MAFO are not a joke. It's a way to transfer legal responsibly from Brandon to Maria & Harriet too. - Edit 1
Before modification by Dida at 27/03/2010 01:49:03 AM
It's when Brandon declines to answer because he would have to ask Maria And Find Out first.
...
The MAFOs were originally just Brandon's joke, but a while ago an admin from DM has sent a few of those he collected from Q&A reports from the tour to Maria for real.
...
The MAFOs were originally just Brandon's joke, but a while ago an admin from DM has sent a few of those he collected from Q&A reports from the tour to Maria for real.
A Joke? That's not the feeling I received, either time I attended a Book signing event with Brandon Sanderson after tGS book was published in 2009. Nor the time on Twitter between those two book signing events, where we had a short discussion.
Brandon seriously asked if Maria had answered my previously twice MAFO question, about the family social practices of the Da'Shain Aiel. He specifically asked me, if Maria had answered that MAFO on dragonmount forum or not... I told him, it had not been addressed by Maria as of yet. All told, I have been given a MAFO three times, on the very same question by Brandon Sanderson.
Lucker's set of MAFO listed and answered at Dragonmount forum did not include my question nor an answer to it, about the Da'Shain Aiel. Any answer given would directly impact all descendant groups of the Da'Shain Aiel, be it the Sea Folk clans, any surviving Amayar on the western Sea Folk Islands, and their distant relatives on the Seanchan Mainland & in Shara itself. The Jenn Aiel, Aiel Clans and yes, the Tinkers
My feeling is Brandon Sanderson, wants this question to be answered; but he doesn't want to be responsible for any fall out from any topics, questions given a MAFO. By fall out, I mean in relation to his contract signed with TOR Inc. He wants to stay in agreement with his contract. If Maria answers a question, MAFO, it relieves him of any legal responsibly, as Maria was hired by Jim & Harriet, not Brandon.
If anything Brandon seems far more risk averse since publication of tGS Book, in comparison to before that publication in my judgment. I based this judgment in how Brandon asked questions during his "Hero of Ages" book tour in Torrance, relative to either Pasadena and Woodhills Hills, California book signings. For example, MAFO was not used once in three hours of discussion during his "Hero of Ages" tour, when questions about WoT series came up. And boy, did they come up...about Padan Fain, Slayer, Hurin et la.
I do not even want to think what penalties would be created if Brandon violated a N.D.A with TOR Inc. I do not want Brandon to violate this contract either, yet I do hope to receive an answer to my three times MAFO'd question in the future.