Issue #17 February 2008

It's been a while since our last release, more due to my laziness than anything. What with Christmas and New Years being the busiest times of year we decided to hold off a bit, and also waiting for promotions, you know, the usual suspects. We have however, decided to release an issue every two months as opposed to every month. I blame Hobbie.

Other changes are in the air as well. We've dispensed with the patron of the month interviews in favor of something different, which I also blame on Hobbie. Stay tuned for that because we put Bria in charge of it. I think. We'll still be doing promotions and possibly expanding that section. In the future, we hope to add some more up close and personal looks at specific projects to keep you informed on the happenings at OTF.

Last, most of you know about the impending changes to the outpost, specifically the disbanding of departments and organization of smaller more independant teams instead. I personally am excited about these changes, and I'm sure this next few months will be a crazy time as we pull together and figure ourselves out. This does mean however that this issue marks the goodbye of the OZD, the Senate and the Wizards. It will be the last time you receive updates from those departmental groups, rather farewells and a look back on what's been accomplished.

.Sorry i just looked back on this all and discovered I wasn't very funny. I blame Hobbie.

Toodles.

Polson
_{Department of Something or Other}

Well seeing how departments are changing to be teams instead and the affiliation thing is going to be different as well, the OZD was disbanned officially this month. Because of this, not a whole lot has been going on. So I'd like to highlight some folks that I know put a lot into the Star Trek side of things over the past couple of years. I wasn't always on the up and up, so if I miss you and you think you deserved a Polson Kudos, I apologize, and I blame Hobbie. Forward your complaints to his mail box.

Brady, Brady, Brady, Brady. I am in love with Brady. Seemed for a while there all things OZD had Brady's name on it. But I think what I have always valued most about Brady is the way he values everyone who works under him. Even long before I joined the OZD, Brady would listen to my long winded wacky ideas and opinions on how things should work and he never put words in my mouth or made me feel like I was a bad person for disagreeing with the status quo. But he also wasn't afraid to tell me no. I like that in a man. So, Brady, Kudos!

Second, I'd like to pass a kudo onto the double team of Jeremy and Aeon, the King and Queen of avatars. Ever since Jeremy was involved in the creation of Alder Hill, he's really been the go-to man when it comes to collecting avatars, and I don't think there's anyone who hasn't seen Aeon's name on all projects "theme". I cannot imagine the amount of work that has gone into some of those projects. Not to mention, whenever someone on the mailing list asked for a hand, these two were usually the first ones to say "how can I help?"

Kayana, because she's been the OZD tyrant for most of my time as OZD. This faboo lady actually gave me duties and then wasn't surprised when I did an okay job!!! Her help with the Blue Report has been awesome. She had big shoes to fill and she filled 'em, all the while wearing two pairs of socks.

It is no secret that I have a great affection for Bria. Yet she's not OZD so I can't praise her name here. Instead I will give the last Kudos to Iain. I know, it was inevidable, but what can you say? I say jump, the guy says, "Why jump when I can dispell gravity and you can float everywhere you go?" I don't need to express more of his awesomeness, because doing so would make his ego so big there wouldn't be room for the rest of us in this universe. It's getting crowded enough as it is.

So yup. I'm happy to have had a part in the OZD. And I'm excited about the new opportuneties open to us with the coming change.

Toodles.

Polson
_{Department of Something or Other No More}

Yo ho!

What with the recently announced changes and dissolutions and various other new-fangled bits and pieces, it looks like we'll be saying goodbye to the Senate soon. Well, by that I mean you'll be saying goodbye to us, at least if you're nice, since it'd be kind of silly, albeit fitting, if we said goodbye to ourselves.

Not to worry, though, I'm fairly certain that there will be many new and wonderful things to take our place! We had a good time of it while it lasted, we created a fair few things including some new affiliations, several events and games, and not to mention our beautiful website. I, for one, enjoyed my time immensely, at least when I wasn't being ordered around by Jaden or Hobbie or most recently Amanda. That woman is dangerous, I tell you!

So that's that. We haven't really done much lately, I'm afraid. That is, we did a fair bit, since we did want to change a few things and make it all more relaxed, interactive, and well, fun. We had all these ideas featuring new ranks, entry lines, and lots of randomness. Then Iain and HAL announced the changes and our changes became somewhat redundant, hence you probably never knew about them. And that sounds like a political lie if ever there was one, Hobbie will be proud of me.

And with that, the last ever Senate article draws to a close. Thanks for reading all this time, if indeed you did, and may the Force be with us all with things to come.

Clear skies!

Bria Terrik
_{Senator of Corellia, for a little while longer.}

To CL6:

To CL5:

To CL4:

To CL3:

Wolf Brother wanders by the Old Folks home to visit Maxwell in his first year of retirement...

[Enlarge comic in a new window.]

It's me again. This time with something completely different, which we want to give a try. You see – I am going to write a story, which will be serialised in BR issues to come. Kind of like QD's Star Wars script, but also quite different in that it is not a script, nor does it have a proper plot. Yet. This is where you come in.

This story will be about OTF, featuring OTFers, that's you guys. The idea is that there will be a central plot, but it will be wide enough so that everyone who wants a part can have a part. All you need to do is let me know if you want to be involved. If you like, you can specify your own name/occupation/description, or maybe you have a quote you'd like in there, or something you want to "do". If you just want to be featured or mentioned, no worries, I'll use my imagination. There'll be a forum thread for the purpose of letting me know all of the above, discussing ideas for the plot, and generally providing your input. Alternatively, you can simply email me or get me on MSN if you see me about.

You can get involved even if you don't want to be directly featured in anything, by the way. Maybe there's just something you'd like to see happen, there's a joke you've thought of, you want to see someone else like a celebrity or a character from a show/book/comic, or maybe you'd like to write a paragraph. Let me know; this is all fairly open as of yet!

Obviously there's a clause – there's always a clause. In this case, it's that there will be no dying/killing of OTFers, no mutilation, and no other nastiness unless it's friendly nastiness. I think that was obvious, but I still have to say it, 'kay? ;)

I hope that it all makes sense, and I hope even more that you'll get involved. I can't really do this on my own, so head over to the forum and talk to me! It's also the place to ask questions, if you have any

Clear skies!

Bria Terrik