My parents introduced me to this book some years back,
The Aladdin Principle, which made a large impression on me, even though I never actually read it. The Aladdin Principle is simple: you should ask for things in order to get them. For a concrete example, if you go to a restaurant on your birthday, you ought to mention to people working there that it is, in fact, your birthday. Well, actually to do it right, you should mention it's your birthday and
ask for something extra, like a free piece of pie or a little performance from the waitstaff. The person who hears your request may oblige you, and if he doesn't, then what have you lost? It's human nature to want to please people. I could get pseudo-deep and make up stuff about how we are securing our place in the tribe by responding favorably to our peers, but I'm better off avoiding that territory. When somebody asks you for something, don't you instinctively want to say "
yes"
? I definitely do. So isn't it smart to get in on the receiving side of that exchange? In fact, if you aren't constantly asking people for stuff, you're missing a boatload of gifts and opportunities, right?
The Aladdin Principle made a large impression on me. I realized that somebody who walks around asking for things will get more than someone who doesn't. But the world really shouldn't work that way. Because if it does, then inconsiderate people will rule over everyone else. If it does work that way, and you're smart, then you'll be propositioning a dozen women in one nightclub outing, mooching cigarettes off of strangers, getting out of paying for steak dinners that seemed slightly flavorless, vulching a hand-me-down TV from your brother after he picks up a new plasma screen, and pressuring your friend in the marketing department to put in a good word for you with the VP.
Does the squeaky wheel always have to get the grease? Sometimes it should work the exact opposite way. In the future, I plan to say "
no"
more often to people who ask me for things. I also plan to say "
yes"
to people who haven't asked me for anything. Ha! That will confuse them.
I'm not bitter or stingy. It's just my Anti-Aladdin Principle.
Stefan Is So Freaking Awesome
Stefan rocks. He plays all the holds. He helps people out by beta-testing. He wrote an orb-solver program. He posts intelligently and prolificly on the forum. He made a hold,
Dusty Dungeons, a few years back that people like. He's done other cool stuff I forgot about, no doubt. For being such a solid citizen of our little empire, I award Stefan 50 rank points and three extra months of CaravelNet. To leverage his positive presence on the forum, I've also dumped a thousand mod points on him. They are his to spend as he sees fit, but in keeping with the Anti-Aladdin Principle, I recommend that he mod down anybody who asks for anything from him.
The Angry Man
Remember, I am not the Angry Man--I'm just a little more impassioned than usual. However, the Angry Man has arrived and he certainly is angry. You have to figure out why if you want to win April's contest. The contest is in progress right now, but it's easy to jump in and play even if you're a bit late. In fact, I'd say there's no possibility of disadvantage until sometime next week, and you've still got a chance to win if you make an entry before April 21st.
contest info
Life in the Basement
Patrick Fisher reports on all the new content appearing on the DROD website. In case you didn't know, we have a rather boring
company website at
http://caravelgames.com that concerns itself with getting you to buy stuff. And then there is the more interesting
player website at
http://drod.caravelgames.com which is a sprawling load of aimless fun, really.
Life in the Basement article
Topic Picks for April
I'm giving you a full summary of what people are talking about on our forum now. But only because you did not ask for it.
Orb Solvers
Some types of puzzles are considered a raging injustice. And where there is injustice, we will also find heroes.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=7242
Roach Brooches
Brad Wall is always on the lookout for disgusting jewelry he can give to his wife.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9742
How Old Are We?
A poll of the ages. Oh, I didn't mean "
The Ages"
. It's just a poll of how old people are.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=1301
My First DROD Speech
I can't believe they let me talk for a half hour about DROD at Gathering for Gardner.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9713
A Dumb Contest
Forumites unexpectedly entertain themselves by generating pure randomness, making me the fool of my own April joke.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9804
war9, Puzzles, Roach Fest V1.00, One-Room Hold Compilation Puzzles 2, Tunnel Vision, war10
These are all the new holds (level collections) that have been released since the last newsletter. The 1-room compilation was generated from a popular contest which ran earlier.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewboard.php?BoardID=11
Puzzle Widgets
I'm rather proud that people latched on to this extra layer of abstraction in room design. Instead of just placing roach queens, you can also place a
roach generator.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=2555
Could He be The One?
Many have claimed they would make a mobile version of DROD, but Curzon seems to actually have something working.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9356
Chip's Challenge II
An announcement was made on the long-awaited sequel to Chip's Challenge.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9790
Pieter Simoons Is Almost As Awesome As Stefan
The author of Subterra has headed up a project to make an old-school adventure game. Voiceover actors wanted.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9819
Puzzle Invention
Ryan Berry, aka "
RoboBob3000"
, gets respect for inventing a new kind of puzzle. Exactly the kind of thing I like to see on the forum.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=9760
-Erik
____________________________
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 available now on Steam. It's a DROD-like puzzle adventure game.
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[Last edited by ErikH2000 at 04-03-2006 02:59 AM]