull off"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "oh my"

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "but also in service of something, not just a gimmick"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, not a ClubFloyd play."

lpsmith says, "You won for Innovation, not Technology, so no worries."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "That's okay. ClubFloyd can't be expected to do everything."

VictorGijsbers exclaims, "Also, I'm afraid I have to leave in a few minutes, so let me thank you for your votes and wish you a very good night!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline sighs. "Yeah."

Emily waves to Victor

maga claps

DavidW applauds

jmac exclaims, "Congrats, Victor!"

mwigdahl claps!

Pacian applauds Victor.

Emerald claps for Victor

inky says, "fine timing"

lue claps

Johnny stuffs votes in Victor's suitcase.

Jacqueline says, "Thank YOU, Victor."

Wade says, "Seeya."

lpsmith cheers!

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers says, "And yeah, Aaron's game is very very interesting. A must-play."

Biggles2k waves.

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "I assume "and the victor is Victor" jokes were considered and discarded"

inky says, "luckily the xyzzy awards are less than three ounces"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "I made a victor-y joke, if it's any consolation"

lpsmith returns to the stage.

lpsmith says, "So, *now* we have the award for 'Best Implementation!'"

Jacqueline applauds.

lpsmith exclaims, "Which apparantly is formerly known as the square half of the old Best Use of Medium award!"

maga says, "square, yet perfectly-formed"

lpsmith says, "And you should see the polish on those corners."

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "so previously the award was a rectangle twice as long as it's wide, I guess"

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says (to inky), "if that were so, then both halves would be square"

lpsmith says, "Also, the 'Best Use Of Medium As It Was Always Described But Never Voted On' award."

lpsmith says, "The nominees are:"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "I think it was shaped like a house."

Jacqueline laughs.

lpsmith exclaims, "Six, by Wade Clarke!"

maga claps

Johnny woo.

Recchi claps!

Emily says, "yay!"

mwigdahl applauds!

Emerald says, "yay"

Jacqueline exclaims, "Hooray!"

[peanut-gallery] inky asks (of Emerald), "hm, well you can't have one half be square and the other half not be square, can you?"

Tale says, "woo"

djfletch cheers

perwil claps

lpsmith exclaims, "Taco Fiction, by Ryan Veeder!"

Wade claps.

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says (to inky), "maybe one end was rounded"

maga says, "woo"

Tale noms.

Recchi applauds

inky claps

Johnny claps.

mwigdahl claps!

MrPatient claps.

lpsmith exclaims, "Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo!"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to inky), "They just need the same area."

Pacian applauds.

Wade claps.

Recchi says, "woo"

mwigdahl claps!

Johnny applauds.

Emerald claps for Zombie Exodus and, belatedly, for Taco Fiction

lpsmith says, "And the winner is..."

[peanut-gallery] Tale asks, "Eh? I thought that was voted on seperately?"

Ellison claps

[peanut-gallery] lue says, "Maybe the other half is a circle with the same area? :)"

[peanut-gallery] djfletch says, "the cool half was smaller because of its temperature."

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "ha ha"

Jacqueline yays for all of these.

lpsmith squints at the envelope.

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "haha"

[peanut-gallery] VictorGijsbers says, "I believe they separated the communities rather than the games."

Miseri holds breath

lpsmith says, "Hmm, the sixth nominee? I thought there were only three."

lpsmith exclaims, "Oh, wait!"

lpsmith exclaims, "Six!"

MrPatient cheers.

inky says, "hooray"

maga does a rim shot: ba-dum-bum-tish!

Ellison says, "yay"

Tale says, "woo!"

jmac laughs and applauds.

Wade exclaims, "Yes! Airpunch!"

lue claps and laughs

mwigdahl applauds wildly! "Woohoo!"

ShadowK yay!

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "yaaaay"

Emily claps

Recchi says, "yaay"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Tale), "Some members of the non-ChoiceScript community may have voted for ZE."

maga claps

Johnny says, "Yay"

VictorGijsbers applauds.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "Timing, yeah."

Miseri says, "Fairy bread for everybody!"

djfletch says, "hurrah!"

Wade says, "hehehe"

Emerald yay for the not-mine hide-and-seek game!

inky updates the BEST IMPLEMENTATION entry on the chalkboard.

Pacian cheers.

Wade says, "it is delicious, trust me"

Biggles2k raises a vey lary large glass.

lpsmith invites Wade up to the stage.

Emerald says, "er, yay even"

perwil cheers

lpsmith hands him a well-implemented award.

Wade bounds onto the stage.

VictorGijsbers goes home.

Jacqueline exclaims, "Awesome hooray and yay and huzzah for Six!"

Wade accepts the award with outrageous humbleness.

Wade says, "Thank you everyone. My speechwriter suggested I say this:"

Miseri says (to Wade), "When I was little, I'd sometimes have something very similar, with sugar instead of sprinkles."

Wade nods at Miseri.

Wade says, "'I am the master implementer! I implement things real good! I will implement something else pretty soon, too!'"

Recchi says, "haha"

inky says, "hee hee"

Tale says, "yay"

Wade exclaims, "so I fired him!"

maga says, "hooray"

[peanut-gallery] ShadowK says, "I would like to see a cross between SIX and LEADLIGHT"

Jacqueline laughs.

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "Wait, there's already a thing called Seven"

Wade says, "Thanks, I'm really glad people found the game to be as well-imped as I tried to make it."

Emerald produces an Australian flag from somewhere and hollers, "AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE"

Wade giggles at Emerald.

[peanut-gallery] jmac says (to Tale), "very good."

Wade climbs off the stage.

lpsmith cheers for Wade. "I totally believed you were a real person!"

Ellison cheers

Jacqueline claps.

Wade thanks lpsmith.

mwigdahl cheers!

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to Tale), "Se(seven)en."

Miseri sings "I Am Australian" despite being not.

maga exclaims, "Ladies and gentlemen, remain seated!"

Jacqueline sits back down.

Nitku leaves.

Nitku has disconnected.

Johnny sits harder.

djfletch stops playing hide-and-seek.

(From DavidW) iguana blinks.

Tale says, "Help, my chair isn't implemented"

maga says, "Ushers, lock the doors. We have reason to believe there is a criminal among us. Nobody may leave until they are winkled out."

baf gets confused and stands up

Afterward says, "this is a skit, right? oh dear"

DrSliss panics.

maga says, "Fortunately and not entirely coincidentally, we have with us tonight the world's greatest detective:"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi exclaims, "Blast you, crime!"

Emerald turns faint and presses her hand to her pale brow

inky says, "thank goodness!"

maga exclaims, "last year's Best Individual PC, Anthony Saint Germain!"

DavidW puts iguana on tea tray and covers it with a bowl, surrendipitieousllyish.

Wade fans Emerald.

jmac exclaims, "Mon Dieu!"

Jacqueline exclaims, "Zut alors!"

SaintGermain Ascends to the stage.

mwigdahl cheers!

MrPatient is impressed.

dfabulich asks, "Quoi?"

Wade claps.

[peanut-gallery] Nitku exclaims, "Damn, I have to go. We're getting so far out in the sea that the mobile reception gets flaky. Have fun!"

baf exclaims, "Sacre bleu!"

Emerald recovers enough to clap in a ladylike manner.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Nitku), "Bye."

[peanut-gallery] Tale asks, "Where are you?"

SaintGermain says, "Mesdames et Messieurs, please remain calm. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Anthony Saint Germain, the famous French detective. As last years Best Individual PC, it has fallen to me to discover this years winner."

Miseri tries not to look too guilty.

[peanut-gallery] Nitku says, "I'm in a boat to Stockholm"

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "awesome"

[peanut-gallery] Tale asks, "Did the audio book arrive in time?"

SaintGermain twirls his moustache.

DavidW yawns. Delicately.

Jacqueline swoons.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to Tale), "He's just hanging out with T-Pain."

[peanut-gallery] Nitku says (to Tale), "not yet :("

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "Aw, crap."

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "later, Nitku"

SaintGermain asks, "Determining the Best individual PC was not easy, but in the end, the culprit proved no match for my superior intellect. First, I turned my attention to the intriguing Mr. Alistair Liddell. Mr. Liddell seemed like a quiet withdrawn gentlemen, but I have long since learned that it is always the quiet person you need to look out for. What went on inside his head, I wondered?"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "ha ha"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "This is a good bit."

jmac whispers "Wow, he's good."

SaintGermain asks, "Next, I considered the ravenous Mangiasaur. To the untrained eye, the Mangiasaur might appear to be merely a dumb animal, but first impressions are often misleading. Might the award not be a part of the Mangiasaur's grand plan to grow stronger?"

Ellison laughs

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "nom nom nom"

MrPatient is pretty sure SaintGermain is making this up as he goes along.

DavidW slowly nibbles on a piece of cheese.

