Eamon Adventurer's Log
The Eamon Adventurer's Log is a periodical publication of the National Eamon User's Club that ran for 13 issues from March 1984 to April 1989 under the editorship of NEUC president John Nelson. Nelson's friend Bob Davis also edited and wrote columns and reviews for the newsletter; other contributors include reviewer Dan Cross, artist Gary Flanagan, columnist Jeff Harris, lore master Pat Hurst, order processing assistant Steve Mahr, and later EAG president Tom Zuchowski.
The Eamon Adventurer's Log was succeeded by the EAG's Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter (1988–2004).
History
In his 1985 retrospective article "The Birth of a Club", Bob Davis recalls John Nelson saying that the idea for an Eamon newsletter originated in the early 1980s with Iowan Ken Sherwood, a fellow Eamon enthusiast who had planned to start a regular publication about the game. However, by late 1983 Nelson hadn't heard from Sherwood "for quite awhile" and so decided to lay the groundwork himself: he began corresponding with players, answering questions, copying and distributing game disks, and making bug fixes, projects he tackled with the help of his good friend Davis. Nelson and Sherwood agreed that Nelson would create the newsletter, and in February 1984 the first issue was completed with Nelson and Davis as its writers and editors.
Several volunteers joined the staff during the newsletter's first year: Jeff Harris and Dan Cross who provided adventure reviews and other assistance; artist Gary Flanagan who created new masthead artwork featuring the Eamon dragon; Tom Zuchowski who helped identify software bugs; and "the Dover Boys". Local member Steve Mahr helped in early 1985 with order processing and packaging. The volunteers gave valuable assistance during the first busy years, but the majority of the club and newsletter management duties were handled by Nelson with help from Davis, and in some later issues Nelson sometimes humorously reported other staff members "missing".
Four issues were published in 1984 and five in 1985, a period Nelson described as "very hectic" during which he would dedicate 20 to 30 hours a week to the club and newsletter, with 77 new adventures added to the catalog and membership reaching around 180. However, due to increasing work obligations and reduced free time, Nelson and Davis published only a single issue in 1986 and the newsletter became semi-dormant. Davis left the staff around 1987, but Tom Zuchowski and adventure author Pat Hurst provided input and assistance that helped keep the enterprise going, and in 1987 two issues were published.
In 1988 Nelson mailed an "interim letter" to subscribers in which he described the declining state of the newsletter, dwindling renewals, and his interest in spending more time on PC-based projects rather than Apple ones, all of which led to his decision to relinquish control of the newsletter to Zuchowski. Nelson emphasized that the newly-formed successors that Zuchowski would lead (the Eamon Adventurer's Guild and its newsletter) would continue to serve the existing membership, but would otherwise be unconnected to the NEUC and would have entirely new management.
Nelson planned to continue his original Eamon Adventurer's Log as a vehicle for his new PC-based version of the game (Eamon-PC) while Zuchowski's Eamon Adventurer's Guild Newsletter served the Apple users, and in April 1989 he published one last Log issue dedicated to various PC-related topics.
Columns
Though every issue contains a unique mix of material, Nelson and Davis devised several regularly-recurring columns and sections that feature in many of the issues:
- Bug Bytes (appearing in every issue) shows players how to correct bugs that the club has identified in adventures or other Eamon software.
- Designer's Den (every issue) describes in detail how to build certain features or effects in a dungeon, often with BASIC code examples.
- Eamon News (12 issues) gives news about Eamon itself, not necessarily related to the club.
- Notices and Junk (12 issues) gives general announcements.
- Club News (11 issues) includes announcements of new titles added to the club's catalog, plus other club-related news.
- Editorial (11 issues)
- Spotlight On (11 issues) gives reviews of individual adventures and other Eamon software, most written by Davis.
- Terminological Inexactitudes (10 issues), a humorous column of made-up news "not to be confused with actual facts".
- Adventure Tips (7 issues) gives pieces of advice for playing, designing, or coding Eamon adventures — usually practical tips for how to accomplish certain specific tasks, but sometimes humorous or light-hearted creations by Nelson and Davis.
- Utility Lines (6 issues) describes changes in Eamon utilities, when/how to use them, and other utility-related information.
- Questions and Answers (4 issues).
- Customizers Corner (3 issues) shows how to make special changes to Eamon including some that could be considered cheats.
Most issues also end with the club's most recent numbered adventure list, and sometimes also include membership forms, bug report forms, etc.
Issues
Thirteen issues of the Eamon Adventurer's Log (plus one "interim letter") were published from March 1984 to April 1989.
External links
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