I am the Warden!!
Let me start today's post by saying how much I love my office. While we've been in our current house two years now, the office is finally in awesome shape and provides me with a creative space to work. My entire RPG collection is arranged alphabetically to my right, there are dragon figures on all sides, printouts from assorted projects - new and old - on the wall in front of me, and a glass tray balanced on a pewter skull holding a pile of dice, including Big Red. Sometimes I like to sit at my desk, a large corner unit, and admire the space.
There is one flaw in all of it and it's rather ironic: my laptop. I have a 6-year old Macintosh iBook G4, one of the last models before they switched to Intel processors. She's served me well these many years, got me through school, and busted her ass keeping up during Killshot's various production phases. Her age is showing as she's been horribly overworked on a daily basis; the cooling fan's broken, I can't get more than 6Mb of memory available no matter how hard I try, and she freezes up at least once a week. I've known for a while now she needs to retire, it's just impossible with money being so extinct nowadays.
Despite all those technical issues, her current state is not what bothers me. It's the exclusion from nearly every computer-related activity. The processor's the biggest issue because with the new Intel chips came new coding and resulted in the old Macs like mine being incompatible with everything out there.
I'm not talking about programs, apps, and games (though it counts, but is understandable). It's even things online. Little things one would hope is universal. Google Hangout, for example, cannot run on my laptop. There goes my plan to attend CONCurrent and run Killshot as a replacement for Gen Con. Skype still works, so I'm not completely in the dark, but there are quite a few professional options eliminated just from my inability to access Google Hangout alone.
I have an iPhone supplied by my insurance company to help keep my scattered brain organized, but there's not much good hooking it up to my laptop unless I want to use it for charging. Because I can't upgrade my iTunes to a version that understands there a device called an iPhone, I can't perform some of the simple actions like swapping music, photos, and such. I've eventually been able to find third party apps to help with those issues and that's the point. I have to "cheat" in order to performs tasks the commercials proclaim as basic on their products.
This past week almost became the final straw when preparing to upload PDFs for Killshot's print copies, I noticed they required an export standard (PDFx:1/2001) only available on InDesign CS3 or later. I'm working with CS1 (and Illustrator 10). For a while, it seemed as if even PDFs were out of reach. PDFs!! That universal format of all universal formats. After some research, I found out one my CS1 export standards was equal to the requested one and had only been renamed a few years back, but it was a disturbing and frustrating moment to that point.
I hate new editions and the constant stream of updates, upgrades, and eventual exclusion in our technology-dependent era. Desktop publishing is horrible for that as Adobe alone seems to release a new CS every year. Add to that new hardware launches every year and everything gets drastically out of hand. I understand the intention of upgrades - it's technological evolution combined with a conspiracy theory of money grabbing by their owners - and I accept it in some cases. When it starts to get out of hand like it is now, I shake my head.
It's a losing argument, I know, and nearly pointless to make. Perhaps my frustration is more at my financial situation preventing me from doing anything about it mixed with the realization nothing can be done to fix the problem until next year, if everything works out for Plan G. Or maybe it's that all this upgrading crap is itself an upgrade of exclusion from when we were kids. If your parents didn't buy you the latest clothes, toys, or school accessories, you were excluded by the other kids. Now we've found a way to do it as adults.
Somewhere in the Toronto area is a woman named Wendy laughing cruelly for no reason and calling my family poor on a Google Hangout.
Saturday, 4 August 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Independence
I am the Warden!!
The word "independence" has a lot of meaning right now. It's something I've been struggling to regain for the past couple of years and it's really been coming through in my work.
Since Killshot went live (just over 48 hours ago), I've sold 8 copies of The Director's Cut. For me, that's a stupendous increase from what I used to get publishing 3pp supplements for D&D - 1 per day. Tops.
It's not so much that I'm surprised by this upswing so much as relieved. During my research over the last year, I've noticed the shift in PDF sales from third-party material taking some of the top spots to more independent/original systems. I think the download market is best suited to independent systems and publishers. For me, these sales are proof.
The ironic effect to it all is that nagging feeling I've "wasted" so many years publishing material for other systems that have gone unappreciated. Perhaps the glass was half empty, yes, but my previous experience put the water in the glass. Without the experience of putting a PDF together, assembling Killshot would have been a nightmare and the end result would be far inferior to what's in place now. Not the least of which is the game's mechanics.