Recchi says, "heh"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "I liked Mangiasaur"

SaintGermain asks, "Then there was Mentula Macanus. He appeared to be a simple man, interested only in base pleasures. He did not, at first, seem to have a motive to win Best Individual PC. But what if his simple demeanor was simply a ruse to hide more devious goals?"

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "I shudder to think what those devious goals might be"

Biggles2k sips from a flask sculpted like a mustache.

Miseri coughs delicately.

[peanut-gallery] lue says, "he's not answering his own questions"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny asks, "Why wouldn't Mangiasaur just eat everybody else?"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to inky), "Took the words right out of my mouth."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to lue), "He never does."

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says (to Johnny), "all part of his dastardly plan."

SaintGermain says, "Morgoth, Lord of Darkness, seemed almost to conspicuous a name to be my man. And could a simple computer - even one with an anthropomorphic personification - really be the Best Individual PC? It didn't add up. Then again, maybe that was exactly what Morgoth wanted me to think? Hiding in plain sight is a strategy often utilized by the best criminal masterminds."

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says, "The Mangiasaur intends to lure you into a sense of complacency"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "but Morgoth is both a Player Character and a Personal Computer ... twice the PC that everyone else is!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "ha"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "all he needs now is a President's Choice card!"

Wade says, "Hm... Lord of Darkness... criminal mastermind. This is starting to make sense."

DavidW's eyes are wet and bright.

jmac fans himself.

SaintGermain says, "But what about Nicholas St. John, intrepid explorer of the Mysterious Ocean Tower? A complex character familiar with both love and hate. Might he not be the Best Individual PC? Perhaps, but it seemed almost too obvious. I have learned that the obvious suspect is hardly ever the culprit."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "This is a great ceremony this year."

[peanut-gallery] lue exclaims, "if Morgoth is also politically correct, that's thrice the PC!"

[peanut-gallery] Afterward says, "he's also Pretty Cool B^)"

SaintGermain says, "Lastly, I turned my attention to the variously named PC in Zombie Exodus. A person who uses multiple names is immediately suspicious. What did this mysterious PC have to hide? What was he running from? Was he trying to escape his past and forge himself a new indentity and a new life? I continued my investigations."

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says, "I've heard tell that Morgoth is the sole owner of a limited liability Professional Corporation"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "No, I think he/she was just running from zombies, SaintGermain."

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "I like to imagine that in a film adaptation he'd have been played by Peter Cushing."

SaintGermain says, "At last, I had the answer. The Best Individual PC of 2011 is....."

lpsmith muses thoughtfully.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to baf), "Yes"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny asks, "But why run from the cops^W zombies if you've done nothing wrong?"

Miseri bates breath. And also baits it with cheese.

SaintGermain twirls his moustache again.

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "FOLLOW THE CLUES"

DavidW gives cheese to Miseri

SaintGermain exclaims, "Mentuala Macanus in Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis!"

DavidW says, "Stiffy!"

Wade claps.

perwil cheers

lue cheers

MrPatient cheers for Stiffy.

Emerald claps.

Johnny applauds with latex gloves on.

ShadowK exclaims, "Woooooooooo!"

Recchi exclaims, "Broooooooooooouce!!!"

mwigdahl stands and applauds!

Pacian cheers.

jmac laughs

inky says, "I should have known!"

djfletch claps

ShadowK beats the head in front of him like a drum

Biggles2k applauds.

DavidW cheers lustily.

Jacqueline applauds. and starts looking around, slightly worried.

inky updates the BEST INDIVIDUAL PC entry on the chalkboard.

Tale says, "Oh no, you all have the clap"

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "after ten years without a Stiffy, he finally comes into his own"

[peanut-gallery] dfabulich says, "I, ah, I propose that we immediately abandon the tradition of having last year's Best PC speak on stage"

lpsmith cheers!

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Tale), "hah"

jmac says (to Tale), "aiee"

Miseri Mentulam laudat.

Iain throws underwear at the stage.

[peanut-gallery] maga asks (of dfabulich), "why do you think we made him win?"

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says (to dfabu), "haha"

SaintGermain leaves the stage.

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "I'd hate to be the microphone next year"

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "er, ahem, in a purely democratic sense, that is"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW asks, "oh man. Next year, eh?"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "They're gonna roll Stiffy out like Hannibal Lecter next year"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "The glowing blue microphone."

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "Order lube now."

lpsmith says, "Fortunately, Mr. Macanus isn't here to accept the award, or we might be here all night."

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "I hope he delivers next year's presentation entirely in Latin."

[peanut-gallery] djfletch says, "The other nominees certainly faced stiff competition this year."

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "Dirty Latin."

[peanut-gallery] jmac says (to Recchi), "omg"

DavidW belatedly returns the iguana to his head.

inky says, "since the acceptance speech couldn't be played until the kids were in bed"

lpsmith grins.

Jacqueline laughs at lps.

Wade says, "Now That's Sexual"

lpsmith exclaims, "So, our next awad is for the Best Individual NPC! And here to present the nominees, last year's Best NPC, Dr. Sliss!"

inky cheers

SimonChris applauds wildly.

DrSliss takes the stage and look around warily, clutching an envelope like she expects someone to snatch it from her.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "the acceptance space is typed entirely in white space"

maga claps

Johnny says, "woo"

[peanut-gallery] baf asks, "Shouldn't Sliss be handing out the Golden Banana?"

DavidW claps politely and strongly.

mwigdahl applauds!

Emerald applauds

DrSliss says, "Ladies and gentlemen, drones and nematodes, I am very pleased to attend your primitive ceremony as guest of honour."

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "hee hee"

Miseri waves a banana.

Jacqueline applauds nervously.

baf snatches Miseri's banana away like a greedy primate.

DrSliss says, "It's my understanding that you have been asked to rate a number of prominent Notionally Personable Consciousnesses or NPCs, presumably using such selection criteria as manual dexterity, obedience to authority and nutritional value."

Johnny chats idly into a toilet.

lpsmith laughs.

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "hee hee more"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "ha ha"

[peanut-gallery] mwigdahl says, "lol"

jmac nods sagely.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "ha ha"

Johnny laughs.

Miseri is too busy suppressing a giggle to snatch the banana back from baf. But just watch out, baf, I'll get you yet.

DrSliss says, "The winner, once announced, will then, I imagine, be showered with accolades - or perhaps killed and consumed in a misguided attempt to absorb their prowess."

DrSliss says, "Those NPCs to survive the initial round of mortal combat are as follows:"

Johnny slips on a bib.

Jacqueline laughs, more nervously.

[peanut-gallery] Jearl says, "excellent"

[peanut-gallery] Afterward exclaims, "or both!"

DrSliss says, "A bite-size creature too furry to be readily palatable..."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "From which game is this NPC? I should play it"

jmac makes a note for next year: absorb... prowess...

DrSliss says, "It's the puppy in Beet the Devil, by Carolyn VanEseltine."

[peanut-gallery] baf asks, "Is it just me or does Sliss seem eager to observe the process?"

maga claps

Johnny says, "yay"

Miseri slavers.

Wade claps.

mwigdahl applauds!

djfletch barks

DavidW says, "yay puppy!"

GDorn says, "haha awesome"

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "I had a sticky note on my desktop reminding me to play that game, but it didn't work"

baf puppyplauds!

DrSliss says, "A culinary engineer responsible for the preparation of a simple, cold mush for simple, sweaty minds..."

[peanut-gallery] Emerald says, "the sticky note, I mean, not the game"

DrSliss says, "Zuleika in Taco Fiction, by Ryan Veeder."

maga claps

lpsmith cheers!

Wade claps.

Johnny applauds!

MrPatient cheers.

djfletch claps

Emerald applauds.

mwigdahl claps!

DavidW says, "ooh, I like Zuleika"

inky says, "the chef always survives til the end, especially if they are steven seagal"

baf zuleikapplauds!

DrSliss says, "Proof that after the collapse of your nascent civilisation, one can readily survive the brief fall to the bottom..."

DrSliss says, "Heather in Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo."

Wade claps.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Tale), "Rogues of the Multiverse, I believe."

djfletch applauds

mwigdahl claps!

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "DrSliss is definitely the best bit."

[peanut-gallery] Emerald asks (of Afterward), "How do you prounounce the "ei" in "Zuleika"? "Ay", "eye", or "ee"?"

DrSliss says, "And finally, fighting against the understandable negative connotations of the famous Chaplin moustache..."

DrSliss says, "Grimloft in Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin."

Ellison cheers for Grimloft, that misunderstood genius

[peanut-gallery] Afterward says, "ay, like, the fonz"

Tale says, "Boo"

inky says, "hooray"

mwigdahl applauds!

Wade claps.

Jacqueline says, "Haha yay"

jmac woohoos

Recchi says, "haha"

ShadowK says, "yeee"

MrPatient cheers for Grimloft (and Baird).

DrSliss says, "And the winner is..."

Emerald cheers.

Jacqueline leans in, but not too close.

DrSliss opens the envelope and reads the contents.

