#most tabletop game stores are independently run

[nixotinix]

So, you enjoy playing Dungeons and Dragons, yes? I'm sure we've all seen those YouTubers or podcast campaigns with elaborate setups, a shelf full of sourcebooks, hand-painted minis in fancy glass cases, and a designated table just for DnD with a screen inlaid. But what if you can't afford all that? What if you don't have a steady flow of income, or you can't drop 50 bucks on a sourcebook? Well, you're in luck. This is:

Dungeons and Dragons (on a budget)

For context, I'm a minor. I'm unemployed, since I live in a small town and am not old enough to get a job, and the most money I get per year is from birthdays and holidays. You might be in a similar situation, or you have rent, food, and gas to pay for and not enough money to spend on expensive amenities. Trust me, you don't need all those fancy doohickeys to enjoy a nice round of DnD. So let's rifle through my kit. To start,

My DM screen. This is the screen that came in the DnD Essentials Kit. Trust me, the Starters and Essentials Kits are worth their weight in gold. They're often cheaper than the sourcebooks and come with an incredible amount of information, and even an adventure for your party to play through. These are definitely a worthwhile investment.

Next up,

Dice! I have a total of 11 sets, with a handful of individual dice. You do NOT need this many. Just one set for you, and maybe some for your players if they don't have them, that's enough. You can buy them in groups of 5 or so sets on Amazon.

Now, for the most important thing.

Notebooks! If you don't have sourcebooks, these are your next best bet. The two I use most often are those on top. In the black one is information you need to make a character or NPC, as well as a standard inventory. The History of Magic book has a summary of every spell from the sourcebooks from Cantrips to 9th level. A lot of this information can be found on the internet for free. This takes a long, long time. But if you have more time than money, these will be worth your while. The other notebooks can be used for organizing campaigns, taking notes, keeping track of combat, etc.

Now for the fun part.

Making things! The spellcards I made for my cleric, so he knows what his spells do. And those towers in the back are dice towers made of paper, tape, and cardboard. We use copy paper to track maps and initiative, we play on our grandma's kitchen table, the players' character sheets came from the essentials kit, I make smaller character sheets for prominent NPCs, and I draw pictures of NPCs and regions to help my players understand everything better. So get creative!

If you can afford sourcebooks and still have enough to survive and pay to take care of yourself and those who depend on you, they are a worthwhile investment. I'd definitely pick up the Player's Handbook to start. Xanathar's and Tasha's Cauldron are also great sourcebooks. These are all of the sourcebooks I own.

I hope you enjoyed this look through how I run my homebrew campaign, and I hope you got some useful tips! Remember, your survival and well-being is top priority. Don't buy an expensive sourcebook if you can't afford to eat without that extra 50 dollars. Survival first, comfort second, DnD third. And you don't need to buy expensive things to play. You can have just as much fun with a piece of paper and cardboard miniatures as your map.

Happy pillaging, and stay safe!

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd homebrew #dungeon master tips #dm tips #dungeons and dragons #d&d #we do have a game store in town #however its a 2 mile walk one way and i cant drive #but i try to support them when i can #that's a bonus tip for you #support a local game store if you can #even if you can only buy one set of dice #most tabletop game stores are independently run #so supporting them helps them stay open so you dont have to buy online so often

[englishmansdcc]

Dark Horse and Geek & Sundry today released a special edition of their 6 part series CRITICAL ROLE – VOX MACHINA: ORIGINS. The title can be purchased through the Geek & Sundry online store.

The series is inspired by the Geek & Sundry online series CRITICAL ROLE (which airs on Thursday nights at 7PM Pacific on both the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel and on Alpha (the premium subscription service from Legendary Digital Networks).

    New users can get a 60 day free trial of Alpha by using the code “DARKHORSE”  and Alpha members can get a 10% off discount on merchandise in the Alpha store. 

More information as well as artwork and pages from the title are courtesy of their press release.

Geek & Sundry Releases Special Edition of Critical Role Comic Book Series with Dark Horse

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins #1-#6 Captures the Latest Adventure of Popular Dungeons & Dragons Series and Characters

Geek & Sundry, Legendary Digital Networks’ gaming and pop culture-focused digital entertainment company, has partnered with Dark Horse Comics to release a special hardcover edition of Critical Role – Vox Machina: Origins, the six-issue comic series inspired by Geek & Sundry’s long-running Dungeons & Dragons series Critical Role. Critical Role – Vox Machina: Origins #1 was the fastest- and strongest-selling comic for Dark Horse Digital making it among the top-selling issues and series in Dark Horse Digital history. This new volume brings together Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins #1-#6, which explore the enthralling origins of the Vox Machina team and provides fans with a closer look at the show’s setting, the captivating world of Exandria.

  Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins follows six would-be heroes as they uncover a plot to destroy the small coastal town of Stilben. The comic series is written by Matthew Colville (Evolve, Priest, Thief) with interior art by Olivia Samson, a member of the Critical Role fan community, and coloring and lettering by Chris Northrop. Readers of Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins can expect more than 160 pages of magical storytelling and bonus content.

Critical Role is a live multi-platform role-playing show featuring Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer and a troupe of fellow voice actors Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, and Liam O’Brien. Each week, nearly half a million viewers tune into Critical Role, with the series racking up over 53 million total views since its launch in March 2015.

“Being able to bring our origin story of Vox Machina to the world through a favored medium like comics has been a surreal dream. Beyond that, being able to work with such talented people in making it happen has been an incredible experience,” said Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer. “This collection allows us to bring the story into your hands as a physical collection, as well as present elements from the story for use in the reader’s home games. I’m still kind of blown away this even exists, and I hope you’re as excited as I am!”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Legendary Digital Networks and Critical Role to bring Critters everywhere these gorgeous collected editions,” explained Dark Horse Associate Editor Rachel Roberts. “Their creation was a true team effort and labor of love, so we hope fans really enjoy them. I’ve been so excited to share details about these books–it’s certainly been difficult to keep them a secret!”

Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins hardcover is offered in both limited and standard editions. The standard edition features cover art by Stjepan Šejić with a spot gloss treatment, while the limited edition comes bound in foil-stamped and burnished faux leather, along with a lithograph and cloth portfolio, housed in a faux leather, foil-stamped, and burnished slipcase. The standard edition of Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins is available for $44.99 and the deluxe edition for $99.99. Along with the stunning artwork, readers will find the complete collection of Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins #1-#6, annotated cover process pieces, preliminary character sketches, and character descriptions and stats.

In partnership with Dark Horse Comics, both editions of this amazing volume can be purchased from the Geek & Sundry online store. For further details and order information on Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, pleasevisit shop.geekandsundry.com.

Watch Critical Role Thursday nights at 7:00 PM PT on the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel and on Alpha,Legendary Digital Networks’ premium subscription service.

About Critical Role

Critical Role is the most popular live-streamed tabletop game in the world. What began in 2012 as a bunch of friends playing in each other’s living rooms has evolved into a multi-platform entertainment sensation, attracting over half a million viewers every week. Now in its second campaign storyline, the show features seven popular voiceover actors (Travis Willingham, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Sam Riegel, Liam O’Brien, and Laura Bailey) diving into epic Dungeons & Dragons adventures, led by veteran game master Matthew Mercer. Engrossed in the stories, characters and camaraderie, thousands of people each month discover Critical Role.

About Geek & Sundry

Geek & Sundry is a digital entertainment company recognized for producing award-winning Internet television content, featuring leading personalities in gaming and pop culture. Founded in 2012, Geek & Sundry’s online channels offer a diverse slate of reality, narrative, and comedy content created by and for gaming enthusiasts. Geek & Sundry is owned by Legendary Entertainment and is part of Legendary Digital Networks, which includes content powerhouses Nerdist and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls. To read daily editorial content and watch original shows, visit www.geekandsundry.com.

About Alpha

Alpha is a leading premium streaming entertainment service from Legendary Digital Networks that offers access to fully interactive live and on-demand channels, exclusive shows, and a suite of innovative features that empower fans to experience the programming they love in a unique and personally customizable way. Since its launch in 2016, Alpha has given members unprecedented access to engage directly with on-air personalities and form immersive communities around their passions. Alpha’s slate of original and exclusive shows includes Talkin’ Toons, Sagas of Sundry, Painters Guild, Because Science, Bizarre States Los Angeles, and Critical Role. Try the Alpha experience commitment-free for 30 days at www.projectalpha.com.

About Legendary Digital Networks

Legendary Digital Networks (LDN) is the streaming media and branded content division of Legendary Entertainment and home to leading digital entertainment brands Nerdist, Geek and Sundry, and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, as well as Alpha, a premium streaming entertainment service that gives members access to new and exclusive shows and immersive community-based interactivity.

About Dark Horse

For more than thirty years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today, Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.

Preview: Dark Horse / Geek & Sundry release hardcover edition of CRITICAL ROLE – VOX MACHINA: ORIGINS Dark Horse and Geek & Sundry today released a special edition of their 6 part series…

#Critical Role #CRITICAL ROLE - VOX MACHINA: ORIGINS #Dark Horse #Geek & Sundry #Legendary Digital Networks

[vorepizza]

SHORT BIOS!

Hey there! I redid my old bios cause I wasn't satisfied with most of what I wrote. Give these new ones a read!

GEN-TEC SCIENCE SQUAD:

Robin: The cyborg scientist in formerly in charge of their Beast Handling Division, now demoted to an Unconventional Testing Outpost in Boudreaux. With her experiments split between a small laboratory and a juice bar, Robin is in charge of four clone assistants, two defective Multiflora, and a Meridian security guard. She hopes to return to her former department along with the rest of her team. Except Amber.

Epsilon: One of Robin’s first assistants, Epsilon is a tropical screech owl harpy. She runs the Aqua de Vita juice bar alongside her partner, Delta. She greets every customer with a smile, and always gets them to take part of whatever special event is happening in the bar. Alpha and Beta are absolutely enamored with her.

Delta: Robin’s other original assistant, A maine coon catgirl, with a penchant for roughhousing. She takes charge of the main setup for the special public testing events Robin instructs them to perform, as well as bartering for juice from Amber. She really likes hunting, and cowboys

Beta: An albino bunny girl, Beta was assigned to Robin’s lab after the scientist’s reassignment. There’s always a smile on her face, and she tries her best to help Robin and the others however she can. She spends a lot of time with Alpha, and the two have become very close, though this often makes them the target of one of Delta’s hunts.

Alpha: Alpha is the latest of Robin’s assistants, a naga/lamia with a disproportionately long tail compared to her smaller human half. She’s chipper and eager to please, but her naivete and impish nature have gotten her into trouble on many occasions. She was sent to Robin’s new lab from the same department as Amber and Ginger after the three of them pulled a prank on their creator.

Amber: Amber is a nectar Multiflora, a variation of the species with the ability to produce a nutritious juice from the many fruits she grows on her body. While her nectar is delicious (and slightly addictive), she refuses to give it out without compensation, which evolved into a habit of hoarding. She always gets peoples’ names and turns of phrase wrong, no matter how many times they correct her.