When I was putting the finishing touches on the assorted Killshot PDFs, I recognized how much influence D&D had on design and presentation. Casually flipping through, it looks very much like a traditional purchase option game where your character's abilities are measured only in your choices made during character creation. That's very D&D and I guess it's no surprise to see it there.
Yet as an independent game, I could break away from some of the taboos originally holding me back and create a game where character options are a strength, not a definition.
So we're all in agreement then? Without the previous work with Emerald Press, none of this would have come to pass. You just have to starve to appreciate a good meal.
The word "independence" has a lot of meaning right now. It's something I've been struggling to regain for the past couple of years and it's really been coming through in my work.
Since Killshot went live (just over 48 hours ago), I've sold 8 copies of The Director's Cut. For me, that's a stupendous increase from what I used to get publishing 3pp supplements for D&D - 1 per day. Tops.
It's not so much that I'm surprised by this upswing so much as relieved. During my research over the last year, I've noticed the shift in PDF sales from third-party material taking some of the top spots to more independent/original systems. I think the download market is best suited to independent systems and publishers. For me, these sales are proof.
The ironic effect to it all is that nagging feeling I've "wasted" so many years publishing material for other systems that have gone unappreciated. Perhaps the glass was half empty, yes, but my previous experience put the water in the glass. Without the experience of putting a PDF together, assembling Killshot would have been a nightmare and the end result would be far inferior to what's in place now. Not the least of which is the game's mechanics.
When I was putting the finishing touches on the assorted Killshot PDFs, I recognized how much influence D&D had on design and presentation. Casually flipping through, it looks very much like a traditional purchase option game where your character's abilities are measured only in your choices made during character creation. That's very D&D and I guess it's no surprise to see it there.
Yet as an independent game, I could break away from some of the taboos originally holding me back and create a game where character options are a strength, not a definition.
So we're all in agreement then? Without the previous work with Emerald Press, none of this would have come to pass. You just have to starve to appreciate a good meal.
Monday, 23 July 2012
Killshot & The End of the Beginning
It is with great pleasure I can finally announce we have a Killshot. The Director's Cut is now available on all OneBookShelf sites for $8 (American). For more information, check out the Broken Ruler Games site for links on where you can get yours plus some free goodies to make the decision a lot easier.
Twenty months. That's the amount of time I spent working on this project. While it's not the longest amount of time I've spent on a project, it is by far the largest and most dedicated I've ever been on anything ever in my life. I don't think there's much more to say which hasn't been said over countless posts before and the time has come to let the book do the talking.
The conclusion of it all comes at a strange time. While my make-believe life is starting to pick up and things are moving along ahead of schedule, my real life is starting to close in around me as the 2-year mark of the accident arrives and it's time to start going through the assessments to see what the long term effects are before someone else sitting behind a desk decides what to do with me. Despite whatever you hear or read over the coming months, my commitment is to make my work in game design, Broken Ruler Games, Killshot, the Optional System, and all that my future. Because it's my choice.
And that's something no one can take away from me.
I hope you enjoy and thanks for taking the ride with me thus far. Now let's gas the car up and hit the road, we've got more highway to travel!!
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
What I Learned And Should Have Remembered About Kickstarter
As I write this, it is the Wednesday before Killshot: The Director's Cut PDF goes on sale to a murderous public and I'm just waiting to hear back from my editor for review notes and last minute changes and corrections to the book's final layout. Once they're made and the final export sitting on my desktop, the culmination of six months of blood, sweat, and tears comes to a head. OK, so there's still completing the upload to OBS, sending out backers' copies, review copies, and some other stuff, but my point still stands.
Perhaps you're dying to know how everything went as I've been very quiet this past few months, especially compared to before. In a word: outstanding. I'm so ecstatically happy with how this book has turned out so far (and there's still the print copy to look forward to, which may be my favourite part of this entire experience). Did it all go according to plan? Hell no. Did I learn something from the process? Oh yes. Will I share it with you? Guess I better, seeing as I went to all this trouble leading up to it.
Presenting a list of the 5 things I've learned - for better or for worse - about the Kickstarter experience.
Friday, 13 July 2012
2012 ENnie Nominees Announced
These are the nominees for the 2012 ENnies!!
As with every major award ceremony, there is a dominant nominee and this year it seems to be Pelgrane Press with 8 nominations, including multiples in certain categories (they're up for 3 in Best Adventure alone). Major congrats are in order to them.