Johnny does like justice, but that's taking it a bit far.

Miseri sharpens knife and fork.

[peanut-gallery] Emerald makes a note of that.

Johnny walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

DrSliss smiles. "Pause for dramatic effect!"

DrSliss reads some more.

ShadowK says, "commercial break"

[peanut-gallery] inky asks, "wait, do we eat the winner, or do we eat the non-winners?"

DrSliss exclaims, "I mean, Grimloft in Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!"

DavidW asks, "Should we say grace?"

Miseri says, "mm, paws."

inky says, "hooray!"

[peanut-gallery] Afterward says, "I'm new to this. what's the command for hitting a guy"

mwigdahl applauds! "Yay!"

Tale says, "nooooooooooooooo"

MrPatient exclaims, "Woo!"

perwil claps

Jacqueline exclaims, "huzzah!"

Ellison says, "yay!"

Johnny says, "Woo!"

Wade claps.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to Tale), "hahahaha"

maga says, "woohoo"

Biggles2k applauds.

lpsmith cheers!

Emerald claps

Recchi exclaims, "Wow, thanks everybody!"

Afterward exclaims, "hoorah!"

ShadowK says, "Yipeeeeeee!""

jmac says, "Yargh awesome."

Pacian cheers.

Tale smacks Recchi on the back. "Congratfuckinglations!

inky updates the BEST INDIVIDUAL NPC entry on the chalkboard.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline hands Tale a gold star.

DavidW says (to Recchi), "congrats!"

Johnny says, "Bringing tootbrush mustaches back."

lue applauds

Johnny says, "*toothbrush"

Miseri applauds, but reflects that Grimloft probably tastes of Grimdark and wouldn't make good eating.

Recchi says, "So, Grimloft was played by our very own Ellison."

[peanut-gallery] Tale says (to Jacqueline), "Thanks"

Recchi says, "I shot his scenes a few years ago at a CGE, where various other mudders like bruce, nickm and jscott were there."

MrPatient cheers for Ellison.

[peanut-gallery] djfletch asks, "so now we need a Best Actor?"

Recchi says, "And right before we started, Ellison said, "Hey, ah.... have you considered asking Nick?""

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "maybe he's the Best Supplemental Person"

Recchi says, "Needless to say, I'm really happy with how it all turned out."

Recchi says (to Ellison), "Thanks, buddy"

Wade claps Ellison.

inky says, "hooray"

Ellison claps

lpsmith cheers again!

Tale says, "Yay for people who wear Hitler moustaches for friends"

Jacqueline applauds.

Emerald applauds some more.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "best role I ever flew to Vegas for!"

Tale claps.

lpsmith says, "Wow, so the actual NPC that won is here? I believe that is a first for the XYZZY awards."

[peanut-gallery] GDorn says, "if Grimloft and Worf kissed..."

maga says, "well, his face is"

lpsmith says, "Close enough."

Ellison laughs

Wade says, "hehe"

maga says, "which is the tastiest part"

Ellison laughs some more

inky says, "his moustache was regrettably unable to attend"

Ellison says, "hee"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "I only suggest Nick because I thought he could better pass as a British person. I'm not sure if I even knew about the Hitler mustache yet."

[peanut-gallery] Ellison asks (of Recchi), "did I?"

lpsmith exclaims, "Next up, we have Matt Wigdahl, presenting the nominees for the 'Best NPCs' award!"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "suggested"

(From mwigdahl) A thunderous rumbling noise becomes audible. The stage shakes with increasing force, giving the podium an alarming wobble.

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "I may have hid that initially"

Wade applauds.

(From mwigdahl) The pounding increases, and suddenly a huge dinosaur, seven feet tall at the shoulders, barges in from stage right, a wide-eyed man atop it holding on for dear life.

inky looks around nervously

ShadowK claps

[peanut-gallery] jmac says, "#belated Well done, El."

djfletch screams

inky says, "hooray"

(From mwigdahl) As he desperately pulls back on the oversized cranial ridge, the dinosaur abruptly stops dead and lowers its head at the same time, causing the man to tumble headlong to the stage and sprawl to a stop in front of the podium.

jmac hops up and down

(From mwigdahl) The dinosaur snorts once, licks the man's head, and proceeds offstage at a leisurely trot.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "thanks! it just goes to show that horrible fashion sense and a bad haircut can't keep a player down!"

Jacqueline hides under olethros' seat.

Miseri says, "!"

Wade exclaims, "Ew, dinosaur spit!"

(From mwigdahl) As the man slowly stands, A small, furious, bug-eyed oviraptor bursts onto the stage, spitting and twisting to snap at its monkey-like rider, a bat-eared creature almost as large as it is.

Emerald finds her camera just as the dinosaur vanishes off-stage.

Ellison claps

inky says, "ha ha ha"

(From mwigdahl) The nanakia grips the raptor's neck with one hand, and waves to the crowd with the other, teeth bared in what could only be the monkey-bat

Recchi says, "haha"

(From mwigdahl) equivalent of an ear-to-ear grin.

Miseri says, "Nancy! You made it!"

Emerald tries to applaud and take photos at the same time.

(From mwigdahl) As the raptor passes by the podium, the nanakia jumps to the man's shoulder with a graceful leap, knocking the oviraptor to the ground in the process. The raptor skids for several feet before regaining its footing, hissing in fury, and sprinting away.

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "between this and Dr. Sliss, our reptile wrangler is earning his keep"

mwigdahl exclaims, "Hi, I'm Matt Wigdahl, author of last year's _Aotearoa_! I'm going to present the awards for Best NPCs!"

jmac yays

Johnny says, "woo"

[peanut-gallery] Emerald asks (of maga), "Oh, is that what those heart-broken sobs were about?"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "don't forget Mangiasaur."

mwigdahl exclaims, "There were a great set of games nominated this year!"

Pacian cheers!

mwigdahl says, "In the category of Best Non-Player Characters, we have the following nominees:"

mwigdahl exclaims, "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! ...and the rest of the deeply-realized Biblical cast of Cana According to Micah, by Christopher Huang!"

Recchi says, "woooo"

maga says, "yay"

Wade claps.

Jacqueline claps.

Ellison applauds

Johnny says, "yay"

djfletch says, "hurrah!"

RevStephenDawson claps modestly.

DavidW amens.

Tale says, "Yay for Pain. I mean Miseri."

Emerald claps.

mwigdahl exclaims, "The bickering misanthropes -- and bizarre cryptids -- of Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!"

Johnny says, "hooray"

MrPatient cheers.

Wade claps.

maga claps

DavidW hootanannies.

Tale says, "Woo"

Jacqueline applauds.

Ellison cheers

mwigdahl exclaims, "The touchy, sensitive stage actors of The Play, by Deirdra Kiai!"

baf pikas

DavidW rhubarbs.

ShadowK applauds

Tale says, "yay"

Recchi claps!!

Johnny says, "woohoo"

Emerald says, "hurrah"

MrPatient claps.

Wade claps.

jmac stomps in appreciation of bible people and dinosaurs and actors and stuff

Afterward hoots; hollers

maga says, "woo"

perwil yay

baf exclaims, "kIAI!"

Jacqueline applauds.

(From inky) board breaks

Pacian applauds.

mwigdahl exclaims, "The fun-loving young birthday partygoers of Six, by Wade Clarke!"

Johnny says, "hooyay"

djfletch says, "yay"

maga says, "ozzie ozzie ozzie"

Recchi applauds

DavidW cheers.

Emerald flourishes her Aussie flag

Biggles2k exclaims, "Huzzah!"

Jacqueline claps.

mwigdahl exclaims, "And finally, the fleeing survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse from Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo!"

ShadowK claps

DavidW braaaaaains.

Wade applauds.

lpsmith cheers the nominees!

Recchi exclaims, "yaaaay!"

maga headshots

Jacqueline applauds.

Johnny says, "woo"

jmac cheers for scary children and cuddly zombies

mwigdahl says, "And the winner is..."

Pacian holds his breath.

mwigdahl rips the envelope open...

mwigdahl coughs as some random pieces of DNA puff out in a cloud of dust...

mwigdahl exclaims, "The winner is Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!!! Congratulations, Rob!"

Johnny cheers.

Wade applauds.

Pacian exhales and begins clapping.

MrPatient exclaims, "Yay!"

lpsmith exclaims, "woo!"

perwil says, "hoorah"

jmac says, "Oh man don't breathe in that stuff"

maga applauds

Emerald applauds.

Miseri applauds.

djfletch cheers

lue claps appluadingly

Biggles2k raises a very large glass.

DavidW says, "yay!"

Recchi says, "Haha, thank you so much"

ShadowK exclaims, "Yeeee-haw!"

jmac says, "Also woohoo"

baf coughs

Tale ponders how one of his NPCs would congratulate.

Tale punches Robb.

Jacqueline says, "Yay Robb."

Miseri says, "Bless you, Robb!"