Ginger: A carnivorous multiflora, Ginger can grow any fruit on her body after consuming meat. She’s threatened and tried to eat Robin’s assistants and security guard many times, but being the size of a houseplant and stuck in a pot make it hard for her to back it up.

Millie: A crossover hire from Meridian Securities, Millie is a dog girl who serves as Robin’s guard. Her soft hearted nature makes her often the subject of bullying and teasing from Delta and Amber. Robin mainly has her take care of Alpha and Beta, but she’ll also be recalled for odd jobs from Meridian now and then.

LAST OF THE CRIMSON CORSAIRS:

Lavina: Lavina is an angelic Seraph who excels at cooking, partly thanks to her abilities with fire and heat. She lives on Boudreaux’s island lighthouse along with Irin and Gaige, but travels to the mainland daily to bake at her café, Seraph Sweets. Centuries ago in the Crimson Corsairs, she served as the Guele Gourmand, finding many tasty and exotic meals in her time on the high seas.

Irin: A demonic Seraph who can induce sleep and influence dreams, Irin mainly spends her time helping Lavina in her bakery, mixing up batter, infusing treats with a spell, or serving dine-in customers. While normally curt with most people, she’s recently taken interest in a particular recurring diner, and offers to take her on a charter cruise whenever she comes in, a hobby left over from her time as the Hibiscus Helmsdemon.

Gaige: Gaige is a human witch particularly skilled in enchantments, often being hired by museums and universities to identify what an artifact or relic is imbued with. Aside from this, she also acts as a representative for Lavina or Irin, especially for dubious meetings in The Siren’s Den. She was the Inceppamento Incantatore long ago, after the Corsairs rescued her from a ritual by the Voidskull Cult.

Umbra: Formerly part of The Penumbral Terror, a cursed Celestial worshipped by the Voidskull Cult, Umbra is the essence trapped inside of Gaige after an interrupted ritual. Being severed from the Terror granted Umbra independent sentience, as well as multiplying Gaige's lifetime, but takes over Gaige's body from time to time as a consequence. She had a habit of getting them into more trouble than out of it, but now she’s just a minor nuisance.

AURELIA GAMING:

Lorelei: A silver-scaled Iridescent Shieldtail lamia with a fascination for fantasy, Lorelei runs the Enchanted Forest side of her family’s gaming store. She and Reva are close friends, and run campaigns with Alex, Amber, and occasionally Trish. She loves to fight in real-life gladiator battles, and always has her gear at the ready.

Ophelia: A black-scaled Iridescent Shieldtail lamia with a fixation on science fiction, Ophelia runs the Black Hole side of her family’s gaming store. She prefers playing paintball or laser tag with Katie and Harley instead, but since they all work together, she finds ways to have fun. She has a habit of vanishing suddenly, sometimes even mid conversation.

Reva: The golden orb weaver dridder who works in the Aurelia Gaming store. She always plays a thief to Lorelei’s gladiator, but she loves teasing her coworkers when they aren't in a campaign, especially those in the Black Hole. After an after-hours game, she's been known to frequent The Siren’s Den.

Katie: Katie is just a human trying to live her life, but often finds herself the target of misfortune. She and Alex were deeply in love, but a series of tribulations resulted in Alex losing her memories and Katie being indebted to a Celestial. Whenever she can, she tries to drown her sorrows at Aqua de Vita.

Alex: Alex is a mute dog girl who had a near death experience that struck her with amnesia. The only things she could remember were her step-sister Millie, and that she lives with the Aurelia twins. Her cheery attitude makes her a delight to her friends, but she gets uncomfortable whenever Katie pays her too much attention, an unfortunately all-too-often experience.

Harley: Often found dozing around the Aurelia Gaming store, Seraph Sweets, and Aqua de Vita, Harley is an incredibly sleepy fox girl. Whenever she's awake, or at least less tired, she's fidgety, feverish, and/or focused. Under one such spell, she teleported herself and Katie right into the Siren’s office, and almost lost her soul. Katie’s kept a wary eye on her roommate ever since, but still lets her handle snack runs.

THE SIREN’S DEN

Libra: Libra is a courier for the mysterious, enigmatic, and infamous captain known as the Siren. She keeps a bandana wrapped around her mouth, and her backpack is covered in cat stickers. The half-covered Meridian logo suggests she has a history with the company.

The Amazing Trish: A half-tiger magician who was desperate for work after losing her gig at the Azure Apex, Trish was brought into the Den as an entertainer by her girlfriend Soleil. When she plays solo, she usually does tricks with fire or cards, but she's recently been training in partner performances, expanding her repertoire to juggling, hypnotism, and escape acts. She loves tabletop gaming and visits the Aurelias whenever she has time to spare.

Soleil: A dullahan who works partly as an entertainer, enforcer, and bartender for The Siren. Soleil is in charge of the Den whenever her employer is out, which often leads to her using the club for a private romantic get-together with Trish. She isn't fond of Libra, and always makes sure there's some odd job to send her away on.

Pepper: Known as one of the fastest drivers in the city, Pepper is often hired as a getaway driver by patrons in the Den, and sometimes The Siren herself. For her day job, she works deliveries for both Pizza Port, and her sister Lavina. Her gluttonous appetite has required Lavina to bake a separate batch of treats for Pepper to eat instead of the intended delivery.

ILENA’S OASIS

Ilena: A Celestial who make plants bloom and water flow just by digging her hands into the earth. She created a grand Oasis when she landed on the planet, and was worshipped by many surrounded villages, who she'd either grace with her bounty or curse with a drought at her whims. Several centuries passed and she became largely forgotten, so she decided to travel the world and pick worshippers on her own, her most recent choice a Seraph from the Azure Apex, and a lamia from a store in Boudreaux.

Lyra: Lyra was a masseuse at the famous mountain temple-turned-resort Azure Apex, but was spirited away by Ilena to serve her instead. The angelic Seraph accepted this with an excessively fervid glee, instantly smitten with her Celestial patron and pledging to stay at her side. She regards Ophelia with great disdain, preferring herself as the only apple of Ilena’s eye, and starting a fight almost every time Ilena summons the lamia.

#pizza oc #pizza backstory #ref

[sacha616gaming-blog]

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[immedtech]

The exquisite torture of Kickstarter exclusives

A month or so ago, I discovered a project on Kickstarter that made my heart ache with desire. It was a tabletop game called The Wilson Wolfe Affair by Simulacra Games, which is unlike any other I've seen. Each "game" is really a crate full of 1930s cartoon memorabilia, which contain clues and hidden secrets to a larger, unsolved mystery. The artwork is incredible and the puzzles themselves look fantastic -- you'd find solutions through reading letters, using a Viewmaster, playing games, looking at objects under a UV light, and more. The game invites you to essentially play amateur detective, which is the kind of game I love.

There's one big caveat though, and it's that due to the unique nature of the game, it can't be scaled to sell in traditional retail. That means that it would remain "exclusive" to Kickstarter. If I wanted this game, I needed to back it within the next few days or risk missing out on it, potentially forever.

It's part of a "Kickstarter exclusive" trend that's been on the rise in recent years. After some initial research, this strikes me as a phenomenon that seems relatively unique to tabletop games, due largely to three factors: The high cost of manufacturing, the niche audience that they serve and the fact that a lot of the companies who make them are small, independent outfits.

After all, these are often games with intricate plastic miniatures or simply too many components to be sold in a normal retail environment. In a way, Kickstarter, or other crowdfunding sites like it, are the only way these games can exist.

"It would never sell alongside Monopoly in a supermarket," said George Fox, who created the Wilson Wolfe Affair. "And would probably sell very slowly even in a specialized game store, since the price point is relatively high." He also said he felt that the nature of the game lends itself to being a one-time thing, like an event you buy a ticket for. "I think the more niche your game is, the more sense it probably makes to stay Kickstarter exclusive."

Another popular Kickstarter exclusive in recent years has been Serious Poulp's 7th Continent, a choose-your-own-adventure-style game of epic proportions. "The game is a Kickstarter exclusive mostly because of its manufacturing costs," said Bruno Sautter, one of the game's designers. "It would prohibit a distribution through 'classic' retail circuits." Sautter did put the game up on the company website as a "Late Pledge" pre-order for a few months after the Kickstarter was over, but it's still considered part of a one-time deal.

Although it makes some sense, Kickstarter exclusives present a few issues. For one, you need to have heard about them in the first place in order to get them. So, if you get wind of the campaign months after the fact, well, too bad. Another issue is that even if you do manage to catch the campaign while it's in progress, you're sort of cornered into making an on-the-spot decision on whether to plop down money on something you're not entirely sure is worth it.

Now, for the most part, Kickstarter campaigns for tabletop games don't set out to be exclusive. There might be a few components exclusive to the Kickstarter but the game itself isn't marketed that way. Sure, there's still a chance that the game might not make it to retail, but there's a chance it could, especially if the company behind the Kickstarter is established.

Cool Mini Or Not (also known as CMON), for example, is a pretty well-known company that often runs campaigns for its games, but then follows them up with retail copies if they gain enough interest. At the moment, however, CMON is running a Kickstarter exclusive campaign for HATE (inspired by Adrian Smith's Chronicles of Hate graphic novel series).

CMON says that while HATE will not be available through traditional channels, individual retailers can still choose to get the game through a special Kickstarter retail pledge. The game will also be available through conventions throughout the year. Admittedly, that still means the game will be hard to get, but at least there will be opportunities beyond the initial Kickstarter.

"The thing about Kickstarter-funded board games is that you really don't know what the future holds for them," said Quintin Smith, who runs Shut Up and Sit Down, a board games review site. "Which is part of the reason that they receive funding -- this might be your only chance to buy it!"

Some games are Kickstarted once and never again, some might get Kickstarted a second time (7th Continent had a second run last year), while others might even get to retail later on, as is the case with a large company like CMON.

"Kickstarter games making it to standard retail is a bit like a spacecraft trying to make it through Earth's atmosphere to touch down on a landing strip," said Smith. "It might make it missing a few pieces, or it might not make it at all."

And, of course, the problem is that few people get a chance to see and review these games at all, so you don't know how good the game is before backing it. "The only solution that I'm aware of," continued Smith, "and the one that I suggest to my audience, is that if they don't want to get stuck with a disappointing game then just wait until the first Kickstarter is over. If a game is really, really good then it'll either get a second Kickstarter or it'll arrive in retail."

That's sort of the issue with Kickstarter; it's not a store. Instead, Kickstarter is a place where ideas are brought to life through the power of crowdsourcing -- ideas that might not otherwise see the light of day. As alluded to earlier, games like 7th Continent and the Wilson Wolfe Affair could only exist in the Kickstarter era, as they bypass the usual rules and barriers to getting your product to market. As a backer, I'm more than a customer; I'm an early investor.

But as with all investments, there's always a chance that they could fail. And while I'm happy to see ambitious projects like these get funded -- it increases the likelihood they'll run a second campaign, for one thing -- the idea of Kickstarter exclusives "forcing" me to back it does make me feel a touch uncomfortable.

