Gamer Grows Old

Still ranting...

2009-02-17T10:58:00.002-05:00

As I've alluded to in this blog before, you know you're old when you hear about some new groundbreaking idea, and you realize it has been done before.

Basically, the rule is you're old when you can see history.

So what am I ranting about this time? Social media, again. Why is this new? Why does everyone jump when they hear about social media?! This is not new stuff guys!

Let's rewind to the birth of the modern Internet, circa 1996/1997. There were forums back then. Forums used profiles where members could answer questions about themselves.

THE ONLY THING FACEBOOK AND THE WHOLE WEB 2.IDIOTIC MOVEMENT DID IS MARKET A SINGLE FORUM TO A MASS AUDIENCE. People had mini communities before and they still have mini-communities. I just keep running into people who are marketing themselves as social media consultants.

Move on people. Please. Please for God's sake. This is nothing new.

A movement is not a movement unless it moves people to do something

2009-02-03T12:12:00.001-05:00

Ok... I believe in humanity and society to generally do good. I believe that people fall down sometimes and they need help getting up.

So when I heard about "To Write Love On Her Arms" (TWLOHA) I thought "Wow, someone's out there doing some good. That's great!" I think the thing that hit me the most is that it was just a couple of friends stopping and helping another get out of a suicidal depression.

I thought it was great that they started a "movement" about this. Lots of people working together to just help one another. Awesome!

So when I go to their web site, what do I find? Lots of pages about promoting the movement and, apparently, a bunch of bands. There was just one page about where to get help, and that page is a long list of phone numbers and support resources. There's also a lot of cool shirts to buy.

WTF?

I thought this was supposed to be a movement about making people feel empowered to help each other. What do I find? The movement is more important than the mission. So sad.

President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

2009-01-20T13:40:00.003-05:00

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Web 2.what?

2009-01-11T08:57:00.004-05:00

So before I posted the nastiness about Gary Vaynerchuk, I did some looking into what people like about him. Basically, he's become a success in an arena that a lot of people think they can as well. Web 2.0 is also predicated on the idea that the Internet is now "smart" enough to track an audience and therefor, any web site can be successful if you build enough of an audience and get people to sign up.

For people who have studied media trends, it's so easy to see that this is not the case. There is a lot of money to be made off of people trying to accomplish their own ideas. The media pie has not grown larger, it has just started to fracture into more slices. So the audience you're chasing is also being chased by a million other guys with the same resources.

So you want your blog/site to be an Internet success? Go for it. You'll have a celebrity lifespan of 15 minutes for your one idea and then you'll fade away. However, if you continue to produce content that is interesting, relevant, and creative, you'll have a slightly longer lifespan, but as many television writers have discovered, creating content at that pace is draining and repetitive.

So what did Gary Vaynerchuk "discover" that he believes will help him weather the storm? He thinks that selling his personality, he'll be relevant all the longer. Hmmm...

Recognition after all these years...

2009-01-10T11:36:00.008-05:00

Boston Globe Article

Print Article 2MB PDF

Gary Vaynerchuk is a douchebag

2009-01-09T16:12:00.001-05:00

My rant is about Gary Vaynerchuk. Some people may know him as the social media entrepreneur who hosts a video wine blog. I'm not going to link to it because I don't want to give him any more coverage than he's making for himself already.

People flock to this guy for the power of his positive energy. What does this guy really sell? He sells himself under the guise of his video blog reviewing wine.

I find this guy to be one of the lowest forms of life on earth. He doesn't add any value to the world, tells people obvious things, and then markets himself off of it.

Nothing new. He just thinks he invented it all with regards to social media websites. What aggravates me the most is that people flock to him without realizing what it is. ITS ADVERTISING!!!!

People can easily sell their personality as quickly as they can sell a pair of pants. At least when you buy the pants you have something concrete.

Here's some advice: get up out of your chair, go out into the world, and make a difference in someone's life. Stop watching Gary Vaynerchuk.

Victory

2008-11-05T07:28:00.002-05:00

OBAMA!

Enough said.