Recchi says (to Tale), "Hahaa"

inky updates the BEST NPCs entry on the chalkboard.

Johnny puts on some Bachelor Machines.

Recchi says, "(I don't know that many of them will read this transcript, but I just want to thank the people who so generously agreed to play characters in this game. Oh, and their pets, too.)"

Ellison cheers

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "I wonder if any animals were harmed during the making of CZ."

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "And who owned the gorilla."

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "no, but some perfectly good trout was wasted"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "Recchi did extensive turtle experiments to get the turtle physics right"

lpsmith applauds the willing accomplices!

[peanut-gallery] Recchi exclaims, "I "recycled" the trout by throwing it in the backyard though!"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "I mean, something took it. It's gone."

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "Maybe it escaped."

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "haha"

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "great, now you've introduced an exotic species"

lpsmith returns to the stage.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "It was dressed for winter."

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "wow"

Wade says, "I was holding applause in case a full list of names was pending"

lpsmith exclaims, "On to the puzzles!"

Wade claps Recchi.

Wade mops the sweat off his brow.

Johnny says (to Wade), "You can read the credits in the menu."

Wade snickers.

Jacqueline applauds again.

lpsmith says, "So, our next award is for 'Best Individual Puzzle'."

lpsmith says, "Our nominees for this traditional lynchpin of IF goodness are:"

Johnny scratches his head and applauds one-handed.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "also, Recchi took the time to upload everybody's CZK pictures to their ifwiki profile, so anyone who's curious should definitely check it out"

lpsmith exclaims, ""First, for a surprisingly compelling anagram puzzle, we have 'Assembling the name of the final location' in The Race, by Andy Why!"

Wade claps.

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "excellent"

djfletch claps

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "hmm, there's a game I should definitely play."

lpsmith says, ""Next, we have 'Escaping the tower' in Indigo, by Emily Short, which involves the player intuiting the existence of an entire system of manipulations, then using them in concert to accomplish her goals."

ShadowK claps

DavidW says, "ooh. Must try that."

mwigdahl claps!

MrPatient claps.

maga claps

Wade clappety-clap claps.

Johnny claps and claps some more.

lpsmith exclaims, ""Thirdly, we have 'the hat mystery', a puzzle spread out over four games entered separately in the IF Competition by four Boston-based authors: The Life (and Deaths) of Doctor M by Michael Hilborn, Last Day of Summer by Doug Orleans, Playing Games by Kevin Jackson-Mead, and Cold Iron by Andrew Plotkin!"

perwil yay

Recchi exclaims, "Yaay, Andy and Emily!!"

Recchi exclaims, "And all those guys!"

[peanut-gallery] baf has played shamefully little this year

djfletch claps some more

lpsmith says, "That there was a puzzle to figure out at all was one of the compelling features of this puzzle, though of course that part is now spoiled for all eternity. But it was fun while it lasted."

Johnny says, "woooooo"

maga claps

Emerald applauds

Ellison claps and claps

mwigdahl meta-applauds.

lpsmith exclaims, "And lastly, in an important lesson in how IF differs from real life, we have Putting out the fire in How Suzy Got Her Powers, by David Whyld!"

Wade claps.

mwigdahl cheers!

ShadowK applauds!

jmac woohoos at the field

Recchi applauds

DavidW says, "yay other DavidW!"

Pacian claps until his hands start to smoke.

Johnny cheers!

inky says, ">USE FIRE EXTINGUISHER"

inky says, "also, hooray for puzzles"

jmac says, "Also Boston represent, yargh."

MrPatient applauds.

lpsmith says, "And the winner is..."

lpsmith pulls out an envelope, but he opens it and there's nothing there! He looks around wildly, but can't find it anywhere. He takes off his hat, and scratches his head.

Ellison does a one-hand clap for puzzles

lpsmith looks in the hat.

lpsmith says, "Well, what do you know."

lpsmith exclaims, "The hat mystery!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "More witchcraft."

perwil exclaims, "yeeha!"

Johnny applauds!

mwigdahl applauds!

maga claps

jmac exclaims, "Yay!"

inky says, "hooray"

Tale says, "yay"

Emerald claps

Jacqueline claps.

Tale says, "yay for hats!"

mwigdahl exclaims, "Woo!"

Ellison says, "go republic!"

Biggles2k blushes.

DavidW says, "hat hat hat"

Emily claps

inky says, "keep the winner under your hat"

maga asks, "Are we in the presence of any component part of the monstrous conjoined quadruplet?"

djfletch cheers indescribably

baf exclaims, "hat hat hat!"

Recchi says, "Way to go, fellas"

Biggles2k coughs.

Biggles2k says, "Yes, one of us is here."

inky updates the BEST INDIVIDUAL PUZZLE entry on the chalkboard.

lpsmith exclaims, "Well, get on up here!"

jmac says, "Yay Biggles"

Biggles2k tips his hat to the audience.

Miseri tips his hat.

lpsmith hands 1/4 of the award to Biggles2k.

Tale throws his hat in the air.

Biggles2k exclaims, "Kudos to my co-conspirators, of cours!"

baf offers Biggles2k a knife in exchange for it

Guest2 goes home.

lue cheers

Biggles2k says, "Specifically, Kevin Jackson Mead who thought of the idea, and to Andrew Plotkin, who came up with the actual puzzle."

Biggles2k says, "And a final thanks to Doug Oreans."

jmac says, "(Orleans)"

Biggles2k bows again and throws his hat to the audience.

DavidW claps

Jacqueline says, "applauds the Boston dudes."

Emerald applauds.

ShadowK says, "hat hat horray"

perwil applauds wildly

jmac loves that dirty water

Johnny claps!

baf rushes to where the hat fell, only to find a watch-chain in its place. Mysterious.

lpsmith returns to the stage. "And now, back again, though hopefully without the dinosaur, Matt Wigdahl is here to present the Best Puzzles award!

Pacian prepares to assume the dinosaur stampede position.

perwil goes home.

mwigdahl returns to the stage, having cleaned the dinosaur saliva off his head. At least most of it -- his hair still has a suspicious glistening to it. As he scratches his head, the nanakia mimics his movements.

Johnny says, "woo"

mwigdahl exclaims, "After the last award, which celebrates one specific puzzle, this award recognizes the game that has the best overall puzzle content!"

mwigdahl says, "So in the category of Best Puzzles, we have the following nominees:"

Guest1 walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice it approaching it from the other side.

[peanut-gallery] djfletch asks, "there was an overall puzzle as well as a hat puzzle?"

mwigdahl exclaims, "The sexual (if not always exactly _sexy_) misadventures in Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis, by Adam Thornton!"

Wade claps.

Tale says, "woo"

Recchi exclaims, "Woooo Bruce!"

djfletch says, "yay"

DavidW astroglides!

Johnny applauds!

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "the world's oldest puzzle, 'where does my penis go'"

MrPatient asks, "You didn't find them sexy?"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says (to maga), "Hahaha"

ShadowK says, "haha"

mwigdahl exclaims, "The metaphorical wordplay magic of PataNoir, by Simon Christiansen!"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "hopefully not "where did my penis go""

Johnny says, "yay"

Wade claps more.

jmac snorts

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "Wherever you left it."

DavidW apple lauds.

ShadowK claps

Recchi claps!

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "ha"

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to Tale), "That's the first game."

Emerald applauds.

mwigdahl exclaims, "The geographical scavenger hunt and anagramtastic wordplay of The Race, by Andy Why!"

Johnny says, "woo"

maga claps

DavidW vrooms

Wade claps.

mwigdahl exclaims, "And the recurring question of how best to attack, avoid, or evade the shambling undead in Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo!"

Johnny claps.

Wade claps.

mwigdahl says, "(I personally prefer the 20-gauge shotgun)..."

Recchi cheers all the nominees!

Pacian choose to applaud.

mwigdahl says, "And the winner is..."

mwigdahl rips the envelope open...

Emerald claps

(From mwigdahl) ...like a small child opening a birthday present...

mwigdahl hands the present to Simon Christiansen.

mwigdahl exclaims, "The winner is PataNoir, by Simon Christiansen! Congratulations, Simon!"

Dave walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

Johnny says, "woohoo"

maga says, "woohoo"

MrPatient cheers

jmac exclaims, "hray!"

Wade applauds.

Biggles2k applauds and whistles.

SimonChris jumps up and down!

djfletch says, "hurrah!"

Emerald says, "hurrah"

Tale says, "aw yeah"

Pacian cheers.

Recchi cheers Simon!

ShadowK applauds!

Dave exclaims, "woo hoo!"

SimonChris takes the stage.

lpsmith cheers!

Tale says, "metaphor laden speech!"

inky updates the BEST PUZZLES entry on the chalkboard.