This is, of course, a thoroughly modern problem. Kickstarter (and sites like it) have allowed wonderfully specific and whimsical products to become a reality that otherwise would have remained on someone's bar napkin. It enables the weird and wonderful products of our dreams, as long as you show up at the right time and you're willing to take a chance on something you haven't seen. It's a modern-day quandary that technology and crowdfunding have conspired to create, which delights and frustrates in equal measure.

For my part, I know that the question of "what if" would always hang over me. What if the game happens to be great? What if it happens to be the single greatest gaming experience of my life? What if I'll regret missing out on this one-time exclusive? Is it worth it?

And that's why I breathed a heavy sigh, took out my wallet, and backed the Wilson Wolfe Affair regardless.

- Repost from: engadget Post

#ITlive #engadget #The exquisite torture of Kickstarter exclusives

[canvaswolfdoll]

Canvas and Video Games

Have I talked about my Video Game history? Feels like I have, but I also can’t remember doing so. I’m also running low on possible essay topics, and haven’t finished off any media that I can review[1] recently enough to do that instead…

So, hey, you nerds, let’s talk about Video Games!

Because that’s obviously been a massive influence on my life, what with… my entire brand, really. Egads, am I a nerd, sitting here with a New 3DS in a charging cradle in front of me, trying to work out how to do better quality streams and deciding to write an essay about Video Games.

It all started with my brother, old Foxface himself. As the family lore goes, my parents once didn’t want video games in the house, what with… the social stigma, I guess? It was different times, alright?

Point is, my brother’s speech teacher was all ‘Hey, you know what may help with speech? Video Games! Get him video games.’

And so my parents did, despite any reasonable connection or evidence in the above argument.[2]

So they bought him the Sega Genesis, the only non-Nintendo console we’ve ever owned. He played Sonic the Hedgehog! Also… no. It was mostly just Sonic.

Obviously young Canvas was also interested in the wonder of interactive media, and the running rodent, so I’d watch him play, and occasionally step in as Tails or try to play it myself. And I was terrible at it.

Eventually, the Nintendo 64 was released and added to our fleet of hardware, and we never looked back! Ha ha!

That’s the console that we really cut our teeth on, with it’s many beloved games, from Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (first Zelda game I was ever aware of), and so on and so forth. We ended up with most of the major releases.[3] Also Mischief Makers for some reason.

It was also the height of Video Rental stores, though I never got to choose games to rent. Vulpin stuck with Space Station Silicon Valley which… might deserve an HD Remake, to be honest. Such a bizarre premise people would eat up, nowadays.

The Game Boy Color arrived, carrying Pokemon and various shovelware, plus a few Zelda Games. Tried my best with them, but for the longest time I never actually completed a video game, or got that far, though I did finish Johto in Gold, which is something.

Gamecube came out, the Dreamcast died, and I began to become aware of the surrounding culture as my capabilities to use the internet matured. We also continued a trend of our person game libraries for the generation growing larger than the last. Lots of GameCube games.

Animal Crossing was a Christmas gift early in the cycle, and it was the first video game all of the kids in the family played, to various extents. Elder Sister was her usual perfectionist self, paid off her house, then pretty much stopped playing video games forever afterwards. Little Sister still plays the occasional game (mostly Paper Mario), but largely it’s just Foxface and I who are deep into the gaming scene.

But, like so many things, tracking each and every experience would be a rather sisyphean task, so I should try and refocus here.

Video Games have always been a presence in my life, and thus had its effects on my creative self, from imaginary friends to the little stories I’d crafted pacing the backyard. They were my chief insight into narratives and various genres, design (whether costume or set or mechanical). Nintendo Power helped educate me on the concept of news and industry, as well as the community that could grow from a hobby.

In fact, Pokemon was the main driving force behind the event I joke is the time I’ve ever made friends myself,[4] being approached while reading a book related to the franchise during second grade. It was nice.

Learning about the internet and GameFAQs hinted towards the wider world and culture, and eventually I came upon 8-Bit Theater, which fired up my love of comics in a big way. Comics and stories made from and about elements of video games? That’s so cool!

Then Nintendo Acres happened.

The diminishing use of quality sprite work in video games makes me sad, by the way. There’s just something about the GBA/DS era graphics that invokes joy in my heart, by now even Pokemon has left sprite work behind for models, and even kitschy independent games tend for the super minimalistic version of 8-bit and… whatever one would refer to Atari graphics. Had I artistic talent, I would slather my media in 16-bit evocative of Friends of Mineral Town or The World Ends with You.

In fact, I think that’s one of my main hurdles getting invested in Stardew Valley[5] and Undertale. They just look ugly, even by the standards of kitschy 8-bit style. Frisk is malformed, and all the Stardew characters are in the wrong perspective for the rest of the world. Sprite work can be so beautiful, and yet no one puts in the effort anymore.

Look, sprites aren’t the only aesthetic I love, just so we’re clear. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, I just prefer bright, cheery worlds. Tale of Symphonia is one of my favorite games, if not my absolute number one.[6] There’s just something very nice about a fantasy world that looks lush and vibrant, where you’d be happy to live just for the scenery. The Tales series and Rune Factory also made me very positive about oddly intricate characters in fantasy. I’ve never liked the dirt covered fantasy of… let’s say Skyrim. Fantasy should be about escapism, grand adventure in grand landscapes, not the crushing reality of medieval times.

More Ghibli, less brown is what I want in general.

I may be an oddball for the elements I look for in video games. I like RPGs (obviously) but there’s very few members of the genre I actually enjoy. I flat-out can’t stand western Video Game RPGs.

What I usually look for in games is both a compelling narrative and interesting mechanics, with allowance for the ‘Classics’ and trendsetters.[7] This is something I find lacking in Western-Style RPGs, with their focus on customizing and granular stat advancement. Sure, I understand someone’s desire to try and put a popular character in an Elder Scrolls, or place some curious limitation on themselves while crawling around Fallout’s wastelands.

But because the game needs to allow the player to make whoever they want, it severely cripples the writer’s ability to write the “main” character into the plot, lest they step on the agency of the player. So, from my perspective, we end up in one of two situations: the PC is a non-entity in the plot, with the narrative happening around and to them instead of with them. Or, we get a Mass Effect situation, where they treat it like Choose Your Own Adventure, and you end up shooting a dude when you thought you were just going to arrest him.[8] That’s why I much prefer being handed a protagonist with a history and personality.

Now, those familiar with my tabletop philosophies, and namely my disdain for randomized Character Gen because it takes away player agency might be tilting their head at this inconsistency.

Well, it’s a scale thing. I realize Video Games have a limitation, and thus it’s unreasonable to expect it to cater to you completely. Tabletop, however, allows endless narrative possibilities, because it’s being created in the moment. So, with Video Games, I’m more willing to just let the story take me along as an observer, like a TV Show.

Which is to say, I don’t really project on the Player Character, and am I happy with that. It’s a division between game and story that may seem odd, but it’s what I look for: every piece having a narrative purpose, especially the loser who’s carrying us on our back.

So, narratively, I prefer the style of JRPGs (also, I like Anime and it’s tropes, so…). Yet, I have never really gotten engrossed in any Final Fantasy Game, because list combat is very dull. I mean, grindy, set the auto-attack against opponent style of Western RPGs[10] aren’t much better, but at least it’s got a hint of visual interest.

What am I left with? For a while, Tales of Symphonia, but now I’ve got Rune Factory, with it’s rather simple combat, but still mostly fun (helped along by other elements), and especially Fire Emblem, which what I wish battlemat D&D combat could be: quick, clever, strategic.

Though I’ve only played the 3DS installments thus far, due to lack of accessibility to the early games, which I couldn’t be bothered to try when they were released. Did try the first GBA game to be ported over, but that ended up having the worst, most micromanaging tutorial I’ve ever seen, and thus I am incapable of completing the first level.

I know how to play video games, Fire Emblem. I am aware of the base concept of pressing A. Yeesh. You’re worse than modern Harvest Moon games!

I’ve also never gotten invested in military FPSs, as a mixture of finding the gameplay boring, difficulty mastering it, and mockery whenever I was roped into playing one with friends.[11] In general, I don’t like being in first person view, as I find it limiting to controls, and responding to things that get behind me is annoying, because I flail trying to find the source of damage, then die.

Though, with time, my avoidance has decreased. Portal has a first person camera, but in a mixture of a more puzzle focused game and excellent integration of tutorial into gameplay,[12] it takes an agitating limited camera and makes it very workable, while also teaching the player how to interact with a game in first person.

I also played a little Team Fortress 2, and now Overwatch. The difference with those two over, say, Modern Duty or whatever, is the tone. The two games are competitive, yes, but also light hearted and goofy. Death is cheap and non punishing, the addition of powers make character choice widely different and fun, and, when I do get a little frustrated, it’s very easy for me to take a breath say ‘It’s only a game’ and let it go. Which is important when playing video games, sometimes.

Because that’s what games should always be: entertainment. It’s why I don’t try and force myself through games I’m not enjoying or lose interest in (though obviously I do try and come back and finish the plot) and why I very rarely strive for 100% completion. Because I want to enjoy myself, not engage in tedious work.

It’s also why I don’t care about ESports. Because I don’t care about sports. People doing something very well doesn’t really appeal to me. High-level chess players aren’t interesting to watch or study, seeing two teams of muscled people charge one another isn’t fun, and fight scenes with the usual punching and kicking is dull.

Because, what I look for in most cases is novelty.

Seeing a master craftsman make a thing once can be interesting, just to see the process. See a master craftsman make the same thing a 100 times is uninteresting, because nothing new is happening. When it comes to sports and games, it’s more interesting to see novices play, because they mess up in interesting ways, spot and solve problems, and you get to sit back and go ‘Now, I would’ve done this.’

So, yeah, not a big fan of Counterstrike and League of Legends news, even besides the toxic communities.

Public perception of video games turned rather quick in my lifetime. It used to be such a niche hobby, enjoyed by nerds and children and so such. Yet… well times change, don’t they? Obviously children grew up and brought games along with them, but the hobby has expanded to become mainstream, a console being as necessary as a television, where those without are viewed as bizarre, despite it not being a physical need.[13] We all remember the children who noted their family doesn’t have a TV (or keep it in the closet), and I wonder if XBoxes have gained the same traction.[14]

If only tabletop games could get the same treatment.

Though I still wouldn’t be able to find a group, but still…

Now that I’m an employed adult, I have even more control over the games I play. Which means a Wii U and a custom built PC.

That I built myself, because I also enjoyed Lego as a child.

Between the two, I tend to have a wide enough net to catch the games that interest me. Sure, there’s still some PlayStation exclusives I’d love to try (Journey, Team ICO’s works, plenty of Tales games…)[15] but some of those games are slowly drifting over to Steam, and I already have a backlog, so I can wait it out.