Election Day

2008-11-04T13:39:00.003-05:00

I voted. Barack Obama all the way.

I don't think I've ever known a candidate before an election as well as I know Barack Obama. I didn't vote in the primaries, and I've only come to know him from his books, debates, and media appearances. But if I look at that sum of information, there remains no clearer choice for president of our country.

His passion, intelligence, and character remind me of the person I want to be. They remind me of my father. They remind me of what we should all aspire for in this life. We should all have the compassion to give as much to our fellow men as we give to ourselves. We should all have the wisdom of seeing the world through un-American eyes. And we should all have the courage and grace to stand up to violence with calm discourse in preference over impulsive aggression.

As a hope for my son and our country, I pray that Barack Obama becomes President of the United States of America.

A poem from my favorite poet...

2008-10-20T16:10:00.002-04:00

Faces
by Sara Teasdale

People that I meet and pass
In the city's broken roar,
Faces that I lose so soon
And have never found before,

Do you know how much you tell
In the meeting of our eyes,
How ashamed I am, and sad
To have pierced your poor disguise?

Secrets rushing without sound
Crying from your hiding places--
Let me go, I cannot bear
The sorrow of the passing faces.

--People in the restless street,
Can it be, oh can it be
In the meeting of our eyes
That you know as much of me?

Daily Fantasy Video

2008-10-09T13:03:00.004-04:00

Check out my new Blog... hopefully updated daily.

Catching my breath

2008-10-09T10:52:00.002-04:00

So I finally have some time to write a proper blog entry after being really busy at work for the past two weeks. I'll just give a report on how things are going.

The kid: He's growing up. Getting more dexterous. He's got a ways to go though before we can start playing games. Oh well. I guess playing with mushy plastic toys can be fun.

The game: Another session tonight of Pathfinder. I AM SO PUMPED UP I MIGHT EXPLODE!!! Yeah, you read that right, three (count 'em... 3) exclamation points on that one.

Doing some surfing on YouTube at work today. Gonna find me some scenes from fantasy movies. Awesome.

Arcade Fire - Intervention

2008-10-03T14:24:00.002-04:00

Just a great song...

Long break between game sessions

2008-09-25T15:18:00.001-04:00

Definitely bored, but I need the time to get back to reality. Hopefully when I get back to the game it will be even more fun.

A World View

2008-09-17T13:34:00.005-04:00

I had hoped to avoid political posts, but I felt like this was necessary.

The more I hear about the history of the Republican party and their goals, the more I am disheartened. The distinction between Democrats and Republicans used to be about policy. It used to be about political means to achieve the same ends.

Sadly, that is not the case anymore. What I increasingly see in the Republican party is a need to paint themselves as the beset upon minority, crying for attention and justice when no injustice has occurred. Much of this might have to do with the cultural shift in this country that has taken place over the last 40 years. In that time...

The issue of abortion was decided in Roe v. Wade.
The Vietnam War left a lasting scar on the American psyche about extended wars overseas and the meaning of American Empire.
It's been a period of larger than usual ups and downs in the American Economy coupled with regulation and then deregulation of various industries.
There's been a rise in the vocal wants of Christian religious groups in response to (what they see as) the deterioration of American morality.

What's really going on is that America is changing in a way that hasn't been seen since the turn to the 20th century. The values of new immigrants and the changing values from the religiously disaffected make certain groups feel like their way of life is waning and that a new, less-moral, less WASP way of life is taking its place.

You know what? They're right. But the goal should not be to defeat this change. Their goal should not be to say that X is responsible for all our problems and all the affronts I feel from society. Change is scary to people. For many, it represents an unknown quantity forcing it's way into their comfortable equations about life, family, society, and the world. Change is not always necessary, but in this case it is unavoidable.

So what do you do? Scream louder? Lay the blame at more feet? Take the other guy to task for ruining your life just because of his existence?

It's not his fault, but at the same time it's not their fault. Certainly some in American society can be blamed for continuing old traditions while not adapting to a world that changes around them, but the change is not always their doing.

