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I’ve just been looking through all the posts here and noticed that ya’ll are trying to get an archive cd put together of the Sierra newsletters, InterActions, etc. Since there hasn’t been a new post in awhile, I thought I’d ask to see what the status is on this project? I know exactly how everyone here feels about preserving all things Sierra. I could shot myself for throwing away my Sierra boxes and mags when I got married and moved into a new house a couple years ago. Anyway, thanks to everyone that’s putting work into this…I look forward to see the final product!
GeoffP -
(re: Status of InterAction archive project?)
I talked to Brad today over email, and the project is still being worked on. A recent hard drive crash I believe it was stalled some progress. The numbers are being finalized to have this guy from Kinkos, who does this sort of work on the side as well, do a lot of work on it. Meanwhile Brad and I both continue to work on archival projects, Interaction Magazine and otherwise. You should hear more from us in the way of updates and actual results in the new year. And from me, if things go as I plan them to, I’ll have some results in January and each month afterwards on a regular schedule!
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(re: So WHO WAS John Magpie anyway??) Is there anywhere online I could read an issue of InterAction?
That’s what we’re trying to do here, get the whole collection online for reading. Brad hasn’t updated us for a bit though. Somewhere in all the mess of this message board you’ll find a sample issue that was finished, one of the early ones before the mag got the title InterAction.
I’ll have to make a sub-forum here to put all the old discussion regarding creating downloadable copies, so that this can remain a place where discussion about the mag itself can happen. I’ll also put a notice at the top of this forum that indicates the status of the project for easy reference without digging through all the threads here. Hopefully Brad will notice this and drop in with a comment as to the current status. If not, I’ll email him.
Brandon Klassen, archivist ~ SierraGamers.com admin / dev team ~
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(re: Inter action magazines) Yes, Ken has a complete set.
Actually, Brad is the one running the show here, he has a near-complete set I believe and any he was missing, he was going to borrow to fill in the gaps. Brad was having the job done by a guy who works at Kinkos and also has his own graphics business – so it’s just a matter of waiting until they’re done. I’ll send Brad an email today and find out what the delay is. In the meantime, there is a sample issue on this message board.
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(re: Inter action magazines) Robin:
I have almost all of the magazines. Several people have indicated an interest in scanning them — but, it’s really too big a project. Tooooooo many pages.
Someone was getting bids to have them professionally scanned, but I haven’t heard anything on the project for months now. I’m willing to contribute money to getting them scanned, if we can find a way to get it done affordably.
-Ken W
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(re: Inter action magazines) Someone was getting bids to have them professionally scanned, but I haven’t heard anything on the project for months now.
Ah, I thought the last update was that it had been approved and that scanning *had* started. Guess not then! Well, I’ve emailed Brad, hopefully we’ll get a new update soon.
(I’d work on scanning the magazines – it’s just that I would want scanning copies, and not my own personal copies (which is not a complete collection anyway) – the best way to scan a magazine is to take it apart, and I don’t want to take my own apart – I’m not sure what Brad and Robert were doing)
I do have another issue fully scanned I believe, other than the test issue that is already posted here. I’ll check out what specs Brad used for the test issue, and then I’ll see about getting the issue I scanned up. Give me a bit of time, because my monitor recently died and I’m stuck with an old one that I can’t do graphics work on. I’m going to see if I can get another cheap free one in the next week or so (my brother works at a thrift store where they have old monitors that they don’t really sell).
Brandon Klassen, archivist ~ SierraGamers.com admin team ~
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(InterAction Magazines)
I must admit with a little bit of red in the face that I have not been following threads very carefully, but I have a stack of InterActions/etc. magazines if the site is missing any that need to be scanned. I don’t have a list handy, but if they are needed I can assemble one. Let me know!
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(re: InterAction Magazines) We don’t have any scanned right now – save one issue Brad did as a test run (though his link no longer seems to work – I can re-upload it if need be), and 2 that I’ve scanned but haven’t processed yet.