That’s my stumbled musings about video games… Oh! I stream them! Over here! Watch me! I love to entertain and amuse!

Also maybe consider supporting me through patreon? Then I can put more resources into being amusing!

And share any thoughts you have. I’ll listen. Until then…

Kataal kataal.

[1] Did finish rereading Yotsuba&! but there’s nothing to say about besides “Read it!” [2] Certainly didn’t help me. [3] Though not Harvest Moon 64. One day, I will slay that whale. One day… [4] The rest are inherited after old friends leave. [5] Someone on Reddit commented its port to the Switch may help scratch the itch left by Rune Factory. They are, of course, dreadfully wrong. [6] I still dislike do rankings. [7] IE, I’m not a big fan of hallway-bound FPS games, but have played through the Half-Life series. Mostly for the connection to Portal. [8] I know it was in the ‘Renegade’ position, but I thought it’d be played as ‘I’ll risk losing the Shadow Broker to book this small fish’ sort of thing. I’m not very clever, okay?[9] [9] I actually never progressed much further than that. Perhaps it’ll be on CanvasPlays someday. [10] I don’t care if you have a list of subversions of this style, by the way. I really don’t. [11] I once annoyed a former friend for not knowing there’s an aim button. I didn’t know this, because I don’t play FPSs. [12] There’s a very nice Extra Credits about this somewhere. [13] Though as a cultural need… [14] Nintendo Consoles, of course and unfortunately, being considered the off-brand. [15] the PS3 port of Tides of Destiny. Yes, it’s a disgrace of a Rune Factory game, and it was also on the wii but… well, sometimes I’m an insane collector![16] [16] I don’t even need a PS3. I can get it used for, like, five bucks from GameStop…

#canvasrambles #video games

[aurelliocheek]

Holocafé: The Entertainment of the Future

Thanks to exclusive VR multiplayer titles developed in-house, every visit to the Holocafé is an unforgettable experience. In our report, we show you the history of the successful franchise model.

What do you do if you face an oversaturated market, being an indie developer? It’s a question that most developers struggle with regardless of their talent. The lack of AAA funds for marketing purposes requires creative solutions regarding discoverability, and even well-executed games can go unnoticed by the general public. The fact that platforms like Kickstarter are on the decline doesn’t help either, and many developers don’t even closely recoup the funds they put into production. What used to start as a democratization effort to make the market more accessible to independent teams has become an inherent discoverability issue across all platforms.

Whenever a truly new gaming platform arrives, it creates new opportunities for new teams. Vastly different control schemes, customer usage patterns, and new technological challenges give newcomer teams a blue ocean playground, especially if they’re one of the first to ship on the platform. It doesn’t come as a surprise that Oculus’ successful fundraising and subsequent purchase by Facebook led to a technological hype cycle not very different from Apple’s iPhone, which spawned a whole new generation of mobile devices across the industry. When the first consumer-ready VR devices hit the market in 2016, research companies like Digi-Capital predicted the market to hit $120 billion in revenues by 2020. Despite the bold predictions, the majority of established studios stayed hesitant while the platform immediately became a playground for independent teams. One of those teams is the German company Holocafé from Düsseldorf.

In Holo Arena, two to four players defend their common space together against drones with futuristic weapons.

The Game Jam that started it all In 2015, an invitation to an HTC Vive game jam in London sparked the interest for VR development in Oliver Eberlei, who used to run the independent studio Hammer Labs and was the founder of the Indie Arena Booth. The idea not just to sit there, but walk around a virtual environment and interact with it using 3D motion controllers was so compelling that he started developing the puzzle game Carpe Lucem – Seize the Light in collaboration with publisher Application Systems Heidelberg. The game then turned into one of the Vive’s launch titles, but exposed how bold the market researcher’s predictions had been: Despite facing a market that was far from saturated with content, the installation base was rather small, and its growth should be nowhere near the predictions.

Around the same time in 2015, another indie team from Düsseldorf was evaluating the new technology as well, but from a different perspective. The studio “Frame6”, founded by four MD.H alumni, got caught up in the same discoverability issues as many other Indies and their official Crysis tabletop game got shelved by their publisher despite very positive focus group tests. Two of their founders, Sebastian Kreutz and Jessica Karger, used to work in the advertising industry for several years including a two-year stay of Sebastian at Ubisoft Blue Byte’s marketing department. The company thus shifted their focus more and more into B2B marketing services and started exploring Virtual Reality for interactive real estate and trade fair visualizations. Since both Hammer Labs and Frame6 collaborated on projects frequently, they quickly got into an exchange about the different VR technologies they were using.

The arcade management platform was developed exclusively for the Holocafé and can be used by the operators to control everything from a single tablet.

VR’s fundamental problem The two Frame6 founders Jessica and Sebastian were so impressed by the Vive’s capabilities that they decided to go back into games. However, they found the home consumer VR situation difficult for exactly the reasons that Oliver had experienced. While Virtual Reality allows consumers to immerse into game worlds in a way that’s not possible with any other medium, it has one inherent problem: Motion sickness. While some of these issues were caused by early hardware not delivering the necessary 90 FPS per eye or low enough latency, one key issue remains until today, and that is locomotion. Have you ever seen people getting dizzy or nauseous reading while driving? A very similar effect takes place in VR once people use classic locomotion input such as the thumbstick on their game controller. While their eyes notice the motion at full intensity, their vestibular system is being messed up at the same time because it doesn’t sense any movement. This sensational disconnect is the main cause for motion sickness until today and can leave customers feeling sick for an entire day after just five minutes of VR usage with the “wrong” controls.

Both game and hardware developers have tried different approaches to mitigate the issue, such as omnidirectional treadmills or relying entirely on teleportation. However, even three years later, the problem is largely unsolved without a significant impact on gameplay. Even room-scale VR gives home consumers a limited experience considering how scarce living space has become. Also, home theatre constructors are certainly a neglectable target group when it comes to modeling a sustainable business plan. With these limitations in mind (and not wanting to knock over their cats while playing), the entrance price for the hardware remains a major pain point for consumers, so it’s still not quite a mass-market range of devices.

Fabios Fantastic Fun Factory offers several fun minigames like target shooting with bow and arrow, pig feeding, or catching butterflies.

Going location-based Back in 2015 and seeing the home consumer market challenges, the three Holocafé founders decided that the technology would be an excellent opportunity to revive the arcade scene that never really thrived in Germany. Regulations in the 90s and early 2000s placed internet and gaming cafés in the same category as casinos, making it impossible for operators to maintain their business whilst having to throw out their primary target group, teenagers. In addition to conservative regulation, affordable broadband internet cut away the demand for these offers, effectively making the business model redundant. More than ten years later, the political climate has become far more game-friendly, and phenomena like eSports have created a demand again for gaming bars, such as TakeTV or the Meltdown Bar. Within this climate, the new generation of VR devices seemed like the perfect opportunity to build a new location-based business. Before their devices were even available to purchase, the Holocafé founders sat down with HTC who at that time were searching for satellite locations to handle the overwhelming demand for B2B demos. The shared plan: Create Europe’s first VR Arcade.

Finding an appropriate venue turned out harder than expected, though. Going from digital distribution into location-based exposed a myriad of previously unknown barriers, ranging from the scarcity of suitable sites over regulatory issues such as fire protection and construction permits to even more regulations. During this lengthy learning process, it became clear that the company needed a pivot. At the time, there were only very few commercially licensed titles available, and those that could be used did not quite fit a location-based setting. While the content had been produced for home consumers and thus a small installation base, most developers played safe and went for small singleplayer experiences as opposed to risking empty gameservers.

In Chaos Commando, you give orders to your teammates while dealing with toggles, switches, and buttons by yourself to save the most inefficient space station of all times from falling apart.

Common-Space VR was the key The founders started to question the available content. Would isolated experiences motivate people to go to and play at a physical venue? Most leisure attractions are built around the fact that people prefer bringing their friends or their family along. Whether it’s bowling, laser tag, escape rooms or movie theatres – all of these leisure offers are aimed at social experiences. Why should it be any different with VR? At the time of these considerations, HTC was impacted by a global restructuring and the original plans for a shared VR arcade got lost, forcing Holocafé into a pivot that later turned out to be the key to their success. The team started using their main background to create custom games dedicated to location-based entertainment. While the social aspect was clearly the main focus, the team took advantage of SteamVR’s tracking architecture, which allows for multiple devices – and thus multiple users – to be tracked in the same area. After some experimentation, the company’s main product came together: A 30 square meter large “Holosuite” with space for four players.

In contrast to other networked multiplayer approaches, players could, for the first time, share the same physical and virtual space, making the need for communication via headsets redundant. Instead, the team installed an open surround system providing game audio, while the players could naturally communicate and interact with each other. This common-space approach to VR gaming had so far only been in development by warehouse-scale providers such as The Void. Holocafé’s focus on more compressed spaces opened up the opportunity to build stores in city centers where the rental price per square-meter is too high to establish warehouse-scale offers. Throughout 2016, Holocafé developed prototypes for their first three common-space games Holo Arena, Chaos Commando and Carpe Lucem, the latter was a former singleplayer experience and turned into a multiplayer game. While warehouse-scale VR experiences all went for shooters and action games, Holocafé tried to take the Nintendo approach to create a niche for family-friendly gaming, with all games receiving an age rating of 6+.

The spaceship-themed Holocafé Flagship Store in the city center of Düsseldorf launched on December 1st in 2018.

A wholly different market The first market test launched in late 2016 in the form of a three-month pop-up store. To mitigate the challenges of going location-based, Holocafé partnered with the retail giants Unibail-Rodamco, Metro and Media Markt and established an 80 m2 pop-up in the shopping mall “Düsseldorf Arcaden” which hosted two Holosuites. While the team hoped that their social approach would succeed, it was necessary to test the actual demand before investing heavily into permanent store construction. Would people be willing to go out to play again and would they be willing to pay for it?

In order to create a meaningful market test, the team chose an organic approach to marketing and PR. While they did have their website and social media channels, they did not put a single cent into active marketing. Instead, a pre-launch press event was hosted in collaboration with Media Markt and on the opening day, people could line up for short, free sneak-peek sessions. After that, the company ceased all active communications to measure how the occupancy of the store would evolve. The price was modeled at 12 € per 30-minute session and player to keep the group price just below 50 €. Thankfully, Holocafé experienced organic growth, and after three weeks of being open, the store hit its capacity limits on weekends.

The team also needed a measurable comparison between the better-known singleplayer games such as The Brookhaven Experiment, The Lab, Space Pirate Trainer and their own common-space games to figure out whether an in-house development or external licensing approach should be pursued in the future. While the team was confident in their approach, the numbers surprised them: Over 92% of their revenue was generated by their custom-made games that nobody had known at this point. Also, while the three founders expected the target demographic to be similar to the online crowd, it turned out that core gamers were just a fraction of the location-based audience. The ages spanned from 6 to 82 years with a 31% ratio of female guests and more than 75% of the players having no prior VR experience – a demographic that hasn’t changed much in 2019, except that the percentage of female players increased. In certain ways, location-based VR seemed to have reached a broad target group outside of the typical gaming bubble, much like the Nintendo Wii once did.