SimonChris says, "Thank you everyone. It is a great honor for me to be accepting this prize today. When I first saw that I had been nominated, I felt like a guy who has just discovered a piece of delicious cherry pie in a fridge he belived to be empty. One of the main criticisms of the game was that the puzzles were too hard, so I am happy that people thought the concept itself made up for this."

mwigdahl says, ">TAKE PIE"

DavidW says, "mmm pie"

SimonChris says, "Winning Best Puzzles is a lot like flying a helicopter into a volcano crater to rescue a Guatamalan shipping heiress, having your engine fail, and narrowly escaping on a hang-glider fabricated from common pocket items. At first, you are tense, as you await resolution, but then you soar high above the ground, basked in the golden light of glory."

[peanut-gallery] Emily says, "ha"

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "Haha, nice"

lpsmith laughs.

[peanut-gallery] inky says, "just so long as you hang onto your pie"

SimonChris says, "I would like to thank everyone who voted for me, and encourage people to try out release 3 of the game. There are still some rather unfair puzzles, but stuff should be a lot better hinted now, with a helpful hint menu included."

[peanut-gallery] djfletch asks, "is it hard-boiled pie?"

DavidW says, "yay hints"

maga says, "woo post-comp releases"

DavidW says, "bravo"

Jacqueline applauds.

mwigdahl claps

SimonChris Bows to the audience and climbs down from the stage.

Emerald applauds

Wade claps SimonChris.

lpsmith cheers.

Johnny applauds!

mwigdahl returns to the podium, followed by the scampering nanakia, who leaps to the podium and poses serenely.

Ellison cheers

mwigdahl tries to look out at the audience past the nanakia, who is immobile and directly in front of him. He tries to gently shift her to one side, but she slaps his hand away.

Miseri claps like a clapboard cottage.

mwigdahl says, "In the category of Best Setting, the nominees are:"

mwigdahl exclaims, "The surreal geek-pop horror (or is that geeky pop-surreal horror?) of Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!"

maga claps

Wade claps.

DavidW applauds

ShadowK applauds!

Johnny clap claps.

Tale claps

mwigdahl exclaims, "The Japanese-occupied Pacific Island jungle of Marine Raider, by Allen Gies!"

Pacian applauds.

maga claps

Wade applauds.

Ellison cheers

mwigdahl exclaims, "The over-the-top raunch of Phallic Rome in Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis, by Adam Thornton!"

Johnny claps.

Wade claps.

MrPatient cheers.

Emerald claps.

DavidW slaps skin together.

mwigdahl exclaims, "The deceptively simple and innocent Australian girls' birthday party of Six, by Wade Clarke!"

Ellison claps

Recchi applauds!!

Johnny claps.

djfletch says, "hurrah!"

Jacqueline asks, "Simple?"

Emerald says, "yay"

Jacqueline claps.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "Deceptively simple."

mwigdahl exclaims, "And the crumbling physical and social fabric of post-Zombie America, in Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo!"

lpsmith cheers!

Johnny claps.

Wade claps.

Recchi exclaims, "wooo!"

mwigdahl says, "And the winner is..."

mwigdahl rips the envelope open...

jmac applauds for everyone!

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline rolls her eyes. "Perhaps."

(From mwigdahl) The nanakia grabs the envelope and scampers around the stage.

[peanut-gallery] ShadowK says, ""It's the bomb!""

mwigdahl chases the nanakia briefly before retrieving the envelope...

mwigdahl exclaims, "The winner is once again Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!!! Congratulations again, Rob!"

jmac exclaims, "Wow!"

Ellison says, "wow"

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "I wonder how long it'll take Sliss to notice the nanakia."

MrPatient exclaims, "Yay!"

Johnny claps!

Wade claps.

Ellison cheers

DavidW says, "huzzah!"

Emerald applauds vigorously.

lpsmith cheers!

maga cheers

Tale says, "Aw yeab"

Biggles2k raises a very large glass.

ShadowK cheers

Tale says, "er, yeah"

maga exclaims, "Speech!"

[peanut-gallery] Pacian says, "She probably can't tell it apart from the humans."

djfletch cryptoclaps

Tale fimgerguns Recchi. "Nice work, dude!"

jmac says, "Way to go, Mr. S."

[peanut-gallery] maga says, "snrk"

Recchi says, "Thanks once again :)"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "dang, all you have to do is work on a game for more than five years just to win a bunch of awards!"

Jacqueline applauds.

inky updates the BEST SETTING entry on the chalkboard.

mwigdahl claps!

DavidW rechecks the chalkboard

[peanut-gallery] Emerald asks (of Ellison), "dang, you mean I just had to hold off on releasing It for one more year?"

Recchi says, "There were amazing games this year in this category, and this is really something I love about iF"

Jacqueline nods and claps.

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says (to Emerald), "it's not too early to start sitting on another game!"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "haha"

lpsmith returns to the stage, encouraging the orchestra to play Recchi off.

Recchi says, "haha"

Pacian waits for a hook to appear.

lpsmith exclaims, "Next! Here to present for Best Story: jmac!"

Jacqueline says, "w00t"

jmac straightens his bow tie and hops up on the stage

jmac exclaims, "Howdy, y'all!"

Biggles2k exclaims, "Go, jmac!"

Johnny woos jmac.

jmac says, "I found this year's list of Best Story nominees quite interesting, as all the games draw heavily from real life, in one way or another."

Ellison throws a baby in a river to free his hands to clap for jmac

MrPatient laughs.

jmac exclaims, "We have here some excellent and original text-game works based on historical events, biographies, all-too-real professional experiences... and, of course, explorations into the secret workings of the world that *they* don't want you to know about!"

jmac says, "Allow me to go down the list:"

jmac says, "'Bonehead', by Sean M. Shore! An adaptation into interactive fiction of an obscure but fascinating drama from the annals of American sports history."

[peanut-gallery] Johnny asks, "Matthew Lesko wrote an IF game?"

MrPatient tries to look cool, but it isn't working.

Recchi says, "WOOO SPORTS"

Wade claps.

Jacqueline says, "yay Bonehead."

DavidW cheers Bonehead.

jmac says, "'The Life (and Deaths) of Doctor M', by Michael D. Hilborn! A game that uses a surreal setting to mask an interactive contemplation of the very real, morally ambiguous work of [ SPOILER REDACTED ]."

Johnny applauds a head of bone.

Recchi cheers

MrPatient cheers wildly.

Wade claps.

DavidW claps for Dr M

Johnny [ APPLAUSE REDACTED].

lpsmith cheers

jmac says, "'The Play', by Deirdra Kiai! I have no doubts this work must ring wincefully true to anyone who has ever found themselves having to somehow assemble a presentation or show out of a bunch of misfit performers with no time to spare."

jmac waves at maga and lpsmith.

baf acts red

Johnny says, "hooray"

MrPatient applauds enthusiastically.

Recchi says, "hahah, yaaaay"

Wade claps.

lpsmith hollers "You better believe it!"

maga claps

DavidW says (to jmac), "oh yeah, definitely"

Jacqueline applauds.

jmac exclaims, "'Cryptozookeeper', by Robb Sherwin! A bold expose in adventure-game format on the shocking truth about [ NSA.GOV OVERRIDE: REDACTED ] [ ... ] [ REDACTED ] [ ... ] [ REDACTED ] and the men who love them!"

Jacqueline says, "hahaha"

DavidW says, "yay men"

Ellison says, "ha ha yay"

Johnny says, "hooray"

maga says, "hooray"

MrPatient cheers.

lpsmith says, "I thought that was Mentula."

Tale says (to DavidW), "ha ha yay"

djfletch says, "wooooo"

DrSliss makes notes.

jmac says, "'Zombie Exodus', by Jim Dattilo! Which of course offers an unflinching look at the inevitable world of tomorrow."

jmac pauses, grimly.

lpsmith laughs and cheers.

Johnny applauds our zombie overlords.

Jacqueline laughs.

Recchi claps and agrees with jmac!

MrPatient cheers.

jmac says, "Anyway! I am tremendously and sincerely honored to announce that the winner of the 2011 XYZZY Award for Best Story is...""

jmac opens the envelope...

jmac exclaims, "'The Play', by Deirdra Kiai!!"

Johnny cheers!

Biggles2k applauds enthusiastically.

Tale says, "woo!"

Wade claps.

Jacqueline cheers for Deirdra.

MrPatient pours Gatorade on Deirdra.

DavidW says, "wow and yay!"

Recchi exclaims, "Hooray Deirdra!!!"

lue applauds

[peanut-gallery] baf says, "It would be funny if he announced the winner was [REDACTED]."

Biggles2k applauds and whistles.

djfletch improvises a scene of appreciation

Ellison says, "woo"

ShadowK applauds!

maga says, "Deirdra is also at GDC, I believe"

baf woot

jmac says, "Another of our pals who is off at some other conference for some reason."

maga says, "we did a magnificent job of scheduling this year"

lpsmith asks, "Isn't this being broadcast there?"

DavidW hides under the iguana.

Johnny says, "It's being narrated by Nolan North."

