ADDING MAGIC TO YOUR MESSAGES

 ---- ADDING MAGIC TO YOUR MESSAGES ----

By  Tidings-Scrolls Scribe Llebpmac Mit

Over the years, I have mastered many of

the tricks on Pyroto.  Amongst the most

useful are the messaging gimmicks...

SENDING PRIVATE MESSAGES

------------------------

If you need privacy,  you can set aside

the remainder of a message,  so that it

can only be read by the people that you

list.  (NOTE:  TSOTL does not encourage

this  sort of thing,  so if you want to

earn his esteem with a private message,

you'll have to work  extra hard.   It's

easier, in the long run, to use private

messages only when ABSOLUTELY needed.)

To declare the  remainder  of a message

as private, start your line like this:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: <<JOE><HAROLD>>  Type your message  :

: here and only Joe & Harold see it.  :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

For example,  let's say  you've typed a

few lines for general consumption,  and

wish to set aside  the rest of the mes-

sage for FREDZO, MARIO and BERNIE.  You

would do it this way:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: <<FREDZO><MARIO><BERNIE>> Hi, guys! :

: What's happening with you, there?   :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

If you want to make sure you understand

this technique,  send a private message

that  doesn't  include your own name in

the list.   (Why should it, after all?)

Then,  use the TIMEWARP command to warp

back a few minutes.   Re-read your mes-

sage.   If you  can't read  the private

section, you got it right!

You can  use this technique  to reserve

several "Privates" in one message.

HOW TO TALK BEHIND SOMEBODY'S BACK

----------------------------------

This one's  a lot of  fun:  you can set

aside part of your message such that it

can read only by people who  AREN'T  in

the  list of names.  An example:  let's

say you're  planning  a surprise  party

for  JOE and HAROLD.  You'd put this in

front of the relevant text:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: ><JOE><HAROLD><  Say, everybody,    :

: let's give Joe & Harold a party!    :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

...and so forth.   JOE and HAROLD would

not be able to read the following text.

HOW TO DEAL WITH TOO MANY FRIENDS

---------------------------------

If you simply can't  fit  all the names

for a Private or an Exclusive on one 80

character line, simply stack them:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: <<JOE><HAROLD><MARY><KENNETH>>      :

: <<PHILBERT><ROGER><JOAN>> Okay, we  :

: launch our attack tonight at 8:00!  :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

USING SEVERAL GIMMICKS IN ONE MESSAGE

-------------------------------------

You can freely mix  Privates and Exclu-

sives.  Here's the way you'd  type up a

short message that uses all these tech-

niques:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: Hello, everybody!  Nice day, eh?    :

: Now, some Privates and Exclusives:  :

:                                     :

: <<BILL><JILL><PHIL><MORRIS><BORIS>> :

: <<HARRY><MARY>>  We attack soon!    :

: Get your Manna charged up, okay?    :

:                                     :

: <<FRED><JOE>>  Harry, we have de-   :

: decided to accept your peace offer. :

:                                     :

: ><FRED><JOE>< Hey, everybody, we're :

: going to double-cross FRED & JOE.   :

: Feel free to join in on the attack! :

:                                     :

: <<FRED><JOE>> Don't worry about the :

: Exclusive.  We are planning a       :

: surprise party for you!             :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

SPECIFYING A RANGE OF LEVELS

----------------------------

Moreover,  you can  specify  a range of

levels in an exclusive or private,  and

inter-mix these with names:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: <<LEVEL 400-500>> Nobody apart from :

: people between levels 400 and 500   :

: can read this message!              :

:                                     :

: <<LEVEL 500>> To people at the top! :

:                                     :

: ><LEVEL 16-30><                     :

: <<FRED><MARY>> Nobody between level :

: 16 and 30 can read this, except for :

: Fred and Mary.                      :

:                                     :

: <<FRED><MARY>>                      :

: ><LEVEL 16-30><  Same thing here!   :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

Finally, you don't have to put the pri-

vate and exclusive headers on different

lines; you can  seperate them  with one

or more spaces, as follows:

.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.

: ><LEVEL 16-30><  <<FRED><MARY>>     :

: Nobody between 16 & 30 can read     :

: this except Fred and Mary.          :

'- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

If all this  sounds complicated to you,

start by experimenting with simple pri-

vate messages to  one person.  Then try

some of the other tricks later on!