The location in Düsseldorf offers capacity for a lot of guests and is very suitable for the organization of children’s birthday parties.

Launching a Franchise The pop-up store’s success led to an immediate search for permanent real-estate in the team’s home town of Düsseldorf. With various universities, a large Japanese community and the somewhat connected geek/otaku fan scene, the city seemed like an ideal ground to establish the first permanent venue. With Germany’s trade hour laws, the team couldn’t stay at its previous mall, since opening on the important Sundays could only be done within a standalone venue. In an unexpected turn of events, the first Holocafés opened up in the cities of Troisdorf and Aachen instead but were not operated by the founders themselves. Some of the pop-up store guests turned out to be leisure facility operators and entrepreneurs looking for new retail concepts. So while the founders were struggling to find a venue in their own city of Düsseldorf, some of the entrepreneurs already had their venues at hand. Once again, the team had to go through a learning process in a completely different area than game design by establishing a franchise program.

This process didn’t just require legal advice, but some heavy software engineering to develop the needed infrastructure for franchising. While the pop-up was a success, it also exposed weaknesses in both the games and processes. The unexpected target demography caused a significant support overhead with the games that were licensed from third parties. While the user interfaces were designed for typical Steam users, location-based players were already overwhelmed with menu systems that any core gamer would deem the most straightforward thing on Earth. Since location-based players are purchasing playtime as opposed to a game license, they do not want to spend their time browsing through menus, configuring their client, going through lengthy tutorials or trying to find other players in matchmaking systems. In fact, the best way to onboard players in a location-based scenario is to not expose any menu at all to them and to keep controls as simple as possible. Since the Holocafé team could not do anything about the third party games other than curating them out of their offer, their own games had undergone some heavy refactoring following these learnings. Another phenomenon that the founders have faced was a TV-like zapping behavior of customers. Initially, they could spend their booked game time with any game they wanted, so they tried to make the best out of their time by quickly hopping through all the games. Ironically, that caused the exact opposite: an unsatisfactory user experience. As a result, the team changed the entire booking process and the flow of the games so players could only book specific experiences at a set duration so they would take in the whole dramaturgy of a game. While this step posed a significant risk, it boosted user retention and satisfaction significantly. Inspired by the success of location-based offers, the Düsseldorf neighbors at Ubisoft Blue Byte requested the consultation of Holocafé to launch its own location-based offer focused on digital escape games. These games have now become the first permanent third party offer besides the continuously growing catalog of Holocafé-made games.

At the Holocafé, not only fantastic multiplayer games await you in the virtual reality, but also a very real, extraordinarily themed café!

Becoming a platform Not allowing the users to control any of the processes required the creation of an arcade management platform to automatize anything that could create problems. Moreover, these problems come in various forms, such as broken and forced SteamVR updates that arrive at the worst of times. Being responsible for the stable operations of their franchise licensees, Holocafé decided to make their platform completely independent from Steam and other third-party services by creating a content delivery network that would let operators have full control over when to deploy patches and even roll back versions in case of technical issues. Regardless of the size of the store, the Holocafé platform allows operators to control everything from a single tablet to make player sessions mostly attendant-free and detects technical failures to help users in trouble before they even ask for help.

One of the major challenges with VR is that first-timers have no clue what awaits them until they tried. This makes it even more important to build customer retention and use existing customers as messengers. However, since first-timers don’t know how VR works at all, an easy and intuitive booking system is a crucial component to drive traffic to venues. Once the user starts worrying whether a room is for one or multiple players and whether players can join the same world across various rooms, they will pick up the phone instead of making a booking themselves. In the retail world, though, personnel is one of the main cost drivers, so cutting phone contacts and have customers manage their bookings on their own is in the best interest of any operator. In order to maintain a continuous user journey, Holocafé needed to not just create the operator tools at the venues, but come up with an online platform solution that would allow users to intuitively place group bookings, make online payments and purchase gift vouchers. At the same time, operators required more and more business intelligence tools to analyze the behavior of their audience. How far ahead do people book? How do demography, user retention, and game attractiveness evolve after updates? Holocafé needed to develop solutions for all these day-to-day questions, which resulted in the creation of a rather powerful location-based VR platform.

Looking ahead While initially being pure game developers, the Holocafé founders managed to open their own flagship store after struggling with landlords, regulation and constructing of close to 300 square meters of drywalls, electrics, air conditioning and gastronomic assets for 18 months. On December 1st in 2018, their spaceship-themed store opened in the city center of Düsseldorf and had them face the not-so-digital challenges that any retailer has to go through. The team has grown to nine people at their main venue and using their digital and brick and mortar learnings, the company is on the brink of scaling to an international franchise. New installations are being rolled out in Cologne, Gießen, London (Ontario) and the Åland Islands (Finland) and many more under negotiation.

Holocafé has successfully managed to revive the arcade scene and the appeal of gaming cafés but is looking for the next challenges and improvements. Right now, they are working on multitouch tables for the tabletop gamer crowd in their cafés and are rolling out a gastronomic concept with organic coffee, homemade waffles and themed food that is aimed at geeks and gamers. At this year’s gamescom, the company is pulling together the international location-based VR and AR industry under the umbrella of the “XR Boulevard” to showcase the rapidly growing entertainment offers outside of the home entertainment market.

Oliver Eberlei

Studied Digital Media at the University Darmstadt and founded his indie studio Hammer Labs in 2013 with Farm for your Life. He also founded the Indie Arena Booth, which has become the main exhibitor space and meeting point for independent developers at gamescom and beyond. Oliver is the technical lead and platform developer.

Jessica Karger

After graduating from MD.H Düsseldorf as a game designer, Jessica co-founded the indie studio Frame6 with her focus being the art director and working on B2B projects e.g., for Mercedes Benz, Ubisoft, and Astragon. At the Holocafé, she takes care of both, HR and art direction.

Sebastian Kreutz

After years in the advertising industry, Sebastian worked at Ubisoft Blue Byte, graduated from MD.H in the same year as Jessica and co-founded Frame6. He was the lead game designer of the Crysis tabletop game and worked on clients such as 20th Century Fox. He is responsible for business relations, finances, and physical construction planning.

The post Holocafé: The Entertainment of the Future appeared first on Making Games.

Holocafé: The Entertainment of the Future published first on https://leolarsonblog.tumblr.com/

[bluesyemre]

INDIANAPOLIS — The first thing one notices about Books & Brews is that it’s off the beaten path, tucked into an unassuming strip mall in a cluster of industrial-supply stores and a sprawling outpost of The Home Depot near 96th Street on the far north side of Indianapolis. The second thing you may notice upon entering the shop is how inviting it feels, with its bright, bookshelf-lined walls, clusters of sturdy wooden tables and racks of board games — and that’s before you get to the back of the store with a craft-beer taproom, small stage and even more packed bookshelves.

“I started off here mainly because as a start-up, no one will lease to you,” said Jason Wuerfel, 38, the founder and president of Books & Brews, during a recent chat at the company’s “mother ship” location. But the lack of foot traffic hasn’t stopped his establishment from becoming a popular gathering spot.

In addition to its titular fusion of bookshop and brewpub restaurant, Books & Brews is a de facto community center, drawing crowds to trivia contests, fund-raisers, tabletop game gatherings and literary events; Charlaine Harris, the author of “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” series, dropped by for a book signing in 2017. The stage in the back serves as a performance platform for music jams, open-mic nights and readings.

“Our tagline is ‘a place for people without a place’ and it’s a very personal mission to me,” Wuerfel said. As an English major and member of the University of Michigan’s baseball team during his college years, he said he often felt he was “too jocky” for the nerds and too nerdy for the jocks. “I felt like someone who didn’t have a place.”

His parents owned and operated hotels, as well as an independent minor-league baseball team, in Traverse City, Mich. In working with them, Wuerfel got a close-up look at entrepreneurship, customer service and the nuts and bolts of running a business. A later stint as a stay-at-home dad gave him the bandwidth to tinker with making his own beer, and he began to develop an idea for just the kind of place he wanted to create.

“The fundamental flaw of the bookstore is that it’s designed to be quiet and not let people connect to each other,” Wuerfel said. “When you encourage people to walk around, and you have books and board games and music that breathes life into spaces, you naturally provide the framework for social engagement.”

A Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that began in 2013 raised about $17,000 from more than 150 backers. To help keep costs down, Wuerfel taught himself carpentry and built most of the store’s wooden furniture himself.

Books & Brews opened in March 2014, and Wuerfel’s vision of a place for people to “read, drink, converse” brought in the customers. He expanded his original footprint before the end of the first year to 4,500 square feet from 2,250 square feet by leasing the empty warehouse next door. “There were nights when I’d just run to Home Depot and buy folding chairs so people would have someplace to sit,” he recalled.

The books for sale all around the store are mostly used, taken by donation and sold for $3 each. A corner nook of children’s books and a retro video-game setup await younger visitors. Ten percent of used-book sales are given to Indy Reads, an area organization that promotes literacy.

The store also offers a rack of new books for sale at the cover price, including titles by Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut Jr., whose maternal grandfather was Albert Lieber, a well-known local brewer in his day, and featured in Vonnegut’s autobiographical “Palm Sunday.”

[Read the 1981 Times review of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage.”]

As for the brews, the company has its own line of craft beers, sporting playful names like Shogun Soba Ale and Charlie and the Chocolate Stout. Customers have even dubbed some of the beers — a librarian came up with “Nancy Brew and the Hoppy Boys,” the company’s popular pale ale.

The Books & Brews mother ship is not alone anymore. Wuerfel expanded and franchised the business over the past few years to eight other locations (so far) around central Indiana and now partners with Flat12 Bierwerks to produce his beer.

He credits much of his business model’s success to warm customer care and creating situations for guests to feel like they belong. “One hundred percent of the people who are here on any given night are here because they purposefully came for Books & Brews,” he said. “That is true destination appeal and really makes the atmosphere fantastic.”

J.D. Biersdorfer is the Times Tech Tip columnist and the Book Review’s production editor. “Book Territory” is an occasional column on the bookstores we love.

Follow J.D. Biersdorfer on Twitter: @jdbiersdorfer.

Follow New York Times Books on Facebook and Twitter (@nytimesbooks), sign up for our newsletteror our literary calendar. And listen to us on the Book Review podcast.

https://www.booksnbrews.com/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/05/books/books-brews-beer-bookstores-indiana-indianapolis.html

Where the thirst for #Literature meets the thirst for #Beer INDIANAPOLIS — The first thing one notices about Books & Brews is that it’s off the beaten path, tucked into an unassuming strip mall in a cluster of industrial-supply stores and a sprawling outpost of The Home Depot near 96th Street on the far north side of Indianapolis.