Miseri applauds dramatically.

lpsmith exclaims, "That's what you told me when I didn't want to MC!"

inky updates the BEST STORY entry on the chalkboard.

Wade goes home.

maga says, "Speaking of which..."

lpsmith exclaims, "Well, speaking of the GDC, our presenter for Best Writing is: Remote Zarf!"

jmac exclaims, "Congrats, Deirdra, whenever your are!"

Wade arrives from the west.

jmac hops off the stage

jmac says, "Er, you."

jmac coughs

maga disappears behind the curtain, and wheels out an even more improbable device

jmac exclaims, "Oho!"

maga pulls a quill pen out of his pocket, and attaches it to the ornate pantograph-like mechanism

DavidW asks, "Where does he get these toys?"

jpt grins.

maga lowers the radium cylinder into the boiler

Jacqueline says (to DW), "Kickstarter."

Ellison claps

DrSliss says, "Someone found one of those for me once. Worthless."

maga | Good afternoon. You are reading my handwriting via an AUTOMATIC WRITING SIMULATOR which was invented here at FROBOZZ LABORATORIES. This is not my actual handwriting! If it were, you would NOT be ABLE to READ IT.

Jacqueline laughs.

jpt giggles.

DavidW says, "Amazing."

maga | It is often said -- or rather, written -- that the most important element of INTERACTIVE FICTION is the writing. This is true! IF cannot be immersive when written out in crabbed, splotchy longhand. Only the most elegant copperplate calligraphy will do!

maga | That is why the AUTOMATIC WRITING SIMULATOR won this year's XYZZY Award for "Best Technological Development". Or so I assume. I'm pre-recording all this, you know.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says, "ha ha"

MrPatient has to leave, unfortunately.

MrPatient goes home.

maga | As for "Best Writing", that's for me to know and y@# 4@ %1nnnd o@# --__- ---==--=++///*^* * *

jmac laughs.

(From maga) (the quill pen spins across the room in a spray of ink and embeds itself into a stuffed badger)

Ellison says, "ha ha"

DavidW says, "oh dear"

[peanut-gallery] lue says, "Did Infocom ever use this machine? (One that didn't break, of course)"

maga extracts the quill pen. "I swear, next time we're unfreezing the Plotkin clone and sending that to GDC."

Recchi says, "haha"

Jacqueline smiles.

Tale says, "goatee zarf"

[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "There was something like it in Everybody Loves a Parade, but that wasn't Infocom."

maga reattaches the quill, thumps the machine, and starts it up again.

Johnny says, "fraz"

maga says, "And the nominees for Best Writing are..."

baf says, "Dude. You know what happened the last time we let the plotkin clone roam free."

Johnny says, "He wrote So Far."

Jacqueline whispers (to Recchi), "Can you do anything for this Badger?"

maga pulls a sheet of paper from the machine. It is entirely covered with 'aaaaaaaaaaaaa'.

Recchi says (to jacq), "Hahah"

maga says, "Zombie Exodus."

Jacqueline applauds.

lue claps

baf asks, "Right. Do you want that to happen again?"

Johnny cheers.

Recchi claps

mwigdahl claps!

maga extracts another sheet, this one dominated by an illuminated T around which frolic small cherubs, bearing lettuce, cheese and ground meats.

DavidW asks badger, "Want some cheese?" "No thanks. I'm stuffed."

maga says, "Taco Fiction."

jpt facepalms at DavidW.

mwigdahl cheers!

Jacqueline claps.

Johnny cheers.

Recchi claps

djfletch says, "yay!"

lue claps

maga pulls the next sheet out too quickly, and several large pieces are torn off. The remainder is all in Latin anyway. "Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis."

Johnny cheers.

Jacqueline says, "yay"

jmac says, "awesome"

lpsmith claps and cheers.

maga holds up the final sheet, which looks much like the first one with the addition of G, C and T. "And Cryptozookeeper."

DavidW asks, "Tacos or Mentula. I can only have one?"

Johnny is bitten by two hand spiders!

Wade claps 'em all.

mwigdahl applauds for MM and Crypto!

Jacqueline applauds.

maga says, "And the winner is..."

maga wheels an Enigma machine out on stage and plugs it into the Zarfian Pantograph

Dave stops time.

baf says, "Looks like Crypto, then"

maga leads an okapi out on stage and plugs it into the other side of the Pantograph

Johnny says, "Ha ha"

maga reaches into the okapi's ear and extracts a note

jmac covers his eyes

DavidW opens an umbrella.

maga exclaims, "Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!"

Johnny cheers!

mwigdahl applauds! "Woo!"

jmac exclaims, "Zounds!"

lpsmith exclaims, "Yay!"

inky updates the BEST WRITING entry on the chalkboard.

lue applauds

Biggles2k claps.

Wade claps.

DavidW says, "zoot!"

ShadowK Cheers!

Tale says, "holy moses"

Dave says, "awesome"

Pacian exclaims, "Huzzah!"

baf hangs his head in shame for blurting out the punch line prematurely

djfletch says, "wooo"

Jacqueline wonders if Recchi's going to be able to lug all these awards home.

Recchi says (to maga), "I applaud your ability to get close enough to an okapi to do that :)"

Miseri applauds cryptically,

Recchi says, "Thanks, everyone"

Jacqueline asks (of Miseri), "Don't you mean... cryptidly?"

maga says (to Recchi), "it's actually two zarf clones in an okapi suit"

Recchi says, "I just want to take the time to thank the people who tested my game: Marshall, Bananadine, Worm, Greg, Ben Davis, Michael Fransioli, Lex, Juhana, Drew, Flack, George, Tale, Pinner, Brian Rapp, Johnny, Tdarcos, Sorrel and Mike Sousa."

Recchi says (to maga), "Hahaha"

DavidW says, "yay testers!"

lpsmith exclaims, "Yay beta-testers!"

maga says, "hooray testers"

Johnny applauds the long list!

mwigdahl applauds for the testers!

inky says, "hooray for testing"

Jacqueline exclaims, "Hooray for beta testers!"

jmac says, "I love you testers."

lpsmith asks, "Were any of them harmed in the making of that game?"

Pacian raises his glass to the brave testers.

Tale says (to lpsmith), "We live proudly with the scars"

inky asks (of lpsmith), "emotionally?"

Recchi laughs

Recchi says (to lpsmith), "Emotionally, like Dan says, yeah"

Ellison says, "yay testers"

lpsmith says, "Well, now you can tell them it was worth it."

lpsmith exclaims, "And so! We've reached the final award of the year: Best Game!"

jmac exclaims, "Whee!"

mwigdahl says, "Woohoo!""

Johnny applauds the best game!

Tale says, "woo"

maga shoos the okapi offstage

Pacian cheers.

lpsmith exclaims, "As often happens, all the games nominated in this category were also nominated for multiple other categories!"

lue exclaims, "Hooray!"

Tale says, "yay okapis"

lpsmith exclaims, ""First alphabetically, with six nominations all told: Cryptozookeeper, by Robb Sherwin!"

Wade claps.

Johnny claps.

mwigdahl applauds!

lue claps

baf exclaims, "Never heard of it!"

lpsmith exclaims, ""Next, with five nominations, Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis, by Adam Thornton!"

Emerald goes home.

Johnny claps..

Wade claps.

mwigdahl claps!

djfletch claps

lue claps

Recchi cheers Adam!

maga claps

lpsmith exclaims, ""Next, we have Six, by Wade Clarke, who also received five nominations!"

Recchi exclaims (at Wade), "woooo!"

Johnny claps...

jmac says (to baf), "ha ha"

mwigdahl applauds! "Yay Wade!"

lpsmith says, "(I was hoping for six when I compiled the list, but alas)"

Miseri asks, "5 for 6? What??"

djfletch says, "yay!"

lue claps continuously

lpsmith exclaims, ""And finally, nominated for almost every category (including some it arguably didn't even qualify for), at 10 nominations all told, Zombie Exodus, by Jim Dattilo!"

mwigdahl claps!

Pacian applauds audacity.

Recchi applauds!

Wade claps.

lue claps a little longer, and then stops for the announcement of the winner

Johnny claps....

lpsmith exclaims, "A big hand for all the nominees!"

DrSliss approves.

maga cheers

Ellison cheers

Wade applauds.

djfletch says, "woooo"

DavidW claps

Tale claps.

inky claps

Johnny claps.....

lpsmith says, "And the winner..."

jmac applauds a lot.

lpsmith says, "Of the XYZZY Award..."

Ellison laughs

lpsmith says, "For Best Game of 2011..."

lpsmith exclaims, "Cryptozookeeper!"

Johnny applauds!

jmac exclaims, "Eee!"

Jearl applauds

Wade applauds.

lue cheers loudly!

Dave exclaims, "yay!"

mwigdahl stands and cheers wildly!

ShadowK Cheers!

Biggles2k claps and stamps his feet.

maga stands and cheers

DavidW says, "honk honk"

SimonChris applauds wildly!

djfletch cheers!