America can not make the world change to the way it wants it to be, so everyone better learn to find that part of a peaceful life amongst the world community that they need in order to progress.

I feel like it's God's version of tough love. "O Mankind, We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is he who is the most righteous of you" (Quran 49:13)

People better start learning to love thy neighbor, or we won't have any neighbors left.

Here comes trouble

2008-09-15T15:24:00.001-04:00

The kid has learned to laugh at me. Hopefully only when I do something intentionally funny.

Odd combinations

2008-09-09T09:25:00.003-04:00

I remember a day in college when I rented two movies from the local eclectic video store and the clerk remarked: "We may have a winner for oddest double feature of the day."

The two movies were:
Aparajito (1956, Satyajit Ray, 2nd part of the Apu trilogy)
Super Fly (1972 Blaxploitation film)

Today I find myself with an odd CD-swap in the PC...
I took out: The Dark Crystal Soundtrack
And put it in: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan "Live at the Royal Albert Hall"

Old and busted...

2008-09-05T10:40:00.000-04:00

Old and busted... Dungeons & Dragons.

New hotness... Pathfinder!

Just had our first game session of Rise of the Runelords. Good times had by all!

Golarion

2008-09-04T07:48:00.002-04:00

For many, many years I was a devoted Forgotten Realms guy. It wasn't the stories that came from the novels, it wasn't the writing of Ed Greenwood (who is a scary fantasy geek by the way), and it wasn't the computer games.

What I saw in the Forgotten Realms was a complete world opening up to me as a DM like no other world has ever been. It was a veritable playground of adventure and I loved just thinking about the possibilities the Realms promised.

Well, that all has changed. I still like the Forgotten Realms, but with 4th Edition, it's changed. It's not the same anymore, much like many things in D&D. So I guess you could say I've left the Realms.

I found Paizo picking up the mantle where Wizards of the Coast has dropped it. Golarion is everything I first saw in the Realms. There are some things I would have done differently, but on the whole, it is an amazing world filled with all the wonder I've longed for in a campaign setting.

We're playing our first session tonight of a Pathfinder Beta Rise of the Runelords campaign. It's gonna be great.

Everything looks better in Chrome

2008-09-03T13:45:00.002-04:00

Google has a new browser. Do we really need ANOTHER browser? It's not bad, but we're getting back to the height of the browser wars already. Isn't this supposed to be something like Beta vs VHS? HD-DVD vs Blu-Ray?

Google Chrome

Sub-Power!

2008-08-26T11:49:00.002-04:00

So I'm sick at home and the wife is out at her folks. Gives me a chance to finally watch Lord of the Rings with the subwoofer turned up a little.

Best disc to try it out with? Well, my favorite of course...
Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Edition, Disc 2

Awesome videos

2008-08-22T10:45:00.001-04:00

Just posted some awesome videos to my web site. Check 'em out.

Dead Poets Society

2008-08-21T09:09:00.002-04:00

I don't remember seeing this movie the year it came out, although I know I did. It was 1989, a year after I started high school and the first time I took a chance and started a D&D group.

I had been a player in a campaign run by a friend's boyfriend, and it was a great experience learning the ins and outs of playing D&D.

What I see now in this movie is a group of boys playing D&D. Even if they're only reading poetry to each other, they're engaged in the spirit of D&D. The movie's theme, "Carpe diem", is a bit of a cliche now, but at the time I started playing D&D it meant something to me, even if I didn't know it.

Taking the leadership to get a group together for storytelling and adventure-having was the best decision I ever made in my life.

I don't play Dungeons & Dragons

2008-08-20T14:58:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but I guess reading the in-print Beta finally made me come out with it.

As I read these pages and look over even the small changes, I realize what the OGL's effect on my hobby really is. Rather than have people ask "Do you play Dungeons & Dragons?" and me responding "Yes", I can now answer "I play Pathfinder". Even if I have to explain it's another roleplaying game like Dungeons & Dragons, for the first time in a long while, seems like forever, my roleplaying game system of choice is not Dungeons & Dragons.

Long live the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!

Today was the day!

