Stupid Computers · 7:37pm May 30th, 2014
I can pretty much do nothing at work. 
I mean, I'm a developer for a web app, and now when I launch the thing (and only when *I* launch it), I can log in, and then I get a page full of this:
��}�s�6���[��wr�xj-��l��z<����W����NW>��lf(R!)d6�oHJM�e����)5�D�Fw��h4y����?> [��,{��? �-�9��Q�~�����ˣb6O��N��:.ˢ<5/@��#+�f�ų��^ϋ�~f�E^Ӽ~��:M�� �Jc:?�Y#X��o{��I��Z_� �`���v�ُ�L�a �߬o����z]s�5��O��"K�֨� �ՂKv�D�!m�Ҫ�]�����0*�uz%�GlT�M�[F�)-i ӿ=_��0>m:-���X����V ��r)��L�'��I5D%�N�_��F����h BU�.���/��,z����=�����mU���':~.5{�ߕÚr�B��l��ё�*��UjNC
I can't find the cause of the problem, my team lead can't find the cause of the problem, nobody else has this problem! Woe is Lithl!
Oh well, at least I solved a bug my scrum master was trying to deal with, and helped my teammate find a resource he was looking for and couldn't find. So I'm not totally worthless. Just, y'know... not worth the money they're paying me.
[/rant]
In pony news, My Little Exalt ought to be coming out of its de facto hiatus in the near-ish future. I won't give a date, because lying is rude, but I just want my readers to know that it's not a dead story. One of the factors that delayed me was a desire to catch up on my reading, and I'm pleased to say that I'm down to 86 unread chapters as of the time of this writing, 16 of which are low-priority because they're in stories which are on official hiatus.
What? 70 unread chapters is too much to get excited over? I'll have you know I had over 250 unread chapters a month or so ago! 
Chiefly among those stories I want to catch up on which gets me interested in writing MLE again is The Scroll of Exalted Ponies, another Exalted crossover; in contrast to MLE, TSoEP is entirely OCs, and is set in a Creation full of ponies, rather than using existing characters and thrusting them into a Creation full of humans. TSoEP just updated today, bumping my unread chapter count on that story to 6. (Go read! Webkilla deserves more thumbs and faves.)
A couple new readers commenting on MLE have also given me some extra impetus to get back on the saddle. Thanks, guys! 
The approach of the Exalted 3rd Edition book hasn't hurt my motivation, either... although I might end up taking a week or two break once I get my copy... 
Anyway, here are the things which are active drains on my time:
1. (Monday-Friday morning-afternoon) Work
2. (Wednesday afternoon-evening) Running a Magic: the Gathering Commander league at my local game shop.
3. (Friday evening) Running a Unknown Ponies: Failure is Awesome campaign on Roll20.
4. (Saturday afternoon) Participating in a Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition campaign on Roll20.
5. (Saturday evening) Participating in a Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition campaign on Roll20.
The first scene of MLE chapter 19 has been written for a while now, but I'll probably need to re-write it after such a long time languishing. Similarly, chapter 21 has been partially written for a while. I'll probably start gradually getting back into my flow once I catch back up on TSoEP, but pounding out chapters like when I first began (~1 chapter per week) will take some doing, if I ever get back to that momentum at all. I was an unemployed bum living at my parents' house when I began this story, and now I've got a 9-5, living at my own place.
Happy Friday, everypony~!
Wow, not only is the encoding problem giving me issues at work, it's trying to give me issues at pony, too! I had to edit this blog post twice to prevent the quoted text from cutting off the rest of the blog.
Very glad to hear you're getting back on the horse.
Less glad to hear about the app troubles. I'm afraid that's outside my area of expertise. I'm just trying to make a database. 
I found Scroll of Exalted Ponies to be too heavy-handed with exposition for me to get into, but I'll give it another try. I'm sure it gets better.
Also, who's your Commander?
(Saturday activities) You willingly play the Edition of AD&D That Must Not Be Named? Shock and horror have been felt by me! Pathfinder and AD&D 2E are superior editions. GURPS is a good game as well.
I have some experience in this matter as I have been playing RPGs since 1984.
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Karn, Silver Golem
Soraya the Falconer
Thada Adel, Acquisitor
Toshiro Umezawa
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Rasputin Dreamweaver
Athreos, God of Passage
Gaddock Teeg
Melek, Izzet Paragon
Zedruu the Greathearted
Ghave, Guru of Spores
Thraximundar
Maelstrom Wanderer
Prossh, Sky Raider of Kher
As you can see, all of my decks are blue. I can't play Teeg against my roommate, though. He'll murder me in my sleep if I do.
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I prefer playing a game to playing a simulation. 4e is much further on the gamist end of the spectrum than any of the other editions of D&D, while the others are much more simulationist. (Of course, there are RPGs more gamist than 4e, and there are RPGs more simulationist than the other D&D editions.)
I've not had the opportunity to play any GURPS variant, although I've heard many good things. As might be expected, Exalted is my favorite RPG; it's unfortunate, then, that my group has elicited to avoid playing until Ex3 comes out.
Sorry to hear about your troubles in the tech fielding department. I'm very glad to see that you are able to find inspiration to resume writing. I liked the my little exalt, it gave me some means to actually, understand the confusing system along with the sadly dead Keychain of Creation . Could you explain what you mean by a magic commander league?
Still, heh. I've a ton left to read, at 96 chapters , and 192 read laters... Urgh, I dread going back into the larger chapters, especially the like of Murky, and a few others on the larger word side. (the 20k+ ones)
Though one thing I wanted to ask, what are your views on the alchemicals?
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For the record:
Rosheen Meanderer
Glissa, the Traitor
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Grimgrin, Corpse-Born
Hanna, Ship's Navigator
Rhys the Redeemed
It takes me a painfully long time to build a Commander deck. Massive collection + difficulty making decisions = months at minimum. I currently have more than half a dozen in various states of production.
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Commander is one of several formats for playing Magic: the Gathering. My league runs 9 weeks per season, 2 games per week, with players accumulating points each week. Top two for the night get a pack each, and at the end of the season we often have a prize based on cumulative ranking.
Not sure what you mean about my views on alchemicals, though.
2160293 for exalted, the alchemical exalts, the autocarth, cath, being that they are. how do you view them, in comparison to the rest of the lot. Bad splatbook, or somewhere nicer?
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They're very flavorful, although it can be difficult to run an Alchemicals campaign which takes place pre-Locust Crusade with limited information on the setting.