Wil Bunce-Edwards

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Max the Mug at OddTour 4b

William Bunce-Edwards (born 7 October 1987), better known by his screen name Max the Mug, is an Oddworld fan, co-owner (with Xavier) of the Oddworld Library and co-administrator (with Nate) of the Oddworld Forums. He is currently studying Environmental Science at the University of Sheffield, enjoys playing the trombone and swing dancing, and has been vegan since October 2006.

Oddworld fan history

Max got an original PlayStation on Christmas Day 1997, and on Boxing Day 1997 played the Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee demo on the demo disc that came with it; he got the game in the summer of 1998.[1][2] It wasn’t until he recognized Mudokons in a magazine he was flicking through that he realized he was a true fan.[1] He joined the GT Interactive Software message boards in 1998 as skELUMton to ask what a Greeter looked like (getting Abe’s Exoddus on Easter Sunday 1999), but along with the other regular posters moved to the Exoddus Club when activity on the GTIS boards died down, joining as billy_squeek on 12 February 2000.[3][4]

Max first came to the attention of Oddworld Inhabitants when he emailed Alf with a collated list of errors regarding the Oddworld Map and was in return made Fan of the Month February–March 2003 on the official Oddworld website.[1][5][6][7][8][9]

Max has attended several OddTours: OddTour 2 in Amsterdam, 2004;[10] OddTours 3 in London, 2008;[11] and OddTour 4 in London, 2010.[12]

Oddworld Forums

Max the Meetle joined the Oddworld Forums on 4 June 2000[13], changing his screen name to Max the Mug when the Forums moved to Ultimate Bulletin Board.[14]

Max began being called ‘The Oddworld Dictionary’ and ‘The Oddworld Encyclopedia’ at least as far back as April 2001[15][16], although because the original ezboard Oddworld Forums are not well preserved the terms could pre-date this. The latter nickname became the more popular and longer lasting, being made Max’s custom title around September 2002[17] and remaining in use until June 2004,[18] after which the term was used in discussions exclusively referring to his fansite. However, his custom status remained ‘Oddworld Encyclopædia’ until at least May 2006,[19] and ‘The Oddworld Encyclopædist’ until at least May 2008.[20]

Key Oddworld Forums features to which Max has contributed include the current Stranger’s Wrath-themed titles[21], the current Oddworld-themed reputation levels[22] and the current Forum rules.[23]

Member of staff

Max stopped posting on the Oddworld Forums in August 2002 in favour of The Glass Asylum,[24] but returned the following month[25] having missed the Forums-wide moderator elections that saw Xavier join the moderation team;[26][27] he was elected moderator of General Oddworld Discussion (and by extension the Spoiler Forum) by public election the following year.[28][29] He retired from moderatorship in July 2005[30] only to return as a Super Moderator of Zulag One in February 2007[31] and be promoted to administrator in January 2008 to complement the Oddworld Library’s new sponsorship by the Oddworld Forums.[32]

Sortable table
Role Forum(s) Appointment Retirement
Moderator General Oddworld Discussion 16 September 2003 15 July 2005
Moderator Spoiler Forum 19 June 2004? 15 July 2005
Super Moderator Zulag One 1 February 2007 Still active
Oddworld Administrator N/A 15 January 2008 Still active

Annual Oddworld Forums Poster Awards

Max has won the following Poster Awards in the following years:

Member With The Best Oddworld Knowledge
20032010
Best Advice Giver
2004, 2006
Best Old Dude
2004
Most Meaningful Poster
20042006
Most Dedicated Member
2007
Most Valuably Poster (MVP)
2007, 2010
Most Liked
2009
Oddworld Forums Unofficial Mascot
2009

Oddworld Library

Max’s first attempt at a fansite was a 2000 webpage on Xoom called ‘The Kennels’. It took the form of a conjoined twin Glukkon called Glasp taking the reader on a tour around the Kennels, which hosted one of each Oddworld creature known at the time.[33] By 2001, the project changed to one more formally encyclopædic in nature called ‘The Scrabacombs’,[34] but by 2002 this was renamed to ‘The Oddworld Encyclopedia’ to reflect his Oddworld Forums nickname.[35] Despite numerous promises that the site was coming, only an FAQ appeared (in 2003)[36] before The Oddworld Encyclopædia finally launched in April 2006—although the April Fools’ Day joke articles were little appreciated by members of the Oddworld Forums given the site’s long-awaited appearance.[37]