2008-08-20T14:15:00.001-04:00

GOT THAT BETA! SUCK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today's the day

2008-08-20T07:08:00.001-04:00

I can feel it. Today I shall receive my Pathfinder Beta print copy. I just know it.

The voices told me to do it

2008-08-20T07:05:00.000-04:00

Ok, for all you roleplaying podlings out there, here's a handy tip for being a great DM...

Use distinct voices for NPCs. Use 'em a lot. It really helps PCs identify with different personalities they meet in the game. If it's a random NPC and you're not sure what to do, go for a neutral voice.

Otherwise, specific NPCs deserve specific voices. Try to immitate people from real life. Is the NPC a government leader? Use the voice of someone from Congress or the White House. Is the NPC a rogue? Use the voice of a notable rogue or someone you liked from the movies.

And always, PRACTICE your voices before you game. It helps. A LOT!

The intuhnet sux...

2008-08-19T09:18:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I'm searching on YouTube for classical music and I run across this comment. It was made in response to a video of Mozart's oboe concerto.

Whats with all these videos of performances of Mozart wind concertos that start only when the soloist starts?They're skipping over the whole intro...which DOES have a purpose;it lays the ground work for the whole piece...whoever posted this piece of crap should be crucified...youre basically leading us into the piece blind;and its a slap in the face to Mozart. You REALLY make me sick.

I just have to laugh. I could have been reading this kind of comment on a D&D board! LOL.

ASP.NET Triumph

2008-08-19T09:14:00.001-04:00

So, I'm a big ASP.NET guy. I feel like I've worked in the realm of ASP.NET for a while and I've struggled a little bit with learning the object-oriented side of things... until now!

I've reworked a small app at work that confirms to myself that I DO know the OOP concepts in C# to a degree. I still have more to learn, but my confidence in my abilities to demonstrate my knowledge is significantly higher.

Awesome.

Excalibur Movie Quote

2008-08-18T07:59:00.004-04:00

I thought I'd share one of my all-time favorite movie quotes:

Merlin: What are you afraid of?
Arthur: I... I don't know.
Merlin: Shall I tell you what's out there?
Arthur: Yes please.
Merlin: The Dragon! A beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance it would burn you to cinders!
Arthur: Where is it?
Merlin: It is everywhere! It is everything! It's scales glisten in the bark of trees. It's roar is heard in the wind. And it's forked tongue strikes like... (lightning bolt) Whoah like lightning, yes that's it!
Arthur: How can I...? What shall I...? Must I...?
Merlin: Do nothing. ... Be still. ... Sleep. Rest in the arms of the Dragon. ... Dream!

Awesome post somewhere else

2008-08-14T08:49:00.002-04:00

Check this post out.

Oh, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beta is being released today. Go play it. NOW!

1980-1982, Years That Changed Everything

2008-08-12T08:46:00.009-04:00

A lot of what has formed my interests and tastes in pop culture can be traced back to the formative years of 1980-1982. Even if I didn't see the movies listed below at the time, the tone and style of the movies produced at that time very much entertains me still. Bold movies lie in my favorites for fantasy/sci-fi.

Movies
Airplane! (1980)
Altered States (1980)
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) (don't ask)
Flash Gordon (1980)
The Fog (1980)
Shining, The (1980)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Boot, Das (1981)
Caveman (1981)
Clash of the Titans (1981)
Dragonslayer (1981)
Escape from New York (1981)
Excalibur (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Scanners (1981)
Stripes (1981)
Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Creepshow (1982)
Dark Crystal, The (1982)
Firefox (1982)
Megaforce (1982) (again... don't ask, but if you're looking for a cheesy performance by Spin City's Barry Bostwick, look no further!)
The Thing (1982)
TRON (1982)
Secret of NIMH, The (1982)
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (arguably the best Star Trek movie)

Some of my other interests at the time were in roleplaying games (which I didn't play until 1988) and computer games.