GDorn says, "woot"

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "jumps on Recchis back and screams loudly."

Jacqueline exclaims, "Great job, Robb!"

Miseri says, "Huzzah!"

Pacian exclaims, "Yaaaay!"

Tale jumps on Recchis back and screams loudly.

inky says, "trout for the win"

jmac says, "::bigfoot noise::"

Ellison says, "yay"

Miseri claps and claps.

lpsmith exclaims, "Congratulations!"

Recchi exclaims, "Oh my God!"

Bishop walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice him approaching it from the other side.

inky updates the BEST GAME entry on the chalkboard.

Tale asks (of Recchi), "Sargent?"

Iain says, "Whoa"

Iain says (to Recchi), "YES YOUR GOD"

jmac says, "i know right"

Recchi says, "Thank you so much, everyone. I amazed and so grateful."

Tale says, "So are we."

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "(snicker) Recchi will have to work a little harder on his invocation ...."

BrenBarn flashes the "catch you later" handsign.

[peanut-gallery] Johnny says (to Recchi), "Congrats!"

Recchi says, "This thing pretty much took over my life for five years and I really appreciate everyone who gave it a shot and tried it out"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "dang, now I have to add all of these awards to the CZK 'special awards' box on the 'list of hugo games' page on Hugo by Example. "thanks a lot, Sherwin!""

[peanut-gallery] Tale says, "ha ha"

maga says, "better start working on your presenter jokes for next year"

Recchi says, "Wade, Jim and One of the Bruces made fantastic games and I am really proud to be in their class."

Wade says, "Thanks. Sorry, still reeling from your 5 year comment :)"

Tale is fired from breathing.

Tale has disconnected.

Recchi says, "And just, one last thing, I just wanted to say thanks to Jacq for running the Intro Comp, Emily for running the PAX demo faire, and Ellison for keeping me sane throughout making this."

Recchi says, "And to Kent for making Hugo :)"

jmac yays

Johnny applauds all those people!

Jacqueline smiles.

maga claps

Wade claps.

djfletch says, "hurrah!"

Iain says, "Yay Ellison for ditching all the other people he could have kept sane instead!"

Recchi says (to Iain), "haha"

Ellison says, "ha ha"

Jacqueline says, "Ellison's pretty good at keepin' it real for all of us, fwiw."

SimonChris goes home.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "And thank goodness I've met Ellison, so that my mental image of him does *not* include that moustache."

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "now I feel somewhat obliged to grow one"

lpsmith says, "Even with that moustache."

[peanut-gallery] Recchi says, "Haha"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "bah"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says, "moustaches are cool by definition."

Emerald walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side.

mwigdahl goes home.

lpsmith exclaims, "Thanks everyone for coming!"

Wade says, "Crypto won best game, Emerald. Just happened"

[peanut-gallery] Miseri says (to Ellison), "yeeessss, yesssss, obey the 'stache...."

Biggles2k bows to lpsmith.

Emerald says, "my Internet connection chose a really bad time to drop out"

Wade says, "thanks for MCing"

[peanut-gallery] Ellison says, "(I won't, though, because I don't have the restraint required for trimming)"

Wade comforts Emerald.

Johnny says (to lpsmith), "Thank *you*! (and maga and jmac and the presenters)"

Emerald applauds for the nominees and winners she missed.

DrSliss checks her strange-looking watch.

lpsmith exclaims, "And if you want to relax afterwards in the Carousel Bar and Grill, we'll see you there!"

Johnny says, "(And inky for the website.)"

Ellison says, "thanks to everybody who showed up! lots of talented people here today!"

baf disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.

jmac loves the xyzzys and if and YOU.

Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.

maga says, "We'd also like to thank David Welbourn for compiling the list of games so diligently"

DrSliss says, "Time to get out of here. Thank you for toning down the violence for an outworlder."

genericgeekgirl walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side.

Johnny disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.

Emerald says, "on the upside, I now have breakfast"

Miseri is very disappointed in you. Earlier, he may have ransacked your office, but he is *very* disappointed in you.

Jacqueline walks out from under the archway south of here, although you didn't notice her approaching it from the other side.

Wade says (to Emerald), "hehe, I had mine at 7:30"

jmac disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.

inky leaves the auditorium to the west.

Wade says, "10:30 am now, time to head out"

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline asks, "Which way to the bar, again?"

a chalkboard listing the XYZZY Award winners disappears.

DavidW leaves the auditorium to the west.

Jacqueline leaves the auditorium to the west.

[peanut-gallery] inky asks, "I think w, n, up?"

DrSliss goes home.

maga leaves the auditorium to the west.

Emerald says (to Wade), "see you!"

genericgeekgirl leaves the auditorium to the west.

lue leaves the auditorium to the west.

Biggles2k leaves the auditorium to the west.

Jearl leaves the auditorium to the west.

Wade exclaims, "Seeya!"

djfletch leaves the auditorium to the west.

Wade exclaims, "Bye everyone!"

Felix leaves the auditorium to the west.

[peanut-gallery] jmac asks, "Wait, this is a real thing?"

GDorn leaves the auditorium to the west.

Wade waves.

Bishop leaves the auditorium to the west.

Johnny arrives from the west.

Recchi leaves the auditorium to the west.

Johnny leaves the auditorium to the west.

Wade goes home.

Emerald leaves the auditorium to the west.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says (to jmac), "The bar? Yes."

Pacian leaves the auditorium to the west.

Afterward leaves the auditorium to the west.

[peanut-gallery] Jacqueline says, "We only seem to ever come here after the Xyzzies."

K-Y arrives from the west.

lpsmith is whisked away by a violet beam of violent energy!

The 'Carousel Room' Bar & Grill

Zagat's says, "The Carousel may not actually spin -- but after a couple cocktails prepared by master mixologist Flanz Loomi, you'll think it does!" This more than makes up for that barb in the local indie weekly declaring, "Why do they call it the Carousel? Because the men act like small children and the women look like horses." Goddamn smart-ass Gen-X punks.

You can see: IF WRITER'S FORUM ground rules, Grue Bouncer, MUD Author Chat Suggestion Book, verbs for interview situations, goat

Players: Jacqueline, DavidW, maga, lue, Bishop, Johnny, Recchi, djfletch, inky, Felix, Emerald, jmac

Visible Exits: down

jmac says, "Huh."

maga says, "whew."

DavidW says, "well, that went well."

Afterward has arrived.

maga says, "I think I might need a drink."

DavidW says (to maga), "Maybe even two."

Jearl has arrived.

Johnny asks (of maga), "Something hard?"

Johnny asks, "Or water?"

lpsmith has arrived.

Jacqueline says, "That went pretty well, yeah."

Ellison has arrived.

Iain has arrived.

lpsmith concentrates, and disappears.

Ellison buys everyone a drink

lpsmith has arrived.

DavidW says (to lpsmith), "Loved your comment about relating to The Play's frantic last minute preparations."

lpsmith says, "Heh."

genericgeekgirl materializes.

Ellison asks, "is there a channel for this room?"

lpsmith says, "That was jmac's prompting, of course."

Iain says, "That's definitely the best ceremony I've idled through."

DavidW says (to Ellison), "I don't think so. Ask inky."

genericgeekgirl says, "I missed the entire thing :("

Iain says, "Especially as I woke up at the most exciting bit!"

maga says, "next year we should really do a proper half-time show"

inky says, "yeah, not that I know of"

GDorn has arrived.

Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "For recapping it? I don't think so, no."

Iain asks, "Hire some dinosaur of rock to rock out?"

Iain says, "Or just an actual dinosaur."

Ellison says, "I didn't pay attention as well as I would have liked to since I was working on *IF* in another window! que horror!"

Ellison says (to J), "yeah"

lpsmith says (to Ellison), "I think that's illega."

lpsmith says, "er, illegal."

Jacqueline says, "We could hire Recchi for the half-time show next year... since, y'know, he'll be pretty much handing out all the awards anyway."

lpsmith says, "Heh."

Johnny says, "Maybe Ellison can play Grimloft."

maga says, "well, this year could have been the Matt Wigdahl Show if he'd so desired"

Recchi says, "heh"

maga says, "dinosaur dancing-girls, the whole bit"

Jacqueline says, "True."

jmac exclaims (at maga), "and lpsmith and inky Thanks for pulling this together, it was lots of fun!"

lpsmith disappears.

Jacqueline says, "Though 2.5 hours is probably enough for me, ceremony-wise."

Jacqueline says, "Yeah, what jmac said - great show this year."

jmac asks, "Is there an official transcript time / place?"

maga says, "Dr. Sherwin and his Incredible Dog Fights"

Jacqueline says, "Well, Perry is running a transcript (he's here as we speak), but I'm not sure where it'll be hosted."

maga says, "brasslantern usually covers it"

Jacqueline says, "Ah"

lpsmith has arrived.

lue says, "*That's* what PerrySimm was doing in the Auditorium. I was wondering."