By this time Max had already created OddBlog[38]—originally a personal blog but quickly evolving into an Oddworld news blog—and had made plans to have it join with Xavier’s TOGG and Oddsville’s Oddworld Archives to form ‘The Shaman Network’. Although Xavier eventually assumed Oddsville’s role of creating the Archives and most component subsites were already public, the project—incorporating The Oddworld Encyclopædia and renamed ‘The Oddworld Library’—was formally launched simultaneously with the Encyclopædia.[37] The Oddworld Forums became a sponsor of the Oddworld Library in January 2008 by adding a link to the fansite to the top of its banner alongside links to Oddworld-Web and Oddworld Universe.[32]

References

  1. a b c Odd Wide Web, Oddworld Archives, Oddworld Library (15 August 2010). Archive of Max the Mug (19 February 2003). Fan of the Month February–March 2003. Alf’s Fan Odds N Ends. Alf’s Rehab & Tea. Official Oddworld website.
  2. Max the Mug (22 June 2004). Post 14 in ‘What made YOU buy your first OW game?’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  3. Max the Mug (24 August 2001). Post 13 in ‘How did you find Oddworld Forums?’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  4. Exoddus Club member list. Exoddus Club. Yahoo! Groups. (accessed 26 November 2010)
  5. Oddworld Forums members (19 June – 25 August 2002). ‘first Oddworld mail!’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  6. Oddworld Forums members (29 September – 3 October 2002). ‘Map Of Oddworld’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  7. Wayback Machine (22 March 2003). Archive of Oddworld Inhabitants (19 February 2003). ‘What’s New’ February–March 2003. Official Oddworld website.
  8. Oddworld Forums members (19 February – 8 March 2003). ‘Oddworld site updated...HAHA, I beat the fans...!!’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  9. Oddworld Forums members (1 – 3 March 2003). ‘Map of Oddworld’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  10. Oddworld Forums members (12 July – 9 August 2004). ‘Amsterdam Oddworld Meeting (The Report) -56K Unfriendly-’. Off-Topic Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  11. Oddworld Forums members (2–5 May 2008). ‘OddTour 3’. Off-Topic Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  12. Oddworld Forums members (13 September – 8 November 2010). ‘OddTour 4’. Off-Topic Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  13. Wayback Machine (1 September 2001). Archive of Profile for Max the Meetle. Oddworld Forums. ezboard.
  14. Max the Mug (14 April 2001). Post 20 in ‘Welcome to Oddworld General Discussion’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  15. Danny (19 April 2001). Post 15 in ‘rumours’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  16. Max the Mug (17 April 2001). Post 19 in ‘hey! vital info on munch to be noted!’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  17. TheKhanzumer (23 September 2002). Post 11 in ‘Look at this pic.’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  18. Xavier & Sekto Springs (21 June 2004). Posts 34 & 35 in ‘Centered around the poor side of Oddworld!’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  19. Wayback Machine (4 May 2006). Archive of Max the Mug (6 May 2004). ‘Oddworld Questions and Answers III’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  20. Wayback Machine (5 May 2008). Archive of ‘View Profile: Max the Mug’. Oddworld Forums.
  21. Oddworld Forums members (2–26 April 2006). ‘New Titles System’. Employee Lounge. Oddworld Forums.
  22. Alcar (20 March 2008). ‘Revamped Reputation Levels’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  23. Oddworld Forums members (13 July – 23 September 2010). ‘Forum Rules’. Employee Lounge. Oddworld Forums.
  24. Max the Mug (19 August 2002). Post 44 in ‘Farewell’. Off-Topic Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  25. Max the Mug (14 September 2002). Post 9 in ‘The slogan game’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  26. Oddworld Forums members (20–26 August 2002). ‘Moderator Applications now Open!’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  27. Oddworld Forums members (26 August – 8 September 2002). ‘Voting has begun!’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  28. Oddworld Forums members (24 August – 17 September 2003). ‘New Moderator Nominations’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  29. Oddworld Forums members (16–23 September 2003). ‘New Moderators’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  30. Alcar (15 July 2005). ‘Staff Shifting and New Positions’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  31. Alcar (1 February 2007). ‘New Off-Topic Mod & Zulag 1 SMod’. Forum Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  32. a b Alcar (15 January 2008). ‘TOL Sponsorship & Staff Changes’. Forums Suggestions & Help. Oddworld Forums.
  33. billy_squeek (2 July 2000). ‘My Webpage’. Exoddus Club. Yahoo! Groups.
  34. Max the Mug (22 April 2001). ‘Coming Soon - The Scrabacombs’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  35. Max the Mug (7 April 2002). Post 10 in ‘There's more than one Shrink!?’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  36. Cloverfield (24 June 2003). ‘Oddworld FAQs: READ’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  37. a b Max the Mug (1 April 2006). ‘The Oddworld Library - grand opening’. Oddworld Discussion. Oddworld Forums.
  38. Max the Mug (17 August 2003). ‘OddBlog created’. OddBlog. Oddworld Library.