Roleplaying Games
1981 (D&D 2nd Revision - Basic, Expert Sets) (first time I read D&D rules)

Computer Games
1981 Castle Wolfenstein by Warner, Muse.
1981 Olympic Decathlon by Smith, Microsoft.
1981 Wizardry by Greenberg & Woodhead, Sir-Tech.
1982 Ultima II by British, Sierra On-Line.
1982 Swashbuckler by Stephenson, DataMost.
1982 Choplifter by Gorlin, Broderbund.

Missing my dad

2008-08-12T08:39:00.001-04:00

I remember I was in 3rd Grade when I first sat down in front of a computer and programmed something. It was in the low-res graphics of the Apple IIe and my GT program taught us how to do lines and dots to make an image. Many kids couldn't get it right away, but my program ran the first time with only a couple of mistakes (bugs).

I had lost my dad just a year ago and now a whole new world was opening up to me. Specifically, computer games and D&D. I just wish I had had a chance to share any of that with him.

Wizards comes late

2008-08-11T18:08:00.004-04:00

So 4E fans, how're ya likin' the lineup of all that 3rd party 4th Edition content? Huh? What do you mean there isn't that much? GSL? Oh you mean this GSL?

Ok... so they're a bit late. At least in the meantime you have a bunch of cool stuff from D&D Insider. How's that going? Huh? What do you mean it's not ready for prime time? Reduced prices?

Paizo comes through

2008-08-11T17:43:00.002-04:00

So I heard back from Paizo regarding the maps. I'm just glad they actually listened and tried to find a solution. That's the best any customer can expect.

XPath is named well...

2008-08-11T10:40:00.002-04:00

So, I'm trying to get this blog to show up on my web site. Over there, the look and feel of the site is slightly more archaic so I've written code that "subscribes" to the Blogger feed and displays posts accordingly. To get certain posts, you have to use a query language called XPath.

X usually stands for some unknown quantity. And the "path" to the correct post or set of posts is what I'm after. So, translated, some "unknown path" is the tool you need to use to get the results.

Good thing the boys over at marketing didn't get ahold of this one.

Now introducing "EASYXMLQUERYFINDING", the new programming tool to find exactly the items in an XML data source you're looking for in a sleek, easily customizable way!

CARTOGRAPHY RULES!

2008-08-10T09:38:00.003-04:00

In every roleplaying game product that details the locations of an environment, usually a map is provided that will give the DM an accurate assessment of how the players can interact with that environment. For example, the PCs want to travel from Town A to Town B. Well, The DM can see from the map a few things:

What type of environments the PCs will travel through and what type of encounters to expect.
How long they will be traveling, what the distance is vs what type of ground they have to cover.
Any other locations along the way that will influence their travel.

Most maps I've seen in roleplaying game products contain this information and convey it well. I can't say the same thing about Paizo's product Guide to Darkmoon Vale. The maps in the product don't contain two major map conventions that would really help me out: a compass rose (or even direction of north) and a scale. The compass rose is forgiveable as an oversight, but the lack of scale makes things VERY hard to use.

So I post the comment to the publishers and they tell me that the issue would be addressed. So when another product came out without a scale in some of the maps, I took that to mean that the publishing date of the first product was so close to the second that they didn't have time to fix those kinds of things. I also know that the lead time in print publishing is a couple of months at times.

What I didn't expect was when I posted a question on the message boards as to the scale of some of the maps in the second product, I got a snarky response on the boards. Um... WTF?

Get it together people. As follows: What All Good Maps Should Have

I'm in a field where visual representations of information count for a great deal, so I understand the need to make visual information work well. Do I need to do your work for you?

What's this here blog thing anyway?

2008-08-08T15:41:00.000-04:00

It may seem like I'm the last guy on the planet to start his own blog, but I don't care. It's more of a personal journal than a blog anyway.

So today, I finally switched to Blogger. It's easier to create posts and keep track of posts.

Go make some snarky comments already.

Preheat to 452 degrees

2008-08-08T15:35:00.000-04:00

452 degrees... the temperature at which roleplaying books burn!

Woohoo! Got some promising players for the new Pathfinder campaign.