Ellison says, "yeah, great job, presenters and organizers"

Jacqueline makes a note to send it to Sargent.

Jacqueline says (to lue), "Perry was just enjoying the ceremony like everyone else... but he's a bit stoic and never claps or says 'w00t' or anything."

maga says, "it was an interesting year to join the organisers"

lpsmith says, "What with the voting kerfluffle? Heh."

Jacqueline exclaims (at maga), "Welcome to the world of being an organizer!"

maga says, "I was expecting that I'd just peruse ballots and drop bon mots"

Jacqueline pats maga on the back and buys him an imaginary drink.

inky says (to Jacqueline), "if you send it to me, I'll put it up o xyzzyawards.org"

Jacqueline says (to inky), "Mmkay"

Jacqueline asks, "So... favorite moments of the ceremony?"

lpsmith says, "We'll have to figure out what to do about the votes next year, but hey."

lpsmith says, "We have a whole year to worry about that."

Jacqueline says, "Honestly, for me I think my favorite moment was Tale screaming 'Noooooooooo.'"

maga says, "yeah, we welcome ideas on the Future of the XYZZYs"

Felix waves good night.

Jacqueline asks, "Do we think, given the kerfuffle, that the same thing will still happen next year?"

maga says, "in a few days I'll be putting up a list on intfiction of all the crazy ideas people have suggested"

Emerald says (to maga), "Irrelevant to the ChoiceScript issue, but I'd like to see Best NPCs renamed Best Characters"

inky says (to Jacqueline), "I predict Tale will continue to scream every year"

maga says (to Jacq), "probably not from ChoiceScript guys in particular, but that's not the point"

Jacqueline says (to inky), "heehee"

Emerald says (to maga), "because some games (e.g. Everybody Dies) have a great line-up of PCs, and I'd like to see them get some recognition too"

Recchi says (to inky), "Haha"

Jacqueline nods at maga.

Ellison says (to inky), "ha ha"

inky says, "Best Implementation and Best Innovation were pretty different this year, which was good, since they weren't last year"

maga says, "yeah"

lpsmith says, "Yeah, they didn't even share nominees. (well, apart from Zombie)"

Felix goes home.

maga says (to Emerald), "it also makes sense not to rely so much on RPG-ish terminology"

Ellison says, "yeah, I dunno. I guess if there's anything to fix, it's first round voting. maybe if we *did* move to an Academy Awards type system where only members can vote, more people would actually feel compelled to vote in the first round"

Emerald says (to maga), "yeah"

maga says, "if, y'know, we're hoping to make ourselves look appealing to people who are from the writing world rather than the Geek Arts"

Ellison says, "and then we could just have public voting in the second round"

Jacqueline asks (of Ellison), "Members defined how?"

maga says, "that's the rub"

Ellison says, "send out specific invites to people we know to be in the IF community (even if we have a 'contact us to get in' option to cover all of the lurkers, I'm sure only so many people would make use of that anyway)"

Ellison says, "then we'd have a 'mailing list' to begin with"

lpsmith says, "If there was a forum or a mailing list that got regular traffic, that'd be a good place to start."

maga says, "the way the Oscars do it is basically that members can invite other members"

Jacqueline says, "I mean, I'm completely disillusioned after this year, because I thought that so few people voted in the nomination phase that if I could only remember to nominate something I liked would get in, and then many of my nominees did not get in. Sigh."

Jacqueline says, "So the cabal can have it."

lpsmith says, "Hee."

Emerald asks (of Jacq), "what did you nominate that didn't get in?"

lpsmith says, "You have to get two friends to nominate the same thing."

Jacqueline says (to lps), "I'm a fairly regular member of the community but hate the forums, so... maybe that's one place, but I wouldn't make it the only one."

Emerald says, "I nominated PataNoir for Innovation"

Ellison says, "my biggest worry is that at any point, we have an influx of voters who really have no idea how hard it is to write IF (and therefore, why the form needs to be 'protected')"

Jacqueline says (to Emerald), "Hm, I'd have to go back and look, and I'm not sure I jotted it down."

maga says (to Jacqueline), "let me see"

Jacqueline says, "maga is pulling the record for me. I was mostly joking, though I did nominate Ellison's game for innovation because I thought it was really clever."

Jacqueline says, "(Ecto Horror)"

Ellison says, "I can't remember what I voted for, either, but many of mine didn't make it either"

Jacqueline says, "Oh, and I nominated Three More Visitors for writing."

Jacqueline says, "Indigo for puzzles, though it got a nod elsewhere."

maga says, "first-round voting is usually quite scattered"

Jacqueline says, "And I specified Demi Leitner for PC."

Johnny says, "I think I guessed 8 right."

Emerald says, "I didn't vote for many categories in the first round - I hardly played any IF last year"

maga says, "another problem is that people don't really know what to vote for in Supplemental Materials and Tech Development"

Jacqueline says, "I was under this impression that so few people took part in first round you could probably sneak anything decent in... but then maga had to go and talk it up and get people Involved this year."

Jacqueline asks (of maga), "They don't?"

maga says, "well, there's no list"

Johnny asks, "Who won Innovation?"

maga says, "Kerkerkruip"

Johnny says, "Er, I mean Implementation."

maga says, "oh. Six."

Johnny says, "I got nine right."

Ellison says, "I was a bit sad that Cryptozookeeper wasn't nominated for Supplemental Materials, as the purchasable version has an extra story and game source and other neat things, but I imagine not enough people saw that"

Johnny says (to maga), "Thanks. And thanks!"

maga says, "well, yeah, a lot of people just aren't aware of the range of stuff, or don't have a clear idea of what qualifies"

maga asks, "like, does an extension count? Does every bullet-point in a new I7 release count?"

Emerald says, "yeah, I really had no idea what to nominate for Supplement Materials"

Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "Hm, yeah."

djfletch says, "I didn't vote for tech development because I hadn't really used any of the new developments."

Jacqueline says (to maga), "Yeah, but to do up a list stifles potential votes - tricky."

djfletch says, "I expect I'll end up using some or all of them sooner or later though."

Johnny says, "Examples from past years."

Jacqueline says (to Johnny), "Hm, yeah, though the categories have only been this way for two years."

Ellison says, "csb"

Ellison goes back to Squeamhurst..

Ellison has disconnected.

maga says, "yeah, Tech Dev is weird in that very few people are really, seriously qualified to vote on it"

Johnny says, "Possibly you can throw in some Medium nominees that would've qualified."

maga says, "and most of the developments haven't really had a chance to prove themselves by the time the awards come round"

Emerald says, "I think I've actually used all of this year's Tech Dev nominees, at least briefly as a player"

Jacqueline says (to maga), "That last bit is a particularly good point."

lue says, "This was the first XYZZY awards I managed to attend, and it was really fun. Saint Germain is the most vivid moment in my memory right now."

maga says, "so the supposition is that people vote depending on how big a deal they think the thing is for The Future of IF"

maga exclaims (at lue), "glad you enjoyed it!"

djfletch says, "yeah, that's probably the way to think about it. I do think it's a good award to have."

Emerald says, "TADS 3.1 was a very deserving winner, I think, but as a T3 user I'm bound to say that"

Emerald says, "but I'm very excited about several of its new features"

Afterward has left.

Jacqueline says, "It's interesting that TADS 3.1 got it given that there's a sense of there not being as many TADS coders these days."

Jacqueline says, "Perhaps that's just a misconception."

jmac says, "Yeah, I thought Vorple had that one cinched, but that's because I don't know nuthin about TADS. The #peanut-gallery was in agreement that that was a really strong category this year."

Jacqueline says, "Or perhaps it's just that innovative to TADS that it captured the whole TADS community."

Emerald says, "Just recently it feels like there's been a resurgence of interest in TADS (since the 3.1 release)."

Emerald says, "The TADS board on intfiction.org has been quite busy lately."

Jacqueline says, "huh"

Jacqueline says, "Cool."

Emerald says, "That said, it looks like there were only four TADS 3 games released last year, and three were SpeedIF."

Emerald says, "And one was mine."

Emerald says, "I felt weird about releasing the only TADS 3 game in the IFComp... now I feel extra weird"

inky says, "well, games take a while to make, so it may be that games lag behind interest"

Emerald says, "yeah, hopefully we'll see a few more come out this year"

djfletch says, "If I was writing a game it would be in T3, but the problem is I'm not writing one."

Jacqueline says, "heh"

djfletch says, "I think not having web play was putting people off, so 3.1 having that might well make a difference."

lue exclaims, "Well, I had fun. I need to start making it a point to visit ifMUD more often. See you all later!"

lue has left.

Emerald says, "I should really get to work on the web-playable post-Comp release of It"

Ellison has arrived.

Jacqueline says, "Seems like the conversation here has pretty much died down. I think I'll shut down the transcript."

Jacqueline exclaims, "It was good to chat after the awards with you guys. Thanks!"

Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.