On March 12th, 2006, at 5:00 P.M. EST (11:00 P.M. GMT), the XYZZY Awards Ceremony was held at ifMUD. Below is the transcript of the event, including side-comments that those in attendance made on the #peanut-gallery channel. Should you not wish to see those comments, an expurgated version is also available.

 

lpsmith says (to inky), "Well, as long as you're up here, why don't you give us the nominees for 'Best NPCs'."
inky says, "hey, good idea"
Rob claps
Kelby applauds.
Ben applauds
DarkStar claps
Eluchil says, "I like NPC's"
Emerald says, "yay NPC's"
DavidW says, "Let's go to Aunt NPC's House!"
[peanut-gallery] Rob says, "Best Song"
inky says, "NPCs are getting short shrift in the intermissions in this ceremony, what with all the PCs, but where would we PCs be without our supporting cast? Sidekicks, villains, that annoying guy guarding the door who won't let you through unless you figure out the right keyword to ask him about -- these are the characters who make the game"
Rob says, "grr I hate that guy"
inky says, "the nominees for Best NPCs this year are ..."
inky says, "Aunts and Butlers, by Robin Johnson!"
Eluchil says, "Give him a drink"
Rob claps
lambda applauds
Eluchil claps
Ben cheers
lelandpaul applauds
Emerald claps.
McMartin claps
Rob says, "pip pi"
Rob says, "p"
Baryon applauds
DavidW says, "cheerio!"
djfletch claps
Rob says, "tally ho and all that what"
inky says, "Delightful Wallpaper, by Andrew Plotkin"
olethros says, "oooooopa"
Kelby exclaims, "Zippa-dee-doo-dah-day!"
olethros says, "ole!"
Eluchil clpas
lpsmith applauds the aunts! And the butlers! And the wallpaper!
Rob claps suspiciously
Emerald claps.
Newington claps
Eluchil or claps rather
inky says, "Floatpoint, by Emily Short"
Ben applauds
McMartin applauds
Rob claps
a_magical_me claps
Rob says, "huzzah"
DarkStar claps
Emerald claps.
olethros says, "yay!"
Recchi claps
Eluchil claps
inky says, "Moon-Shaped, by Jason Ermer"
Kelby clapity clapity claps.
Newington claps this and the last one!
olethros says, "w00t"
Ben claps
inky says, "and The Baron (a.k.a. De Baron), by Victor Gijsbers"
Emerald claps.
McMartin says, "yay!""
Rob claps crescently
DavidW says, "yay everyone!"
DarkStar claps
RootShell_ifreviews says, "weeeee congrats"
Eluchil claps twice in quick succession
Ben applauds
Emerald claps some more.
aaronius cheers
Newington claps this
Rob claps for the Baronal estate
McMartin has time lag on his appreciation
Kelby cheers.
lelandpaul applauds.
lambda cheers for everyone he's missed
inky asks (of lackey), "now, the envelope?"
lackey says, "sorry, I don't know much about that."
Rob says, "heh heh"
inky asks (of lackey), "grr -- the letter?"
lelandpaul giggles quietly.
lackey says, "sorry, I don't know much about that."
inky asks (of lackey), "the *winner*?"
Rob says, "I hate that guy"
lackey asks, "oh, why didn't you say so?"
lackey gives envelope to inky.
olethros says, "hehe"
inky says (to lackey), "but if it was called 'envelope' why didn't you - oh, never mind"
Rob claps
Eluchil reimplemetns lackey
Guest3 goes home.
inky opens the envelope.
McMartin examines all first-level nouns
inky says, "and the winner for Best NPCs is ... Floatpoint, by Emily Short!"
Rob applauds!
Flit claps all over!
McMartin cheers!
inky gives Best NPCs 2006 XYZZY to Emily.
lpsmith cheers!
aaronius claps
Ben cheers wildly.
eileen applauds mightily
cendare claps a lot.
DavidW says, "woo hoo!"
lambda cheers wildly!
Eluchil says, "Yay Emily"
Rob says, "yay"
djfletch floats
Newington applauds more sportingly than ever
Kelby cheers loudly!
lelandpaul gasps
DarkStar cheers!
olethros says, "excellent"
Emerald applauds.
lelandpaul cheers wildly!
Recchi exclaims, "Congratulations, Emily!"
a_magical_me seems to be clapping
Gunther says, "Maybe Emily has a recipe for us!"
JDC applauds with his hands not touching the ground.
nm clap claps
VictorGijsbers cheers.