I’m still waiting to hear back from Brad on what his status is and the guy he was working with to accomplish the project. If we don’t hear back from Brad, we might have to go back to the plan of having anyone who wants to help just go ahead and scan an issue. We’d likely have big differences in quality, but at least more would be seen. So I think we’ll wait a bit more to give Brad a chance to respond, and if there’s no response I’ll re-organize things.
Do you happen to have any duplicate issues? As I mentioned previously, I have a number of holes in my collection, and I also think some of these mags are only best scanned by taking them apart (because they’re so thick), for which I need duplicates.
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(re: InterAction Magazines) An update for everyone who has asked.
Brad and his partner in crime Jason have been working hard on the Sierra magazine project and they have been making great progress. The project is well and alive. That’s all the news for now. Rest assured it is happening.
There is now a master list in the musem under “Sierra Magazines / Catalogues”. The catalogues aren’t added yet but if you have any amendments or additions to the magazine list, let us know. The list will shortly become a picture-list with the covers, and the catalogues will get added too, at which time I’ll announce again and ask for your input regarding the catalogues.
Brandon Klassen, archivist ~ SierraGamers.com admin / dev team ~
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A few things came up in this thread, and in the Sierra YouTube thread. I’ll address both here.
The project is still being worked on. As to why we chose originally to not release each one as they were being done, the reason is that we wanted to make a nice and proper collection that you could have in a DVD case on your shelf, not just something you download to your hard drive. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to any of the master data in this case, as this project is being worked on by another party. It is something I am attempting to get back on track.
As for the general status of the archives, as brought up in the YouTube thread… Things such as scans of the boxes, etc., are all being worked on, as well as a ton of behind the scenes stuff. It is being worked on by only a small number of people because we are doing things such as having many things professionally drum scanned, as well as creating ridiculously high master copy scans of things. Plus, we all have full-time jobs, and are working on the master archiving only in our free time.
It is a trade-off between either having stuff appear on this website now, or doing the job properly and creating a really high quality product in the end. I think if there are people who want to scan things and post them here on this website, by all means, go ahead. I’ll do my best to stay in touch with what’s happening here, and help with organizing anything that is submitted.
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The idea of making a dvd is great of course. Yet I do believe it would be better as some of the stuff would be uploaded here. This site can be more than a community where where fans discuss Sierra topics, but also where they can find some (basic) info. An example are the “Cool Sierra links.” Other examples are a list of Sierra games or covers of Sierra games, as was mentioned in the other thread. A reason to do so is that some people who are looking for information won’t have dvd, and propably people who do have the dvd (when it is ready) still want to check things here, for it is more easily that loading a dvd. Moreover, it would attract new visitors.
Btw, as far as the “Cool sierra links” is concerned, the link “to submit and discuss links here” doesn’t work. Perhaps this is the reason it is a bit outdated. Below a few links that I have saved in my favorites, but there are many more.
http://www.geocities.com/jean_matthews/index.html
http://mitglied.lycos.de/pirotess/daventryheaven/main_eng.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Galaxy/3900/
http://hometown.aol.com/kqswst104/KQRealm.htm?f=fs
http://www.perilsofdawn.com/rosella/
http://www.geocities.com/sierra-a-rama/
http://www.sierra-collector.com/contents/index.cfm
http://www.classicgaming.com/sierraclassics/
http://sierra-fanfare.com/
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Labyrinth/6921/coal.htm
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/laurabowinvestigativereporter/
http://members.tripod.com/Travis1999/Index.htm
http://www.geocities.com/jean_matthews/LauraBow.html
http://www.game-nostalgia.com/kq6/kings_quest_6.html
http://anthonylarme.tripod.com/phantas/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/ourchairweb/ritter/
http://vogons.zetafleet.com/gkpatches/
http://www.gabrielknight4campaign.com/continuegabrielknight.php
http://www.tawmis.com/collector/Patches-Updates/Patches-Updates-Games/KingsQuestUpdates.html -
I agree. I have been visiting the site now for several years, just to read messages in the forums. For the other parts are pretty much dead, I am sorry to say. Perhaps the webmaster(s) need some extra assistance, I am sure some members will volunteer to supply the other members and visitors with some minimal information, as was suggested. At least the link to submit “cool sierra links” is no longer broken after the previous posting. But it is indeed strange to see that sites that were suggested, like the extensive site about Phantasmagoria, weren’t added already, or the Mosely site for instance (http://mosely.xoompages.com). But then, a least a small change was made now … I myself fear that many of us may have died before all the proposed “big projects” are completed. In the mean time it would be nice to enjoy some smaller additions.
