VORNewsletterEdition#01─────────────────────────────────▒▒░░███▌▐█▌─────┐├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────▐░░█████▌▐█▌─────┤│           ·■ Visions of Reality Information Packet         ▄███████▀▄█▀      ││           ·■ October Pack, Nineteen Nighty-Four             ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀        │├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│         Welcome to the October edition of the Visions of Reality artwork.    ││ The Visions of Reality art pack is a representative of the artwork that has  ││ been made as advertisements for bulletin boards (or other groups) by Visions ││ of Reality members.  This pack has been going out monthly, ever since fall of││ 1993.  The pack is only a represetative of the artwork that has been used as ││ advertisements, and all work by artists may or may not be included.  This    ││ file is to to give the viewer of the Visions of Reality packet information as││ to what has going on in the group for the past month.  This includes major   ││ news, additions of members, and general talk about Visions of Reality:       │├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│       ■ Ummm, it's like our one year anniversary and stuff.  We've been      ││ putting packs out for a year now, so i decided to draw an ansi out of joy    ││ to show my happiness!  See above.  We definately aren't the same group we    ││ were a year ago.  This can be seen as good and bad.  A LOT has gone on this  ││ month in VOR, from near-death to major clean-up.                             │├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─┤└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤                      │        ■ As it seems with every other group out there, │     ▄▄▄▄▄▄           │  VOR was having a hard month.  We didn't have too much │    ████▌███          │  work, and frankly no one in the group except for me & │   ▐█████▐██▌ ▄▄█▄▄   │  Venom gave a shit (or so it seemed).   The month went │    ▀██████▀ ██████▌  │  by and we had one hell of a weak pack.  So we decided │  ▄   █oo█   ▄ ▌▐ ▐   │  to  delay it for a week.   On the 28th of the  month, │   ▀▄ ▄▀▀▄ ▄▀  ▐ ▌ ▌  │  after calling everyone up,  Venom  and  I had decided │     ▀████▀    ▌▐▐    │  that it wasn't  worth running a group that no one was │      ████      ▌     │  interested in being in.   Of course,  we were looking │      █               │  at things kind  of one sided  and only  noticed those │   ▄▄  █ █ ▄▄         │  people who weren't interested in the group.   Rumours │  ▀███▀ ▀███▀▀wM      │  were leaked,  and the  people who liked being in  VOR │                      │  started letting us know.   So we  decided to keep VOR │ ▌  ▐                 │  alive,  but we decided a lot of changes needed to  be │ ████ ▄▀▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ │  made.    We kicked a lot of people out,  demoted some │ ▌  ▐ ▀▄▀▄ █▄▀ █▄▀ ▀█ │  people,  changed some policies,  and gained some more │           ▌   ▌   ▐  │  members.                                              │                      │                                                        │   B I R T H D A Y    │┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│         ■ Our first  step was to kick out some of the lazy  members or those ││ members who didn't  give a shit about VOR.    The members that have left VOR ││ this month via getting kicked out of by just quitting are Ackman,  The  Dog, ││ Shatterstar, Chaos, and a few other people who would  could  really not give ││ a shit about.    Sonic  Engima has also left  VOR,  but on totally different ││ conditions,  so I don't think  it's right for me to group him into the other ││ people.    Demotions  in the group include Hollow Point and Sinister Outlaw. ││ Both were head of their section (ansi and coding respectively) and both held ││ a senior council position.   The  replacement for Sinister Outlaw is Lief O' ││ Pardy, the coder who codes Illuminate and most of our GIFs.   A  replacement ││ is still being decided on for Hollow Point, but it has been narrowed down to ││ two members.                                                                 │├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│        ■ On a totally different note, Scythe has officially changed his name ││ to Skarecrow "cuz it's easier to say".    And Zenophobus changed his name to ││ Djinn because he got tired of Zenophobus, and unlike Skarecrow, he wanted an ││ alias that no one could pronounce.  :)                                       │├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│         ■ Our  viewer  has  been  updated  to  a new interface.  If for some ││ reason  the  ansi  ->  high resolution doesn't work, run univesa as included ││ in the pack.   Same with the high resolution GIFs that were coded into EXEs. ││ in the next version of Illuminate,  you  will  probably  be  able  to choose ││ from three to five interfaces.                                               │├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│         ■ Umm, oyeah, Venom and I have Voice Mail Boxes now,  cuz we're like ││ el33t and know people who phreak and stuff.    My VMB is 1-800-241-7337, box ││ #1628,  and Venom incidently has the same # for a VMB, but his box# is ####. ││ Ummm,  you can call and say anything  about VOR on my VMB.   On our last VMB ││ we  got  a  few messages about how much VOR sucks in a Beavis  and  Butthead ││ mimic.    Those are great,  but they can get boring.   So like umm, think of ││ something original.  Example: voices of pirates are always cool.  :)         │├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│An explanation of sorts...  of VOR's near death experience by Venom [VOR]     ││                                                                              ││        It was kinda wierd and maybe symbolic in a way that it would happen   ││at our one-year-anniversary, but it was building up over the last half year   ││or so. VOR just wasn't working anymore. VOR originally started with a 'core'  ││of people whose dream was to start a group from 'scratch' - from a group of   ││people with practically no computer art experience or experience that was     ││well in the past - and to end up with a successful group able to compete with ││the best. It sounded absurd, everyone said it wouldn't happen, but that group ││somehow managed to pull it off, because they had the motivation to do it;     ││they had no DOUBT that they could do it. VOR worked fine when that core was   ││around to motivate the group. VOR grew stronger and better with every passing ││month. We had no need of imposing strict rules on ansi production; of kicking ││people out for not turning in work every single month; of really having to    ││constantly evaluate our members, because they did it anyway and did it with   ││a vision in mind.                                                             ││        Things turned around when our original 'core' started dropping out.   ││Dark Wolf - our original president - and Muttonhead - one of the best lo-res  ││VGA artists I have seen to this day - both had a higher goal that beckoned    ││them - college life! Dark Wolf still calls, but his work output and           ││involvement have dropped considerably. Next, Hollow Point - our first real    ││'success' in VOR, an ansi artist that started from nothing and has risen to   ││ansi making of the highest quality - 'grew out' of ansi; he got a job and on  ││the overall decided that he's grown tired of making ansi. He gave up his      ││council position and has also reduced his involvement. Our members started    ││reducing output as well, mostly working only after being constantly bugged    ││to do it. It wasn't that much of a problem when the original core was still   ││around, because we shared the responsibility of managing the group, but over  ││the past few months, Widow Maker and I have had it all dropped on us. We      ││slowly grew sicker and sicker of this with every phone call we made to one    ││member or another at the end of the month to get him to do just one more ansi ││or VGA or whatever. Finally, WM and I both broke and, after seeing that       ││nothing was working anymore, decided to quit the group.                       ││        When we announced this, the group instantly seemed like it was        ││going to fall apart. Without us, it seemed like there was no one to lead the  ││group and no one that even WANTED to. We expected everyone to not really care ││about what happened. We were surprised. As we expected, some members didn't   ││really care at all. But we found out that many members - and even many of the ││NEWER members, whom we thought didn't give a flying rat's ass about the       ││group's fate - were PLEADING us to keep the group alive, and even worked 200% ││as hard to make up for the members who did 50% less every month. After        ││thinking about it, WM and I finally concluded that the group didn't need to   ││die.. it needed to EVOLVE. We needed a new core, a new council, and a whole   ││new organization and APPROACH to it. As a consequence, a new council is now   ││in the process of being assembled, our member list is being carefully purged  ││of all the 'excess waste' that has been cluttering it up just to get a free   ││affil, and WM and I are actively working on recruiting some great new         ││artists. We're slowly catching up so to speak.                                ││        Anyhow, this pack is meant to reflect both aspects of this month's    ││occurrences:  Our 'death' and our sudden 'rebirth,' all in the course of      ││four weeks. Hope you'll enjoy it as much as we've enjoyed being able to bring ││this - and a whole year of other VOR packs - to you. Hope this wasn't TOO     ││cheesy.                                                                       ││        Finally, thanx for all the guys that stuck around and gave your best  ││to us. With guys like you, I think there isn't a doubt that VOR will live to  ││see another anniversary!                                                      ││        And to all the groups that have tried to push us down, humiliate us,  ││laugh at us, grind us into the dust - Well, we'll just have to wait and see   ││what happens when 1995 rolls by, won't we? Yessss... I think that will be all ││for now...                                                                    ││                                                                              ││                                                --> Venom [VOR SS/VGA Head]   │└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘      A lit written by Djinn when VOR during the near death experience:

VOR-VisionsOfReality:October1993-October1994

Theideawasavisionofreality,
Avisionoftruth,love,andhumaninteraction,
Themembersthere,theartforeveretchedinthought.
Therisewasathand.

Surgeaftersurge,withteethbarredandmindacknowledged,
Theotherswentdown,thevisionwasalive!
ThelightshownuponthemajesticWind.
Thelovewasthere,thepowerunbridled.

Neveragainwouldthemindbetamed.
Therealityoflifewasnon-existanthere,
Wehadonevision,thelifebeyondlife,
Ourpaintbrushwasourmind,wewerefree.

Darkness,nothingbutdarkness.
Themindisentrapped,closing...
Thestruggleisfoughtbyavalientfew.
Theirmindsmustnotbetamed.

Itistoolate,thebattlefieldlaybarren
Notonewhisper,notoneword.
TheWindwasatastandstill..
Thevisionsweregone,onlythemodernstruggleremained.

Themightyfewwhofoughtthisbattlewerenomore,
Theothershadescaped,nooneremained.
Maybeoneday,thelightwillblazeagain,
Thevisionsarestillaliveinthemindsofthedead.

'Amindentrappedbylifeandthestrugglesofexistance
isthemindofasoulnotworthliving.TheVisionsof
Realityareafew,buttheyshinethroughtheeviland
darknessoflifewithaglowtomaketheheavensweep.'

-Djinn[VisionsOfReality]

MembersoftheVision:Venom,WidowMaker,HollowPoint,Shadowdancer
SinisterOutlaw,Asterix,DarkWolf,Forego,
Murcurochrome,Pluto,RaisltinMajere,
Skarecrow,Spam,Starbuck,SilverRat,TheDog
Ackman,Calypso,Chaos,FatAss,Hros,
InquisitorThrax,SonicEnigma,Muttonhead,
PizzaDude,AbsoluteZero,LiefO'Pardy,
LordX,Thunderhawk,WravethWindrose,
ArturiousPendragon,Alexa,Apothecary,
Felyne,GreyMouser,Ralgoth,Vicious,187,
Entropy,Perides,Plasmatoid,Tklp,
TyriusSitius,andHiPolymer.