Emily says, "sadly I do not have a recipe for you, no"
olethros says, "aw"
Eluchil Rises slowly from his seat and settles into a position a few feet above the ground
HairBrain says, "Fondue! Fondue!"
inky says (to Gunther), "I've got a recipe for you -- practice, practice, practice"
Kelby exclaims, "Floatpoint!"
Emily says, "for that matter, I do not even have a bug-fixed version of the game (though soon, I hope)"
lpsmith exclaims, "No fixes *and* no fixings!"
Eluchil falls uncerimoniously to the gournd
Emily says, "I know"
lelandpaul gives a disgusted look.
Emily says, "I've been spending all my time with Inform 7 bug reports instead :)"
Emily says, "in any case, thanks!"
DavidW says, "There's a recipe book in there."
Emily sits
Eluchil claps
aaronius looks guilty
lelandpaul claps
VictorGijsbers cheers for Inform 7 bug reports.
Emerald claps.
DarkStar claps
[peanut-gallery] Ben says, "Recipes are easy. Start with a base - plate, bowl, etc, and liberally sprinkle cheeses over it."
RootShell_ifreviews says, "(to Emily) and hopefully also to other languages support in Inform7 :)"
[peanut-gallery] DavidW says, "And heat until impatient."
Emily says, "that too :)"
lpsmith exclaims, "Hey, looks like we're halfway through!"
lpsmith says, "So, in past years we've had a sort of half-time show for you all with something funny. We've broken up the funny this year in part because this year the IF community has lost a member and former XYZZY winner: Star Foster."
RootShell_ifreviews says, "lpsmith, do carry on :)"
lpsmith says, "Star is known to most of us as the co-author (with Dan Ravipinto) of 'Slouching Towards Bedlam', which took first place in the 2003 Annual IF Competition, and XYZZY winner that year for Best Individual NPC, Best Setting, Best Story, and Best Game."
Kelby cries softly. He loves SLouching Towards Bedlam.
Eluchil weeps softly
lpsmith says, "Dan Ravipinto wrote a tribute to Star that was published in SPAG issue 47. I won't quote the whole thing, but here's a bit from it:"
lpsmith | It's not surprising that she was endlessly delighted at the success of Slouching Towards Bedlam, her first foray into interactive-fiction, for it meant she could truthfully call herself an award-winning writer.
lambda bows his head
lpsmith | Slouching was in many ways an intersection of many of Star's passions: Victorian language and society, weird and interesting technology, language and meaning, and most importantly, a solid story. Star had always been fascinated with games, especially those that told tales. As a child, when she couldn't find anyone to join her in playing Dark Tower (one of the first electronic board games ever made), she sat alone in her room for hours, imagining adventures between the canned noises and the blinks of LEDs.
[peanut-gallery] Rob says, "yay Dark Tower"
lpsmith says, "(The entire eulogy can be found at http://www.sparkynet.com/spag/backissues/SPAG47)"
Allen says (to lpsmith), "that's so sad!"
[peanut-gallery] nm says, "I had that same experience"
Eluchil claps in tribute to Star
Kelby claps softly.
aaronius applauds Star's memory
lelandpaul bows his head.
[peanut-gallery] Rob says, "I used to just push the buttons on the tower and enjoy all the sounds and music"
[peanut-gallery] olethros asks, "mmm??"
[peanut-gallery] Allen says, "don't even get me started on not being able to find playmates for electronic Battleship!"
Rob respectful silence
inky says, "I'd just like to add that Star's friends and family have kept up her blog at http://www.sarcasmoscorner.com/, which I find pretty touching"
inky says, "with a combination of people talking about her, and things they think she might have posted"
Emily says, "aw man"
Kelby says, "i'm sad."
DavidW says, "I didn't that. That's ... wow."
DavidW says, "er, didn't know about that."
DavidW says, "I do know that she and Dan played KoL though. We once spotted them in the user names list."
RootShell_ifreviews says, "losing a human life, or any other life, is always a waste... Star Foster memory will be kept alive in several places... reading through the her blog one comes to realise that we are very small in a very very very big if game... called life :)"
lpsmith says, "Thanks, everyone."
Kelby says, "Liefe... don't talk to me about life..."
lpsmith says, "If you have other stories you want to share about Star or her games, you might want to do so in the Carousel Bar and Grill after the ceremony is done."
Allen says, "ok, if Rob ever dies, I vow right here and now to keep up his ifMUD character, by logging onto the mud with it every 5 or 6 MONTHS to reassure everyone"
lpsmith says, "And you can replay bits of things he said from your logs."
Rob says, "yikes"