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There was once a site called The Sierra Archives, founded by Jouke Koning. It was then taken over by Martijn van Es and his team. When Ken started SierraGamers, it was decided to integrate TSA into SierraGamers. Martijn continued work on the site, and I started re-formatting TSA to improve it while keeping the current design and features.
There was then discussion of completely re-doing the site from scratch as a database site, which would allow for basically a zillion and one very cool features. This never got past a conceptual stage, due to how much work it was.
While “big projects” are in progress, I agree that it would be great to have an archive website. It doesn’t need to be fancy or a huge database – though of course, that would be nice. It just needs to get the job done. There are already lots of great Sierra fan sites out there. What is needed is a centralized site that connects them all.
I would propose to resurrect TSA site as a separate site from SierraGamers. SierraGamers would be the message board portion, and TSA would be the content portion. SierraGamers would link to TSA, and TSA would link back to SierraGamers. I will not be looking for web developers, as I will handle the design and updates for simplicity and consistency. But I will welcome submissions of content and I will make updates regularly. The reason I suggest to make TSA a separate site is that I can host it on my own server, which has plenty of bandwidth and storage space, which again allows me to do a very easy job of it.
I would like your opinion on a domain name for the site.
sierraarchives.com?
tsa.com?
thesierraarchives.com?
sierra-archives.com?I will be in contact with all original members of the TSA team.
I do not want to let you guys down with more promises of content and work that doesn’t happen. That is why I’m suggesting this format, because I know I can get it done, while anyone will be free to contribute. Please let me know your thoughts, and I will proceed.
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In the early days, when the software behind this site was REALLY gutless and buggy, I could understand the need for a seperate site — but, not today. The talkspot.com software running this site is far from perfect, but I can’t imagine a feature you would want that this site couldn’t handle.
Why not just upload the files here?
-Ken W
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I sent you an email, Ken, so that we can chat.
I’ve updated the links page with the Mosely site that alljoe0 posted and the Ken interview that Nico posted. I’ll tackle keessp’s list shortly.
alljoe0, I’m sorry, I don’t see a Phantasmagoria site link? Could you point that one out to me again, I’m sorry I missed it and I’ll definitely add it in.
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Brandon, glad to read that you would also like to see an archive website and a centralized site that connects them all. That should be this site of course. There are obvious reasons not to make it a separate site; in fact I just quoted one of your arguments. I understand from Ken’s mail that Ken’s software can handle it, so there is no technical problem. And even it wouldn’t suffice I would still use the same domain (sierragamers.com), with a separate directory and other software.
As you say there are a lot of great Sierra sites out there. I still wonder why only a very small number of sites was added. (note Ugarte and the Inventory are long gone).
Again, it is easy to figure out various sound reasons to add those sites (centralize, so easy to access and use; motivate fans; cooperation between fans and this site etc.). There’s hardly anything against it. It’s an very easy job, and if you want to distinguish some key sites, just add the other to a last category (other links).
