Intrusion of Reality
I have an inkling that all our articles should have the following disclaimer tacked on to the end:
Disclaimer: All characters and events in this article, even those based on fictional characters in books, are entirely fictional. All characters and events are impersonated... masterfully. The above article contains humor, satire, and in general, pokes fun at anything in life and fantasy and due to its content, it should not be read by anyone without a sense of humor.
Recently on another site I frequent, someone stumbled across our article "Lord of the Rings is a DL Ripoff!" written by our very own Raistlame (yes, it was actually written by a Raistlin and not by grade 8 "Jeff Mitchell"). The funny part of the comments that were made was that at least three people thought the article was real! Comments ranged from "Is this guy serious?" to "He's only in grade 8!"
We haven't seen someone take an article seriously since the DLU site "hacking" of May '01. We read with baffled astonishment as posts on newsgroups and mailing lists came up, criticizing the "DL Mafia" for wrecking our site. We even received a "blackmail" threat by someone who said they knew the site hack was a fake and unless we'd pony up the identities of all the Raistlins, they'd reveal the "Underworld" as a hoax. We posted a response later on, stating that nothing is sacred and we had said in the past that we'd make fun of anything... even ourselves! Laughs were eventually had by all once they realized the joke.
Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it though? Is something funny if you have to explain to someone that it's a joke? And what about people that are going to take offense to something even if they have it explained to them?
And then I realize... It's not worth the headache.
We have our loyal fans out there, and I'm noticing that we acquire more every day. It's great to see that we're appreciated and successful. I don't think any of us realized what this site was going to turn into. Sometimes we feel it's a monster grown out of control... something akin to a dragon overlord. Sometimes the tribute it exacts feels like it too.
In the next little while, there might be some changes that you'll notice. Even though the site was re-coded for the resurrection, more re-coding is in the plans. Most of these changes shouldn't be visually obvious, but if there's a broken link here or there, or something dosen't seem to work right, please let us know as soon as possible... we may have let a few gnomes into that area. Disclaimers and rules will be tightened up a bit, and hopefully things will be running smoothly and sweetly.
Will I actually put the new disclaimer in? It's very tempting. But probably not. Part of the humor is seeing who actually falls for the joke. When someone is corrected and can laugh at themself for falling for it, no harm is done. The Raistlins get some entertainment out of it too (and Paladine knows we need some entertainment around here other than listening to our own tortured screams). We're just going to continue doing what we do best... making fun of the world(s) around us.
And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
- Pink Floyd "Brain Damage"
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