#beer #book #books #brew #literature

[kayawagner]

Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior

Donna “Danicia” Prior is the Sparkly Princess of Social Media & Community Management. She is currently the Organized Play Manager for Catan Studio and the Executive Director of OrcaCon, the inclusive tabletop games convention. She has worked in both video games and tabletop games. In short, gamer, geek, and future wife of Wedge Antilles. Lives on Twitter as @Danicia. Find Donna on about.me/Danicia and Twitch.tv/Danicia

What projects have you worked on?

I’ve been working in the games industry now since 2007, starting with the video game industry. I got my start on Pirates of the Burning Sea, Guild Wars 2, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, TERA Online, and numerous properties for SOE (Sony Online Entertainment). I met Chris Pramas, CEO of Green Ronin Publishing, while working on PotBS, as we both worked at Flying Lab. I started contracting with Green Ronin a few years ago as the Events Manager, handling the Gen Con volunteer GM presence and outlining a Volunteer GM Program aka the Green Ronin Freebooters. After my last video game layoff, I was forwarded the Organized Play gig with Catan by a friend and that’s where I am today.

  You work in areas of gaming that are often overlooked in favor of the creators and designers, but the industry relies on hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are not  in the limelight. What does your job entail, and how did you get into that area of games?

My role as the Catan Organized Play Manager involves a lot of spreadsheets. Hah! I schedule regional Qualifier tournaments for the Catan National Championships where Catan is published in the English language. My largest amount of work is the US program, but I’ve also restructured the Canadian, UK, and Australia programs, plus created new programs for Ireland and Vietnam. I’ve still got so many more to put into place. I also coordinate and facilitate the Catan Masters Invitational, which a special tournament for the top tier US players. Plus, I coordinate with our team and Asmodee for a presence at shows such as Origins, Gen Con, UK Games Expo, and more.

Whilst Organized Play Management is different from what I’ve been doing (Community Management), it still involves community outreach, communication, coordination of people and events. There’s an aspect of content creation, social media interactions, and more. My plan is to also build out some typical community gathering spaces, to help grow said community of both competitive and casual Catan players.

As far as Community Management as a career? I was actually hired right out of a game community to work on PotBS’ Community Team. I was naturally already doing outreach, working with fansites, moderating and running communities on forums, LiveJournal, and more. It was a natural progression to actually start doing it for a living. Left the IT field behind without looking back!

For the future, I’d love to do some more writing and freelance work.

You spend a ton of time traveling to conventions and events. What are your secrets for survival? 

Alone time! No, seriously! I avoid parties. I make sure to take extra care to eat and drink plenty of water. I will meet with friends for dinner sometimes, but otherwise, I am back in my room in the quiet, watching Netflix or reading. It helps, when you’re running a 64-person event with all the chaos that it entails. I tend to bring along protein snacks with me when doing shows, or pick some up when I arrive. Nuts, cheese, trail mix, that sort of thing. Carbs might get you a big energy rush at first, but then you crash right on down. I also don’t drink sodas, eat candy, or chug coffee. I sit whenever I can, as the standing in one place thing is super hard on one’s body.

For the travel part of it, I tend to pay for slight upgrades on flights. As example, if it’s not too expensive, I’ll upgrade to first class for the relaxation of it. Doesn’t always work, but I go for creature comforts whenever possible.

There’s a lot of discussion of community and community responsibility lately. How can we build a better, stronger gaming community that welcomes everyone?

Gosh, there’s so much to unpack with this one. Really, it has to start from the top down. Geeks & gamers are not an oppressed group. Gaming and geek things are mainstream, and we should welcome the chance to play with everyone.

First, companies and community leaders should actually listen to people who aren’t already gamers. You’ll get a very different response on what people want in games and game communities. Listen to why people don’t feel welcome in game stores. Why people have a hard time finding D&D groups, tabletop groups. Find ways of making people feel welcome, instead of excluding. As an example, I was visiting a local game store. I talked with the owner at some length. He’s got a heavy Magic & Warhammer clientele. That’s not bad at all, a lot of those stores are very successful. But he wants to create a hub where everyone feels welcome to play games. Where women and families feel welcome. I asked him, “Do you have tampons and pads in your restroom?” and he looked at me like I was speaking a different language. It’s not that he was excluding people intentionally; I felt he was truly baffled why he couldn’t generate a good board game meetup hangout establishment. He’s got LOTS of potential in his store, but he just doesn’t know how to fix it.

I am experienced with games for years and years, so you have to do something super jerky for me to feel unwelcome. But, your average consumer will totally feel unwelcome if your store looks like someone’s extended basement. Clutter, posters on the wall with masking tape. Dust, unpainted concrete floors. Broken furniture (or cheap Costco folding tables and chairs) and the like. If you want to become a destination for communities, you need to clean the place up and make it friendly. It’s a hard thing, too, because that all costs money, which is something not a lot of FLGS (friendly local game stores) have, with the margins on games being so tight. That’s where it starts. If you create a welcome and safe environment, don’t tolerate harassment and grossness, you start creating a healthy community.

If you wanna have grognard shop, that’s fine, too. Some folks like that and that’s okay for them. For me, it’s sad, because it means there are heaps of people who will never feel welcome to play games, but folks can run their business how they want.

You’re also an avid gamer. Which properties and settings do you most love?

I am an unabashed lover of Forgotten Realms. One of my hobbies is actually just making characters and developing backstories, in hopes of playing them in a game someday. Hell, I hope to play in a game where people love the Realms as much as I do, and will have a super RPG heavy campaign. (HINT HINT IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR PLAYERS). I’m a huge fan of the Shadowrun lore, but HATE the system(s). I hate math. There, I said it (I’ve got Dyscalculia). I’ve always been a big Classic Deadlands fan, but it’s super hard to find compatible players. I love love love the Dragon Age setting and hope to kick off a Roll20 campaign after con season. I don’t know Blue Rose as much as some, but I love the setting and nope to get into a campaign (or run one). And I AM SO VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE EXPANSE RPG.

What is your dream game? (Either to make, or play.)

Sense8. I would LOVE to play in the Sense8 world, or run a campaign. Once Modern AGE comes out, I may try to pull together a mini convention game if Joe Carriker will help me. We have been chatting about working on this for fun ever since the series came out. Of course, I started brainstorming characters to be in different Clusters.

What upcoming projects or events are you excited about? 

I DID MENTION THE EXPANSE, RIGHT? I am also excited about REVOLUTIONARIES — American War of Independence RPG, Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game, Sigil & Sign — Cthulhu Mythos RPG where you play the cultist, Satanic Panic, Mysteries of the Yōkai: An RPG Inspired by Japanese Folklore, A Delve in the Cave: 5th Edition Adventure, Overlight RPG: A roleplaying game of kaleidoscopic fantasy, and and and…well… a lot of other things.

Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[swipestream]

Gnome Stew Notables – Hannah Shaffer

Welcome to the next installment of our Gnome Spotlight: Notables series. The notables series is a look at game developers in the gaming industry doing good work. The series will focus on female game creators and game creators of color primarily, and each entry will be a short bio and interview. We’ve currently got a group of authors and guest authors interviewing game creators and hope to bring you many more entries in the series as it continues on. If you’ve got a suggestion for someone we should be doing a notables article on, send us a note at [email protected]. – Head Gnome John

Meet Hannah

Hannah is an independent game and web designer living in Massachusetts. In addition to her work with Make Big Things, she recently came on board as Director of Marketing for John Wick Presents, where she gets to pitch goofy ideas for 7th Sea. She has a deep appreciation for 90s point-and-click adventure games and tea.

Hannah Shaffer on google+

@hanbandit on twitter

Make Big Things

Talking With Hannah

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work. 

I’m Hannah! I’m a game designer mostly creating in the story game space, but venturing into board games now too! I make games about queerness and people making hard decisions in unstable worlds. I’m part of a three-person game design co-op called Make Big Things, along with Evan Rowland and Brian Van Slyke, and we make most of our games together. We’ve had trouble coming up with a good slogan, but I’ve heard people describe our games as “bleakly hopeful” and I kind of want to run with that.

2) What project are you most proud of?

I’m really proud of our first roleplaying game, Questlandia. It’s a one-session RPG about a bunch of people living in weird collapsing worlds, a la Neverending Story or Miyazaki-style fantasy. Your character is trying to accomplish a big personal goal while the world around you is tumbles into chaos, and you play out how they work with or struggle against the tides of change. In the spirit of “a game is never really done” there’s a lot of stuff I’d do differently if I could go back and do it again, but I think it was an ambitious first game and people are still discovering it and creating cool worlds with it.

And the game actually isn’t done! We’re working on Questlandia 2 right now, and we’re re-designing the game essentially “live” in a bi-weekly podcast called Design Doc. Anyone who wants to follow along can check that out here!

3) What themes do you like to emphasize in your game work?

For Make Big Things there’s a definite current of collapse scenarios, community building and re-building, and the ways people come together in times of change. In my own game work I like exploring themes around people’s physical and spiritual bodies, queerness and sexuality, environmental and social fantasy. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about drugs and bugs, things that may push at the edges of safety and comfort, and I want to make more games that include those themes.

4) What mechanics do you like best in games?

I want to find ways to keep bettering the experience of shy players without making them feel put-upon. I’m not sure what those mechanics are but I’m trying my best at them

5) How would you describe your game design style?

I’ll go back to the idea of bleakly hopeful. I like games where characters confront impossible situations, and I want to find the line where that still feels exciting and interesting and not frustrating. I like a game where you roll or draw the worst possible outcome and everyone at the table goes “Oooooooh!” because that outcome just makes perfect sense.

6) How does queerness fit into your games?

In Questlandia players are exploring worlds that aren’t quite our own, so there’s a lot of exploration around gender and sexuality and different ways of being and loving. In Noirlandia, which Evan Rowland designed, players are inspired to stretch their interpretations of noir genre tropes, so you see a lot of tangled queer relationships and hidden identities that exist in a really shadowy space. Damn the Man, Save the Music is a genre game too, but it’s genre is ’90s teen comedies,  which weren’t super great about queer things. Damn the Man gives players the option to imagine an alternate ’90s where queerness could exist in a safer space.

7) What’s it like working with a game design co-op?

It’s great and hard! I love creating with friends. I think my ideas are better because of that support and it’s taught me so much about communication, shared vision, and compromise. Each one of us has our own style, which I really love, but we’ve sort of converged on a shared ethos for all of our games. I like games about sad people, Brian likes games about movement-building and social justice, but he also really loves puns, and Evan wants to make games that seem like they’re trolling people, but are actually very thoughtful and serious when you sit down to play them. That’s actually left a lot of room for overlap in the things we care about, and we each get to step back sometimes and let the other person’s design choices shine.

8) How did you get into games? Who did you try to emulate in your designs?

I graduated from college during the last housing bubble. People weren’t using the word millennial disparagingly yet, but everyone could feel this real sense of “What happens next? Where are the jobs? Why did this process look totally different for my parents?” Evan and I had been talking about our bleak job prospects, and like you do, we started making a point-and-click video game about Russian psychic technology and economic collapse. We started a little community center and youth program during that time, and on opening day a bunch of Massachusetts tabletop game designers just happened to show up.