I did read your explanation about the TSA team. Are you sure that TSA team is still walking around on this planet? If the person your refer too is the same person that writes old game reviews for an adventure game site, I guess he is at least, but I fear his priorities have changed. If nothing has happened after several years, I guess the time has come to consider alternatives. Not waiting till the project is finished, but split it up in say ten parts, with a time line, and a dead line for the first part, say by August. Or otherwise use the potential in the forums here. As said I am sure some are willing to help to create a basic archive.PS: The Phantasmagoria site is included in the posting with the links below. Here it is again:
http://anthonylarme.tripod.com/phantas/index.html
But again, I hope you will include all Sierra related sites. Gladly willing to spent an afternoon to send you a list with names and urls, and if wanted a short description. -
Alljoe:
Currently, Brandon is the only person with “admin rights” on this website (other than myself).
Both Brandon and I have been busy people, and neither of us has had the freetime to put a ton of energy into tweaking things on this site.
If you, or anyone else, has the time and energy, and wants admin rights – let me know and we can talk about it. The site needs more attention than Brandon or I can give it. All help is appreciated. The only issue is to not have too many people trying to steer things too many different directions. I’m confident that is a manageable issue.
I confess that this is a low priority for me. My Sierra years were a high-point of my life, and also of a lot of other people’s lives. But that said, I left the company TEN years ago, and it has been somewhat dead (or, at least the Sierra I knew), for nearly as long. Nothing I can do will bring those days back, and I’ve never been a nostalgia kind of guy. They were good times, and I miss them, and I’m proud of them — but, that was then and this is now.
-Ken W
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Ken:
I don’t think it is needed to give “admin rights” to the site to other persons, to add some basic material, as was mentioned in the postings below. I sure there are members that are willing to invest some time and supply the administrator(s) with material. The administrator(s) have to create a format of course, and the “helping hands” can deliver the content. It isn’t such a big job, I mean adding some basic material (such as a pretty complete link of fan sites, a growing archive of cover scans, or a demo archive etc.). Making a list of of Sierra fan sites (names, urls and perhaps a short description) can be done in half a day, and the administrators can edit the cool links page in a quarter of an hour or less. More time of course is needed to create a format for box scans. A contributor system like MobyGames has (with uploading and approval) is perhaps too complicated, but a simple preliminary format is possible, e.g. just adding box after box in categories (thumbnails and big pop-ups) one after another and making it alphabetical or more elaborated when a category is completed. When the format is done, the administrator(s) can ask the members to scan the boxes they have for the different categories (adventure game, action game) etc. I am sure many of us will try to help.
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Normally I’d agree with you .. but, the problem in this particular case is that I think we could use at least one more highly passionate administrator.
I think both Brandon and I have good intentions, but I don’t think either of us would tell you that we’ve done a great job of administrating the site. It’s something that is incredibly fun and rewarding if you take the time to do it right — but, it takes time, and if you don’t have spare time — it isn’t going to work.
My long-term distraction is Talkspot and Boating. Each are a full-time job. Plus there’s retirement, which is also a full-time job (lots of neighbors who are always saying “Let’s golf!”. I’m not sure what Brandon is up to, but my recollection is that he is a full-time student, and studying hard.
So… my post was a subtle way of encouraging someone to step forward and offer to help.
-Ken W
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i would definetly be willing to step up and do it. i have quite a bit of web developement experience. the only problem is that i am unfamiliar with the system that you use for the site, but i am quick to pick up on things. what do you and brandon actually do for the site day to day? i don’t really see the site being that hard to manage. where do you want the site to actually end up? are there specific goals that you would like to see done besides the integration of the sierra archives?
JT
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Greetings JT…
Perhaps Brandon can jump in and add some ideas, but here are the kinds of things I’d do if I had the time:
- Try to think of interesting things to post from time to time on the message boards, to facilitate discussion and keep people involved and talking.
