Hi everyone,

I know I have been a little quiet of late, so I wanted to let you all know
what has been going on. I have been having some very good discussions with
the SC members that you all elected. Things have been quite hectic, to tell
you the truth. Even had the chance to organise a very quick eeting with
some of the SC members on very short notice. So what are we doing?

Well, basically we are trying to decide on a number of small, but
critically important issues. Firstly, we are generating a
'mood/flavour/feel' to the city we are going to develop. Since there are
six of us altogether, the result should be a fairly good representation of
what is on the list. This includes things like the population (we are
looking at a permanent population of about 125,000, with a seasonal
variation of maybe 25,000-75,000 at the moment). Secondly, we are coming up
with a basic, general outline of a map - what the city looks like, but not
down to details. Basic overall things which will help people when they
decide. For example, where the upper class areas, docks/imperial harbour,
industrial, slum areas are in *general*. If you wish to contribute your own
ideas to this, then you can start some discussion on this list, or on the
message board. Thirdly, each SC member is coming up with a general 'big'
picture of how their group fits into the city. When all these things are
combined together, we should have a good idea of what the mood in the city
is like. The SC members may communicate some of their ideas to you
themselves, as some already have, or put it on the web page.

A small (but Important) Announcement:

If you have a burning desire to be a part of a certain group, then contact
the SC member for that group (their email addresses should be up on the
homepage soon) and let them know your ideas (keep it relatively short at
this stage) and how/where you can help. I list the email addresses below,
but they are from memory (if I get them wrong could the SC members correct
me please - thanks):

* Law/Government - James Ruhland (jruhlconob@sprynet.com
* Magic - Darren Cooper (Jim_Cooper@bc.sympatico.ca)
* Guilds - Scott Koester (muaddib+@osu.edu)
* Military/Defence - Joran Lindblom (jlindblo@online.no)
* Miscellaneous/Other - Mark VanderMeulen (vander+@pitt.edu)

This will let us gauge the level of interest for each group. In particular,
Mark is going to need some help since his group covers a very wide range of
areas. So if you can help him out in this regard, then contact him about
it. On the other hand, **if you don't really mind which group you get to
help in**, then wait until we are a little further along the track. Then we
can fit you in where you are needed (we will not put people where they do
not want to be, so you needn't worry about that). This is not meant to
precipitate a mad free-for-all rush, so please don't try and 'jump the
queue' - we are very busy as it is. If you really don't mind, then wait.

Also, could those SC nominees who were not successful please contact *me*
(NOT the individual SC members please). Since you have all indicated your
commitment and willingness to help this project by actually nominating
yourselves, I would like to know whether you are still willing to provide
that 'extra' bit of help (which would have been required had you been
elected). I don't mean to put anyone down by this, so I apologise if it
doesn't come out quite like I intended it. There are several positions of
responsibility which have come to our attention, and it would be a great
help if they are filled by someone we know will be of great help.

On an entirely different note, I have translated the introductory document
into html format, which should make it much easier for everyone to read. It
should be up on the homepage sometime soon. The SC member's email addresses
are all there.

Well, that's all folks. Until next time,

Simon

P.S. I am now on ICQ so you can contact me that way if you like (I forget
the number; searching by my name - it's pretty unique ;-) ).