Stuff I'd like to see in Pyramid

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by J. Edward Tremlett

The Golden Pshent himself does come across as something of a ridiculous figure, but I was going more for pathos than comedy. I think it worked fine.

I liked that article, and I think you captured the desired mood... however, in defense of griffin's point, the title was suggestive (to me) more of the comical, as in 'humorous' rather than as in 'related to comic books'. Pshent may not be familiar to many potential readers (I had to look it up, myself), and may be dismissed as a nonsensical word.

[Stormcrow]

An _explanation_ mark? Now THAT's funny ;)

What’s that supposed to be, a new name for the interrobang‽

[J. Edward Tremlett]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

I liked that article, and I think you captured the desired mood... however, in defense of griffin's point, the title was suggestive (to me) more of the comical, as in 'humorous' rather than as in 'related to comic books'. Pshent may not be familiar to many potential readers (I had to look it up, myself), and may be dismissed as a nonsensical word.

Okay. Would you have thought it comical if it was the Golden Scarab or Golden Pharaoh instead? In retrospect, I'm wondering if Pshent was the best word choice.

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

What’s that supposed to be, a new name for the interrobang‽

LOL!

Oddly enough, my wife the Linguist told me about interrobangs this very morning while talking about this very thread.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by J. Edward Tremlett

Would you have thought it comical if it was the Golden Scarab or Golden Pharaoh instead? In retrospect, I'm wondering if Pshent was the best word choice.

Regarding Scarab/Pharaoh: Either of those choices would likely have made the Egyptian connection apparent to more readers. The comical inference I drew was due to a combination of the (apparently) nonsensical word and the placing of the exclamation mark. The absence of the latter would have prompted me to pick up my dictionary right away, instead of after reading the article, but some people might have just seen it as a turn-off... dunno. Stylistically (speaking as a non-writer here, but as one who appreciates the craft), I'd say that it would probably be better to avoid words In The Title that might be unknown to many readers, for those reasons. No real harm in expecting people to do a little legwork once they're involved (though even then, it's a nice gesture to provide a footnote), but you want to make sure you draw them in first. JMO, as usual.

[Stormcrow]

Upon seeing the title, I too thought The Dark Reign of the Golden Pshent! would be comedic. However, I caught on to the article’s pathos right away.

[Greg 1]

Originally Posted by J. Edward Tremlett

Okay. Would you have thought it comical if it was the Golden Scarab or Golden Pharaoh instead? In retrospect, I'm wondering if Pshent was the best word choice.

I would have been less likely to think it comical. My reaction was based on a combination of the fact that I didn't know the word, that its a funny-sounding word, and that there was an exclamation mark.

It was a case of me jumping to the wrong conclusion out of ignorance, but "Pharaoh" or "Scarab" might have served you better.

[griffin]

Originally Posted by griffin

Here are some things I'd like to see in Pyramid:

One thing I'd like to see in Pyramid is an update issue. Focus on updating old 3e articles to GURPS 4e. This is especially true of adventures.