- Try to think of interesting lists to put on the site
- Links to interesting sierra-related sites
- Links to sites of ex-Sierra people
- Links to the most “interesting” threads on the message board
- Links to sites for games that people who liked Sierra’s games might like
- Links to sites where sierra’s older games can be downloaded
- Links to the handiest message board threads telling how to run old games on modern computers
- Put any interesting content that can be found
- Screen shots
- Game hints
- Timelines of game releases
- Demos
- Games (to the extent we can)
- Scanned manuals
- Scanned copies of Interaction
- Scanned copies of ads
- Start and email mailing list, in addition to the online message board
- Create an area with downloadable fan fiction and art
- Start a section with old news clippings and press articles
Some of this is already being done, and some of it doesn’t merit being done. Because this is all “charity” work, with no potential for income, the only reason for doing something is because it seems fun to do. Thus, I guess the answer is that the person doing the work should decide what they think is cool and fun, and that they are passionate about – and do that. If it feels like work, don’t do it. If you are having fun do more of it, and if you aren’t, do something else…
Like I said, working on a site can be a blast. I put a lot of energy into my nordhavn68.com site, and enjoy every minute of it. If I had free time, I’d put effort into this site, to help it realize it’s potential. Unfortunately, I’m on overload, and can’t do everything.
If you are still interested, build a little site with talkspot.com — and, watch some of the videos, just to see what is possible, and how hard it is. My guess is you’ll find a lot is possible, and it’s really easy.
-Ken W
PS Actually .. I do think that the right person, with the right ideas, could find ways to make a few bucks off of this site. I don’t have any particular ideas, but I’m confident they are out there.
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very cool ken. i have known about your talkspot system for a while since i have been coming to this site for a few years now, but i hadn’t tried it till now. it’s very nice. i love the editor, especially the different modules that you can use at the bottom. it’s all very easy to use. i usually make my sites from scratch since i despise most editors, but yours is great.
i’m still interested in helping out. i’m going to mess around with talkspot some more tonight and get more familiar with it. would i be able to email you if i have any questions?
JT
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Good ideas, Ken and alljoe0. I’ve had a couple emails from JT and him and I are going to talk further to coordinate. alljoe0, if you were willing to spend some time and gather more links for us, and check for old links that should be removed, that would be great.
I’ve graduated from University a couple years ago now with a BA in English Literature. I’m currently an assistant manager at a Chapters store, the largest chain of bookstores here in Canada similar to Barnes & Noble.
My free time outside of full-time work is in good part spent working on a very large Sierra archival project… we’re putting together some actually really cool stuff, it’s just that none of it has materialized in an online form on this site. I look forward to working with JT to make SierraGamers more what it should be.
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I just wanted to post and say, congrats to JT. 🙂
Also, I 100% agree with the sentiments of Ken Williams, well said Ken. Really well said.
Two points on what Ken said:
[quote]Some of this is already being done, and some of it doesn’t merit being done. Because this is all “charity” work, with no potential for income, the only reason for doing something is because it seems fun to do. Thus, I guess the answer is that the person doing the work should decide what they think is cool and fun, and that they are passionate about – and do that. If it feels like work, don’t do it. If you are having fun do more of it, and if you aren’t, do something else…[/quote]
I call this ‘the endless dilemma of whether I continue Sierra Music Central or not’. 😉But at the end of the day, silly rants/questions like the one I made to/at Ken earlier in this year is the minority of how I feel (as is indifference for that matter)- overwhelmingly I still feel passionate about Sierra games and their music, and Ken and Roberta’s legacy, despite what idiotic stuff I say from time to time.
I also find your comments on making money out of Sierra’s legacy (through SierraGamers) interesting- I get the feeling despite your words you DO have some ideas, somewhere in that genius steel trap of a mind. 🙂
[quote]
- Try to think of interesting things to post from time to time on the message boards, to facilitate discussion and keep people involved and talking.