As I had hoped and expected, the Marvel Heroic RPG got a nod for Best Game and Best Rules and I have no shame in sharing my vote for this game.
Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple has also received a nomination for Best Game. I have to admit, I'm hearing so much about this game that despite it being a bit out of my norm, I'm seriously considering giving this a look over.
This is the first year in quite a while in which I haven't clicked to this list eagerly waiting to see if any of my products were nominated (I did have the good fortune for the 2010 awards to see Combat Advantage #15 listed under Best Free Product). With Killshot literally days away from its release, I can return to that anxious state once more at this time next year.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Online Roleplaying Sucks!
I am the Warden!!
Read the title again and prepare yourself for a bitch fest. I hate playing my RPGs online. Hate, despise, loathe, dread, rue, and curse all at the same time. And when I say my RPGs, I mean my regular weekly games where I am but one player in a party.
For close to two years, I've been stuck with using Skype as my only means of continuing the quests in my D&D, Pathfinder, and monthly independent games. That's right, the accident. And while I'm physically and (mostly) mentally able to make the trip to Ottawa, my driveway does not have a car to park and neither do I have one to make the commute to Ottawa. So I use Skype, but it's just not the same as sitting at the table as part of a group.
Traumatic events in your life give you a lot of moments to reflect and can eventually teach you a lot about who you truly are and what gives your life meaning. While I already knew how much I loved playing and running these games, I had no idea how valuable they were as my social outlet. Everything I avoid and deny in everyday life - hanging out in large crowds, meeting strangers - is easily corrected when RPGs are involved. I won't even wait in a line of more than 5 people because I think it's too crowded, but happily walk into any convention with hundreds, if not thousands, of people. In the past two years, I've learned the value of these games to my well-being and so have my doctors and therapists who prescribed RPGs to assist with my recovery. I shit you not.
Attending these games is the problem and so I must resort to the Internet to fill the gap.
Read the title again and prepare yourself for a bitch fest. I hate playing my RPGs online. Hate, despise, loathe, dread, rue, and curse all at the same time. And when I say my RPGs, I mean my regular weekly games where I am but one player in a party.
For close to two years, I've been stuck with using Skype as my only means of continuing the quests in my D&D, Pathfinder, and monthly independent games. That's right, the accident. And while I'm physically and (mostly) mentally able to make the trip to Ottawa, my driveway does not have a car to park and neither do I have one to make the commute to Ottawa. So I use Skype, but it's just not the same as sitting at the table as part of a group.
Traumatic events in your life give you a lot of moments to reflect and can eventually teach you a lot about who you truly are and what gives your life meaning. While I already knew how much I loved playing and running these games, I had no idea how valuable they were as my social outlet. Everything I avoid and deny in everyday life - hanging out in large crowds, meeting strangers - is easily corrected when RPGs are involved. I won't even wait in a line of more than 5 people because I think it's too crowded, but happily walk into any convention with hundreds, if not thousands, of people. In the past two years, I've learned the value of these games to my well-being and so have my doctors and therapists who prescribed RPGs to assist with my recovery. I shit you not.
Attending these games is the problem and so I must resort to the Internet to fill the gap.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
A Random Idea: Player vs Player Killshot
I am the Warden!!
Right now, I'm rested across a couch in the cabin listening to the rain fall. It's a rare time to do nothing but reflect in peace and quiet and obviously my mind wanders back to Killshot.
I played a game last night with one of my latest recruits. As always, it's going well and because we're playing next to the beer fridge, everyone else up here takes turns checking out what we're up to. A major scene of the game involved being chased down by a helicopter and this got a lot of the lads interested in what we were up to. The more they saw and learned how it worked, the more intrigued they became until someone shot out this idea.
"Could you play PvP with this like Halo or Call Of Duty?"
It only a second before I answered with "Fuck yeah!"
Right now, I'm rested across a couch in the cabin listening to the rain fall. It's a rare time to do nothing but reflect in peace and quiet and obviously my mind wanders back to Killshot.
I played a game last night with one of my latest recruits. As always, it's going well and because we're playing next to the beer fridge, everyone else up here takes turns checking out what we're up to. A major scene of the game involved being chased down by a helicopter and this got a lot of the lads interested in what we were up to. The more they saw and learned how it worked, the more intrigued they became until someone shot out this idea.
"Could you play PvP with this like Halo or Call Of Duty?"
It only a second before I answered with "Fuck yeah!"
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