Sean, Human Fighter
Budget slasher by day, monster slasher by night

Adam, Dwarf Cleric
Excellent player, but a cleric who leaves a sick kid at home for D&D?

Tom, Human Fighter/Rogue
He's got the stories and the experience of a rogue in real life!

James, Elf Wizard
A very promising magician, and he knows C#!

Game is most definitely... ON!

Reading Rules

2008-08-05T15:00:00.002-04:00

Here's a quote from "Neithan" from the Paizo.com messageboard:

When you read the rules, it totaly seperates you from the things they are meant to represent. Not a fault of the book, but the presentation greatly encourages you to see actions as applications of the rules, not rules as a way to represent the actions happening in the world.

This, my friends, is what is wrong with 4th Edition. I've been reading more and more posts lately about the debate between 4E and 3.X. There are a couple of people advocating 4E who refuse to see the personal preference of play style for 3rd Edition. They cite examples where the game goes too far into "simulationist" territory, such as a 1st Level Wizard getting creamed in a first encounter. There's nothing wrong with the game. That's the way it was meant to play. You HAVE to protect the wizard at low levels because he's going to be protecting you at high levels. The roles in the party change from level to level.

What is at the core of this debate is how some people see it as a fantasy game, and others see it as a fantasy simulation. This is not new, but 4th Edition chose a side in this conflict and some people see it as a great thing. Others do not.

Maps Maps Maps

2008-07-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to find a good system for utilizing more maps for miniatures/tokens in my game. There are a HUGE number of products online and it's a little scary trying to decide between all of the products.

They basically break down into two categories: maps you can create yourself using various tiles/pdf technologies, OR premade maps that are slightly pricier but you can either print out at home or purchase for not so much money.

I'm still on the fence. I bought some GameMastery Map Packs with locations I think will be common to need: villages, cities, inns, slums. However, I'll still have to draw some situations. It's unavoidable I guess unless they start publishing maps along with the adventures.

Oh well, it will still be good times.

We must worry about competition

2008-07-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

Hasbro has said that they really want to expand their offering of online content, thus we have the changes to D&D to make the game more like World of WarCraft. Um... no. A roleplaying game is not about pressing buttons on a keyboard. It's about face-to-face content. Call it something else you 17th Level Neutral Evil Corporate Executives!

On the lighter side of the news, I found an awesome image for my desktop background. It's got classic 80s shtick! It's got classic fantasy shtick! It's got classic videogame shtick! Did I mention how awesome it was? Funny thing is, the image was made as an homage to 80s videogame images. This isn't even from a real game! Awesome.

One Month In

2008-07-19T15:00:00.001-04:00

The kid is one month old today. So far he hasn't learned what a d20 is. C'mon, we're talking the basics here!

In other news, the local game store that I really like LOVES 4th Edition. I'll stick with Descent thanks.

I keep salivating to play the Pathfinder Beta rules. I've got my order in to get the book as soon as it comes out, but so far, nothing yet. My buddies are the same. Just anxious to get in some great gaming.

You'll know what I mean someday...

2008-07-19T15:00:00.000-04:00

So... how do you tell someone that what they believe is the most significant improvement to a thing ever is not really an improvement, it just really caters to the way things fit their culture?

Example: 4th Edition D&D

Likewise, as I continue to come to terms that I am of the "older" generation when it comes to gaming, I see the following idea coming to the forefront:

"Player: I need to be explicitly told what my character can and can't do."

*sigh*

Gamer Grows Old

2008-07-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

4th Edition D&D is now a month old. I bought the books when they came out, interested and hopeful that a new edition would improve the game to make it more of the game I love. What I discovered was that I had grown old.

How do you know it? How does the world start telling you that you're old? When companies that make games seem to think you're not young enough to buy the games. Companies survive by introducing new gamers to the game. As older players mature, they're less likely to buy stuff because they have A LOT of stuff already. It's the new guys who have the disposable cash.

I held out hope that I was among many others who were just riled up because our favorite game company had made a decision that wasn't in the best interest of the core fans. But reading this thread definitely showed me that I'm not a core fan anymore. I'm old.