Due to space considerations, some letters have been edited. While letters of praise and 'atta-boy' are greatly appreciated, those containing constructive criticism, complaints and/or suggestions are more likely to see print. At any rate, keep those letter coming!

Greetings dear readers,

It appears that Jolly has let the task of answering our reader mail to Shad, my gnome assistant and myself. I must say with over 10,000 copies going out last issue, the mail is a little back-logged.

Instead of answering individual letters this time, I have compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions which I will answer once and for all.

Gameweaver

Just what does the name 'SHADIS' mean anyway?

GW: To answer that question, you must know a little background of the magazine. SHADIS was originally presented in a format that featured a rough 50-50 mix between gaming articles and fiction. The fiction that appeared in the early issues were all grounded in a common fantasy world called Alderac. Characters that appeared in one story - affected events and plot lines in other story lines. Anyway, one of the moons of Alderac was called SHADIS and was associated with a goddess by the same name. The goddess was associated with the art of writing and scribes and the moon had a two-month cycle. Thus, SHADIS seemed to be the prefect namesake for the magazine. Does that make sense?

I was looking at the dates on the back issues - why is there almost a year and half gap between issues 6 and 8?

GW: We get asked that question a lot. OK., here's the scoop. When Jolly founded the magazine in January, 1990, he was a Sergeant in the United States Army. Despite his military duties, Jolly was able to put out the first five issues on schedule! The problems started when Operation Desert Storm entered the picture. At that time, SHADIS was a one-man operation, so understandably the magazine's production schedule was put on hold.

Another Independent Games Magazine? What makes you guys think you'll be around long enough for me to risk a subscription?

GW: Good Question! Well, SHADIS has always been operated on a break-even policy and we have been publishing for three years. SHADIS was started with a fifty-dollar investment and every dollar produced has gone back into the magazine. SHADIS will survive because the owners are committed to its success. Jolly once told me that he would continue to publish SHADIS regardless of the size of its audience.

I love the Market Platz - but what are those cryptic message under Matrix Gaming?

GW: Veteran readers of Shadis will recall that a PBM game was presented in Issue no. #6 based on the fantasy milieu of Alderac.

The editor's original idea was to run the game free to Shadis subscribers. However, the poor fool bit off more than he could chew.

When the number of players surpassed 100, Jolly found that he was spending more time moderating the PBM game than working on the magazine. Although the game was very popular, Jolly was forced to shut it down. The idea never died, however, and playtesting has been ongoing since. Hence, the cryptic messages.

We've decide to leave Play-by-Mailing to the professionals and take a different approach.

A new system has been developed based on Chris Engle's Matrix Game rules. (see issue no. #6) Chris has volunteered to help out as a consultant.

I'm sworn to silence and have told too much already. There will be more about this exciting development is Issue no.#11. I can tell you that participation will be free to subscribers and that playtesters are having a blast.

Will my local gamestore carry SHADIS?

GW: We certainly hope so! Every major game distributor is now carrying SHADIS. If your local gamestore doesn't have us on the shelves you can do two things to help us.

1. Ask the owner to carry the magazine, and
2. Send us the address and/or phone number of the store so we can rush them our promotional packet and a copy of the magazine.

Do you accept unsolicited articles and artwork?

GW: Yes! In fact we encourage our readers to submit their material. SHADIS has always been a grass-roots endeavor and we are striving to keep that feel to the magazine. You can send an SASE for our Writers/Artists Guidelines.

If I hold a copy of SHADIS over a hot flame will it burn?

GW: No, due to a strange magical aura that surrounds the magazine it will not burn. At least that's what I've been told.