- Try to think of interesting lists to put on the site[/quote]
As someone who runs a Sierra site and also runs 2 Sierra message boards (as well as frequenting almost all of them), I want to warn JT Harkey that it’s really not that easy. Hardest thing I always come up with is- what if people simply aren’t interested and don’t reply- you can’t make people participate. Still not sure what the answer is. Are you interested in being a creative consultant for Sierra sites, Ken? 😉[quote]
- Links to interesting sierra-related sites
- Links to sites of ex-Sierra people
- Links to the most “interesting” threads on the message board
- Links to sites for games that people who liked Sierra’s games might like
- Links to sites where sierra’s older games can be downloaded
- Links to the handiest message board threads telling how to run old games on modern computers[/quote]
Very, very cool. I really like these ideas!Once again, it’s super (god I sound corny) to see you take such an interest, Ken. I’m totally inspired! I hope you continue your deep level of interest in Sierra, although you again differ from this with the words ‘I’m not much of a nostalgic man’. I’ll be honest, I don’t think that’s exactly true. You don’t have much Sierra nostalgia, or don’t care for it?
Anyway, I’m all for the SierraGamers revamp, sounds wonderful (the forums are near-dead let’s be honest). Keep things rolling guys.
Regards,
– AlistairP.S. What IS the InterAction Mag project status?
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Just to keep those who are interested updated, JT and I are throwing around ideas at the moment, and I’m doing a few things here and there, as you’ll notice small updates happening on a daily basis. I have kept track of all the questions and things that have been pointed out, and I will get around to addressing them either by posting a reply, or by making an update where required.
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Just wanted to say: keep up the good work!
The ideas thrown around in this topic all sound really good. Like mentioned in this thread, the thing I really miss on this site is a centralized ‘Sierra database’. There already is a lot of cool stuff to be downloaded, like music and some video’s but ‘we’ need maybe something like the Gamespot pages.
A link to a game homepage with all information about the game on one page. This could include all the stuff that Ken mentioned like, demos, videos, interviews (video, audio), music files, player reviews and walkthrus, player ratings, box and manual scans, game patches, the whole works!
Sounds ambitious and a lot of work (and it probably is) but if the database and ‘front office’ is done, the fans can be made responsible for the content. The administrators only task would be to ‘admin’ the content. In addition, I might also be a good idea to start an inventory of stuff that people have and are willing to upload so that the workload can be spread.
We actually have the mentioned system in the form of our Sierra Gamers forum but it might be more managaeble if it is transformed into more of a kind of Wiki setup.
I don’t know if that’s possible with TalkSpot or if it even is the direction you’re looking for but it’s just an idea
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I’m looking forward to this too. It looks like an issue is finally up. I hope we get high quality box scans too. All I find online are box scans like on mobygames with the annoying watermarks and they’re usually not a high enough quality scan. All of my old magazines and boxes are falling apart from natural wear and tear. I didn’t take care of my old game boxes like I should have. Actually, I did try to take care of them, because even back then the games and boxes meant something to me, but I played the games so much that the slip covers eventually got mutilated from constantly being slid on and off.
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Too many pages?
I say BAH.
Click the InterAction tab. I’m a week or so away from being done with scanning about 75% of the InterActions (and earlier magazines) of what I have on hand. I’m missing somewhere just shy of ten of the issues and have no idea where I’m going to get them.
Sorry I missed all of this discussion way back when. I guess I’m just late to the party.
Andy
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Sad no more!
They have been trying but Ken is busy enjoying his retirement. If you think about it I’d say archiving this stuff is more OUR job anyway – we’re supposed to be the rabid fans here! Speaking of which, has the guy that was supposed to be stalking the Williams’ on their boat reported back in yet? I want to know if Chris Williams still wears that pith helmet from that issue of InterAction in the early 90s!
I am just burning off frustration and spare time after getting passed over for a promotion at work (typical corporate America: Good point – Makes quick decisions, Negative point – Tends to decide things too quickly. I am SO not kidding…..).
I hope Sierra Gamers will shamelessly take anything and everything from the site (as well as the rest of you too) and do with it whatever they want. I have a super secret agenda in doing all of this (we’ll call it Project X and it isn’t a big xylophone) but that may or may not ever come to fruition. In the immediate future I’d just like to see this stuff get scanned and maybe spur a few of you to fill in the holes by scanning a thing or two no one else has good clean copies of (while ignoring that durned “watermark” function in Photoshop)!
Andy
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