After making these newfound friends, tabletop felt like a nice space to explore. As for who I was emulating, I’d say it was knowingly and unknowingly this Massachusetts collective—Joshua A.C. Newman, Emily Care Boss, Vincent and Meg Baker, and Epidiah Ravachol. They’re good people, and it’s kismet that I met them.

9) What one thing would you change in gaming?

I think tabletop gaming can be very insular. I didn’t start gaming until I met other folks who ushered me into the hobby, but that wasn’t for lack of trying! I’d spent years peeking in on game store events and the college gaming scene. Once you’re “in it,” it’s really hard to imagine why it’s so hard for others to get in. The things that made it hard for me that I’d love to see improved are:

Gaming event/convention websites with clear registration information, an FAQ and how-to, times and dates about when registration begins and ends, where the event is taking place, a harassment policy, and a mobile-friendly website so you can find that info easily when you’re headed off to the event.

More public introductory gaming events that clearly explain what the thing is and who it’s for. “New to RPGs? Try Monsterhearts! Monsterhearts is a game about the messy lives of teenage witches, werewolves, faeries, and ghouls. We’ll walk through character creation and play for one hour. Questions are welcome along the way.” One thing that kept me away was that any gaming event seemed to involve pre-established knowledge about the thing and required a many-hours-long time commitment.

Oh, that’s not one thing I’d change—that’s two things. I was gonna just keep going with that list. I know it’s hard to put yourself outside your own shoes, but it’s something I really try to do when I think about welcoming new folks to the hobby.

10) What are you working on now?

Aside from Questlandia 2, I’m working with Brian and Evan on Good Dog, Bad Zombie, which is on Kickstarter now. It’s a cooperative board game where you play as good dogs saving scaredy hoomans from the zombie apocalypse. It’s not a game I could have made myself, because I’m a board game dunce, but I’m really happy to be involved. You move across the map of your ruined city, herding hoomans back to the safety of Central Bark while zombies spawn across the board. It’s a board game that does a great job with its incorporation of theme and tone, and I think it inspires roleplay in clever ways!

It has about a week left on Kickstarter! After that, I guess we’ll be hitting production full-throttle. 🙂

Thanks for joining us for this entry in the notables series.  You can find more in the series here: and please feel free to drop us any suggestions for people we should interview at [email protected].

Gnome Stew Notables – Hannah Shaffer published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[hviidmorsing7-blog]

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[the-fitsquad]

District Technologies Employees

Majestics Relocation

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NVIDIA® discrete graphics enhances the multimedia capability of your Pc with more rapidly video editing and smoother graphics. With the impressive new Intel® Xeon® processor W family members, customers from CAD to simulation will see extraordinary application performance scaling, providing them the ability to visualize ideas anytime in the course of the design procedure. It is a best low profile graphics card for little to medium workstation PCs and servers. With so much of the laptop merely being decided by what processor you are running and what graphics card(s) you have, firms like HP, Dell, and Lenovo are continually browsing for approaches to compete. Dell Precision mobile workstations come backed with leading Dell ProSupport², Dell Information Protection Encryption and FIPS fingerprint reader security characteristics and ISV certifications to preserve expert workstation users up and operating and their sensitive function and information secure at all times.

Even following PCs broke the 640 KB limit with the 80286, unique programming methods have been essential to address substantial amounts of memory until the 80386, as opposed to other 32-bit processors such as SPARC which supplied simple access to almost their whole 4 GB memory address range. The Computer software Licensing Service reported that the policy cache is invalid. After you have established that your router is supported, and you have located and solved any discrepancies between more information what is listed as ‘officially’ supported and what is in fact supported, it really is time to get your computer software and hardware with each other to flash and configure your router into a Wi-Fi range extender. Even office energy users” will most most likely locate that an entry-level workstation is a sensible investment that enables new capabilities that can aid enhance productivity, enhance reliability, and limit downtime.

This MacBook has a Intel Core M7 Dual-Core CPU which is not a powerhouse but is perfect for casual tasks, eight GB of RAM to run numerous programs and a beautiful 2304 x 1440 Retina show with an IPS panel for better contrasts, accurate colors and bigger view angles. With unprecedented gaming energy and iconic, revolutionary style, the Alienware Region-51 is the next evolution of desktop performance. Increasingly, design experts and engineers are using Intel® Xeon® processor-based workstations to develop, test, and modify new ideas virtually as rapidly as they can believe of them. It calls for makers to offer owners and independent repair shops with access to repair data and replacement parts—so you have the sources you need to have to fix factors swiftly and affordably.

4. Multi-Core is created to enhance functionality of particular application items. It offers an very easily accessible spot to store and organise your crucial documents so you can get them out of the way and off your desk. Arsitektur GCN (Graphics Core Next) dan dukungan DirectX 12 serta API Vulkan diyakini mampu menghadirkan gaming di rumah atau OTG (on the go). I have had the WORST buyer service encounter of my complete life these days, with Amazon! For that reason, it is advisable to choose a better performing processor to make certain the computational aspects of CAD do not lag, specially if you are functioning with complex assemblies. On the other side you can set up a workstation for the instances you need to have to roll up your sleeves and get some perform accomplished (laptop, calendar, paper pad, & other office supplies).

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The PowerMax X0301 supports dual Intel Xeon Processors, up to eight Cores, up to 32GB DDR2 memory, and a Quadro skilled graphics remedy. And packed inside the show, users have a option of dual- or quad-core Intel Core i3 or Intel Xeon E3-1200 series processors, and either Intel HD graphics or one particular of 4 NVIDIA Quadro graphics cards, which includes the Quadro 4000M. There will be ‘cheaper’ alternatives in the Z6 and Z4. The Z6 caps the memory at 384GB with the dual Xeon CPU. HP ZBook® mobile workstations offer you a lightweight, compact design powered by Intel® Xeon® processors for maximum energy, anywhere you choose to function. “The addition of our newest Z Workstations and Z Turbo Drive demonstrate HP Inc’s unwavering commitment to professionals who consistently push the limits of technologies to bring the planet and the universe life-changing innovations,” said Gwen Coble, HP’s EMEA director for commercial and retail solutions.

Arranger Keyboards and Workstations are not just ordinary synths – they are developed as music-generating tools, with helpful characteristics for solo performers, music scoring, song arrangements and so on. When it comes to constructing a CAD workstation, CPU is generally deemed to be the king. Is a hardware and software business that gives a unique technologies to allow effortless virtual graphics connectivity between computer systems and displays more than normal interfaces such as USB, wireless USB and Ethernet. In these time of technology altering and proliferating so quickly, altering buildings, phones, automobiles, networking, communication, behavior, considering, Health, studying, political thoughts and conceptions, it is hard to keep up with all the alterations taking spot, but noting a couple of areas that technology is effecting and affecting, we can have a peek at the window into the future and maybe much better prepare ourselves to reside and survive in it.

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ServerMonkey delivers the HP Z820 Workstation in a assortment of possibilities to suit your organizations’ particular demands. Here then are our recommendations for creating the very best CAD workstation Pc. The standard bottlenecks are nonetheless with storage, although I saw a video exactly where a person hooked up 24 1 gig SSDs in a massive array and that disk setup lastly more than saturated the processor, RAM, serial bus capacity. The £900 model comes with a three-year onsite warranty, an Intel Xeon E3 CPU, a pair of 1TB hybrid difficult disk drives, Windows 10 Pro and a discrete Nvidia NVS 310 graphics card with two DisplayPorts. Even though a mobile PAW enables numerous critical scenarios, including perform from house, remote access software can potentially be vulnerable to attack and employed to compromise a PAW.

Choice 1: Basically disable Windows Search (but leave it installed in case this gets fixed soon and you want to turn it back on.) Then wait for Microsoft to fix this on Server 2012 R2 (and possibly older servers operating Windows Search four.). This is also the very best way to make certain you’re not going to break other stuff as it’s extremely easy to restore in short order. A fee of one particular % (1%) of the invoice amount will be incurred at the time an invoice is authorized through the Module (“Invoice Fee”) and the total of these charges shall be billed to you monthly by Equator. An error was detected in the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Modern PCs, with their quick processors and ample memory, are capable of operating scores of apps at a time, and added monitors support you get the most out of your machine.

Purchasing employed workplace workstations is various from buying a utilized auto. With far more than 15 years of virtualization excellence and over 50 sector awards, VMware aims to provide the most stable and safe regional desktop virtualization platform in the sector. Privilege management solutions are an incredibly valuable component of a total strategy to secure privileged access and supply critically critical visibility and accountability of administrative activity. They have accomplished pretty awesome things, and as far as correct workstations go, in my opinion HP is high on the create high quality. July 8, 2013, Monarch Towers, Mountrail County, ND Two workers had been adding structural supports to a 300 foot tower. The Software Licensing Service reported that the license store is not initialized.

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[miamibeerscene]

Brewery Visit – 3 Keys Brewing @3keysbrewing

Because of an innocent joke that snowballed just a bit too much, my wife and I have a thing for keys. Long before you saw them everywhere, we kinda had them as our little thing between us. They featured in our wedding, there are keys all over our home, and my wife even has a key inked on her. It’s gorgeous artwork on a beautiful woman. 

Recently we, naturally accompanied by our beautiful daughter, vacationed on the Gulf Coast. We will go to a few breweries, but those breweries are always better when they operate more like brewpubs, and everyone can also get lunch/dinner while mom and dad enjoy a few. Once we saw that Bradenton had one such locale named 3 Keys, it was a foregone conclusion we had to go. 

3 Keys is, without a doubt, the most unapologetically family friendly brewpub we’d ever seen. There is literally a kids section of the seating area, stacked to the brim with books, games, and cartoons running constantly. 

Seating is ample, most tabletops are actually laquered front doors, and many of the regulars had their kids just doing their thing while the adults chatted and drank. 

Looking at the background of 3 Keys, the emphasis on family is pretty obvious. It was started by two Army vets that met in Kentucky and moved to Sarasota in the mid-90’s. They and their three kids (also Armed Services vets themselves) took a massive road trip cross-country in 2014, ending I early when they realized their dream of opening a brewpub couldn’t wait any longer. Meet them below, and special props to their brewmaster son Scott for his Lightning mug.

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What they’re not mentioning is that they’re basically living saints, fostering almost 100 special needs children and adopting 3 of those into their family. It’s frankly incredible. 

Food-wise, really good stuff. It centers a lot on waffle sandwiches, with things like pulled pork and spicy chicken piled with cole slaw on their special beer batter waffles. They even have kids menus, which I found pretty good for our little one. They even gave me her juice box on the same board as my beer flight (I adore the little touches like that).

Apparently their beers do a lot of changing around, so I can’t guarantee what is going to be on tap at any given moment. That being said, here is what we were able to try when we weren’t chasing my daughter around their outdoor stage:

Sara’s (Not) Blonde (Blonde Ale, 5.2% ABV, 18 IBU) – Apparently Sara’s not a blonde. As a blonde ale, however, she’s nice and crisp, with just a light touch of citrus hops.

