4) Seems unlikely we'll be able to play races besides humans. (tiefling and elves fan)

Why?
They did it for Seed. Would you have thought most gamers who were interested inSeed would do that?
Yet there they were, on the official forums, on other forums, on gaming review sites...

All of them judging the game on bugs etc present when the game was still in closed beta. Sometimes even when they hadn't played in 3 months, but they had played closed beta, they'd come and tell people they thought the game wasn't worth their trouble because of <insert reason here> which was how it was when they last played (3 months prior. in closed beta).

(just because people are good at spelling and grammar doesn't mean they won't be whiners or be clever enough not to judge a game by beta bugs )

Well, if anyone is in beta, posting KI numbers here would be a violation...

So you could do it like this:
If anyone here is in beta, they could, possibly, say, all assemble at the Ferry Terminal at a certain time on a certain day. To be specified.
And from the people showing up, you could see who is in beta and who is not.

You don't have to betray being in beta at all for this, nor will you betray anything about beta: the game has always had the city in the cavern, and the Ferry terminal. You could be talking about Until URU or the offline game.

[big]Recipe for random stew:[/big]

[big]Filling:[/big]

-sweet potatos
-onions
-garlic
-meat (optional for vegetarians. I prefer ostrich meat )
-some vegetables to fill it all up, could be carrots, or courgettes, or aubergine, or whatever you like. Subtly altered taste each time you make it, whee!
-optional: grapes. Or other kinds of fruit.

[big]Seasoning:[/big]

-any kind of herbs you like. Smell some of them to get some indication of taste.

What I use normally: any combination of the following (depending on what mood I'm in):
-pepper
-bay leaves/laurel leaves (for the herb-n00bs: you don't eat these, they are just for flavour. take them out when you eat the stew)
-parsley
-chives
-coriander/cilantro
-thyme
-basil
-oregano
-marjoram
-rosemary

Do not add salt! Not until after the stew is done! You can always add it later on, and if you add it now, it might turn out too salty. Bouillon can be pretty salty of itself sometimes.

[big]To cook it in (right, you didn't think it'd be in just plain water? eww):[/big]

-bouillon (spelling? Anyway, some meat bouillon is best, but it can be any kind)
-white wine (I use pretty cheap South African wine. We don't have a lot of money, and we're not going to drink it anyway )

The wine is optional. Some people dislike the taste of alcohol, even when all the alcohol has dissipated, and it's worked into a dish. I dislike alcohol too, but curiously, I don't mind when it's in my food. It can even be good in a lot of dishes.

[big]Instructions:[/big]

bake the meat in a pan very shortly on a high flame (just to close up the outsides and maybe make it a bit brown) in butter or oil, whatever you like.
Throw the meat (and any juices from buttor or oil or whatever that were in the pan with it) + some garlic + some onion + assorted herbs into a big pot/pan, add bouillon and a bit of wine. Cook, until the meat has gone a bit soft and can be broken apart (varies according to taste: some people like the meat still a bit sturdy, some want it to be almost mush). Do not forget to add some more bouillon and/or wine if it gets really low in the pan. Burning your food is a bad idea.

When the meat is gone soft enough, add the vegetables that need about an hour to cook to get soft, and more onion and garlic (add stuff that needs an hour now, because you'll be eating it in about an hour). Also add more wine and bouillon, however much is needed. Half an hour after adding all those, add the sweet potatos and any vegetables that need a short time to cook to get soft. Also add more herbs to your liking.
Half an hour after that: stew is ready.

Now, you can have a quick taste and add salt if you think it's necessary.

sidenote: add flour, or something with the same effect, if you want to make the stew a bit thicker.

[big]Time indication:[/big]

It will take about 4-6 hours at least, usually, for this kind of stew to be ready. Meat takes a long time to become soft. It depends a bit on what kind of meat you use. If you're not using meat, the cooking time is a lot less.
Generally: start it 6 hours before you plan on eating it. If the meat is soft more than an hour before you want to start eating: just turn off the stove and leave it for a while.

((will edit later to add herb names in English))

Ok.
If I'm accepted into the beta, I'll take Eilis for a charname.

Do remember not to say anything about the beta itself, and whether or not you are in it.

Alternate History: This is what I would like best. I've always liked reading books like that too . Also often make stories like that.

If not, I'd say go for an Alternate World.

---

I'd rather not see a true history setting, for various reasons.

Sci-fi: too hard to do, perhaps.

traditional Forgotten Realms: Mwah, not necessarily opposed to it, but it's been done so many times before, and I don't see right now how you could come up with anything that wouldn't feel like we hadn't seen it a hundred times before already, that wouldn't feel clichéd and somewhat boring.
I do usually like the Forgotten Realms games themselves and their stories (not so much the original NWN story), but they don't ever feel like much of a surprise.

All correct

Keine

Kusakabe Satsuki and Kusakabe Mei, sisters.

My Neighbor Totoro / Tonari no Totoro

Will post image later.

Mine won't arrive until November 8.
Stupid delays in Amazon.co.uk delivery. Well, at least they notify you and are very accurate 95% of the time.

choker

Could be, yes. But it would imply a lot of things, IC.
People could take us as a spin-off / group of people who left and started their own neighbourhood, of the Great Tree neighbourhood.
Or they could see it as, we don't want to be part of this great tree of possibilities, and think starting a whole new tree would be better...  Not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm not sure if my char would even hold such philosophies... and if not there's no reason for her to be in a 'hood with that name...
Probably some other things it could be perceived as meaning, too, that I'm not thinking of right now.

Needs more thought anyway.