Double Nickel (Stout, 6.7% ABV, 45 IBU) – A strong, flavorful stout with a thick and hearty malt bill. Just the right amount of flavor and somehow manages to not  to be excessively heavy. 

Kolsch Me Ousside (Kolsch, 5.2% ABV, 26 IBU) – As much as I hate the fact that it was named for one of the worst Floridians I’ve ever had the misfortune to see, this Kolsch is a light, slightly fruity, incredibly drinkable beer that is incredibly approachable.  

Sir Mixon-A-Lot (Cream Ale, 5.6% ABV, 18 IBU) – The name makes sense when you realize the oranges came from nearby Mixon Farms in Bradenton. That sort of local freshness is very evident in the flavor, so much so you can practically taste the juice still inside. 

Porter? I Hardly Know Her (Porter, 5.8% ABV, 30 IBU) – A true-to-style English porter with a slightly earthy Northern Brewer hop character on top of more English yeast. Simple and approachable. 

Trust Issues (Brown Ale, 5.9% ABV, 34 IBU) – An interestingly complex brew with lots of oats, cinnamon, and raisin giving the surprisingly heady beer a thick, dessert-y feel. 

It’s worth a shot to peruse their website; they are goofy and have no reason to apologize for any of it. Of course, the good food and good beer help a lot too. It’s a shame they’re so far away, though. It would be a great place for  simple lunch on a regular basis, great beer notwithstanding. 

I can’t promise I wouldn’t take off with some of the key décor, though. 

Drink Florida Craft, 

Dave

@floridabeerblog

[email protected]

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[doedipus]

LP D&D: Tumble in the Tundra

It’s like the Rumble in the Jungle, except not in central Africa.

Something about the concept of magic items really tickles my fancy, moreso than a lot of other fantasy tropes. Stuff like the Moonlight Greatsword from the Dark Souls games, Link’s heaping arsenal of hyper-specialized tools, and Guts’ berserker suit and robot hand strike me as being super cool. If I had to rationalize it, I guess it comes down to gadget-based heroes being more fundamentally human in my mind than someone with the innate ability to light things on fire with their brain, and in the context of tabletop games, magic items can provide some more flavor to combat and river crossing puzzles than a party of totally mundane humans. Like, the time when Coy ended the battle at the late Lord Hier’s dinner party by crashing the airship through clever use of the teleport hat was wayyy cooler than the dozens of other encounters the party just brute forced their way through.

One of these days, I really want to run a campaign in a low-genre game like Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green or something, and use quadcopters or smartphones the same way our DM in this game uses the helm of teleportation or the cloak of the bat.

I’m bringing all this up because the map the party had been carting around this whole time is basically a smartphone. As usual, content under the break.

Teller redrew the map

While he was drawing, a woman’s face appears in the map and speaks to the party

Her name is Natalie

She’s the map

Of Amarak //The last empire to control western Faerun

Natalie is having none of our berk questions

Connie asks about the sisters, Natalie gives an info-dump

They were anti-imperialist

Minnia formed a pact with some demons

Amarak successfully repelled them, and recorded their strategies in Natalie

Lucas asks about Minnia’s location

Apparently she was split into 5 pieces, and her remains scattered

One near Luskan and Syrup Leaf

One near Calimport

One near Shulk

One near Amathar

One in Winterkeep

One in Candlekeep

Natalie can give the party more detailed advice as we get close

“You seem kind of full of yourself. I like that. I’m also kind of full of myself”-Lucas

Coy asks Natalie what she knows about what’s-her-name

My responses are limited. You must ask the right question.

Max works through his headache and remembers names

Natalie has an image of her on file

Graham realizes something is off about the map

Coy and Graham take a closer look

The kingdom of Demara was apparently bigger in the past

It was slightly smaller than Amarak, and its ally

Graham puts his ear to the map

Natalie recommends he clean his ears

He does. On Natalie.

Natalie is violated

Lucas tries to concuss Graham, but he’s doing the dance of his people

Natalie dislikes being called “Map”

Coy recommends the party go check out the giblets at Syrup Leaf

Lucas is confus. What’s a syrup leaf?

Coy attempts to explain

Natalie wants to map out a relationship chart for the party

Esmeralda is a lady

no srs guys

Telepathy sex dungeon //from Sigil trip one

Lucas denies any knowledge of this “Rolen” //Rich also denies any knowledge of this “Rolen.”

He literally has no knowledge of Rolen

Or the drow attack on Amnswater

Graham reveals he’s never learned anyone else’s name

Coy considers storage options for Natalie

Can we laminate her?

Can she survive in a bag of holding?

Natalie the smartphone can keep track of our quests. How convenient! //Not like we tend to think in terms of “quests” anyway. We mostly just bumble around and then things happen

Connie asks about the Sigil portal

The ruins of the Sigil-Amarak trade hub is nearby

It’s by the crags

Graham has a question for Map

Where’s Catarina?

There isn’t one lol

It’s recently independent obvs

What’s the dog to milk ratio?

It’s 3:1, Rap

Coy asks for a brief overview of the war

Amarak allied with nearby kingdoms

They cornered Minnia in Beydale and dismembered her

There was also a golem army, which Natalie can activate

Escrima asks about extraplanar creatures

They came out through the underchasm

He asks about mother

Apparently, she patroned a few generals during the war

Callie Thorngage, Nedda Brushgather, and Escrima Smith

Natalie shows images of said generals

They bear a striking resemblance to Graham, Connie, and Escrima Smith, respectively

//From what little we know so far, Callie Thorngage was ostensibly a cis woman. The implication is pretty clearly that the members of the current party are reincarnations of these other three folks, with Escrima being the Gordon Freeman to MOTHER’s G-man. So like, why would Graham’s previous incarnation be a cis girl? Wouldn’t it make more sense if the old Graham was also a dude, and the trans thing happened because he was literally a dude dumped into a girl’s body? I swear, cis folk have no idea how to write this sort of thing.

They made it out of the war okay, and joined mother in the ether

Escrima accuses Natalie of tripping balls

She is a map. She does not trip

Amarak awarded mother some sort of reward for its assistance

Other team photos are revealed

There’s doppelgangers of Greg and Eva too.

Greg’s clone being the son of Theodin, King of Amarak

In a painting of the dicing of Minnia, a soldier uses The Cleaver to cut up Minnia’s body

The Cleaver is stored near the Sea of Fallen Stars, in a vault

Vaults are scattered around the continent, full of puzzles and treasure

Well ain’t that somethin’!

Graham and Escrima develop a plan to shoulder check the sisters and the bits of Minnia into the ocean, and then burn down the ocean. They will play their victory jingle on a triangle made of snakes

The hammer is also a snake

Coy accidentally lets slip that she has a soft stummy

Graham wants to touch it

Coy tries to be intimidating, but fails

Lucas prays to Oghma to try and figure out all that Rolen nonsense

All his memories are starting to get fuzzy, come to think of it

Eva’s are getting pretty strong, though

Lucas decides to take a look

She kept a Lucas shrine back in Candlekeep

She reduced it down to a drawing of Lucas, hidden in her cape

Lucas finds the picture. It’s of the two of them getting married.

The gang interrupts Lucas’ meditation session

He’s crying a bit, so he tries to use thaumaturgy to cover it

He makes flames come out of his eyes (by accident?)

Coy throws a potion of healing in his face

He feels very healthy

Coy explains to Lucas about the information the gang gleaned from the map

Lucas would rather Natalie just give him the information herself

Natalie recalls MOTHER as the “entity of dreams”  

Lucas wants to know if it’s good or evil.

Natalie gives him a cryptic answer

It’s a force of stability more than anything

Lucas asks Natalie if the Escrimas are the same

The one in the painting was 23 at the time of the war

Escrima always assumed he was 18

Natalie displays the group portrait with the generals, not-Greg, and not-Eva

not-Greg was named “Silifrey”

not-Eva was named “Merla Terlef,” and was married to Silifrey

Coy is irritated she doesn’t have a double

Lucas Explains Proskur to the party

He regrets getting involved, and blames himself for Eva’s pseudo death

Lucas goes to bed, as does Coy

Connie goes to the bathhouse

There’s a human man and an elf woman in the bath already

They’re married. Damn.

They’re here to open their business selling devices, gadgets and things

It’s a clock, but portable. Astounding!

Escrima wants to talk to Natalie

Coy opens the map, and prudently decides not to let Escrima touch it

Escrima asks about the generals

They were adventurers before joining the war

Lots of dragons killed, innocents saved, etc.

He wants to know about Callie Thorngage

She was a lady knight in the army of Amarak

Part of the agreement between Theodin V and mother was for the three to become generals

He asks to see the stats of the sister’s army

Several million gnolls, orcs, drow, and, oddly, fiends

The sister’s army had some generals too

They’re doubles of Lucas and legacy edition Coy. what?

//Again, why would Coy’s past-self-apparent be a dude? Grumble grumgle grumble

not-Coy was named “KUNG” in all-caps. Most dragonborn were on the sisters’ side. KUNG was killed in battle

not-Lucas’ name was Cefrey, who was the lead mage in their army. He was a necromancer who led a legion of undead

He looks like edgiest Lucas

Escrima and Coy go show Lucas

Lucas is appalled at Cefrey’s fashion sense

Lucas contemplates joining Minnia

The trio contemplate soul recycling, and realize it’s totally possible

Something or other did this intentionally

Natalie points the gang towards the planes

Lucas asks Natalie who put her in the box

It looks like Rocky. It’s probably Rocky.

Torix resumes control

Zerander heads for the bathhouse

The gang manages to sleep soundly for once

Lucas dreams about spiders

Connie has her recurring dream again

The next morning, Lucas goes to the scroll place. He spends the day copying spells

Zerander visits the blacksmith

He wants to get a silver zweihander

The smith agrees to make it out of the silver the gang sold to the armorer

Connie wants to take Nat 20 to the library

She tracks down Coy, and retrieves Natalie

She makes her way to the library in the main castle

Nat 20 has limited space, and can only absorb like 50 books

Connie feeds her a bunch of atlases and encyclopedias

She takes a bit too much pleasure from absorbing books

Zerander and Coy continue shopping

He visits an apothecary looking for alchemist’s fire

Coy bought all the fire in town

Graham goes looking for a way to upgrade grey matter //His hammer

Most of the people he asks are kids for some reason

He ends up at the blacksmith anyway

The smith upgrades it a dice class

In order to reduce the price, he spends the day working under the smith

Zerander goes looking for firearms

A shop sells old-timey hand cannons

The cannon and five rounds are 650gp

1d12 + 6 blunt damage!

Zerander talks the shopkeeper down to 600

He also goes to buy some basic supplies

He gets some holy water from the temple of Oghma

The priests want a donation of knowledge as payment

Zerander tells them about the time he fought a bear

Escrima spent the day swimming in the boiling hot river

He finds 5gp

He also finds a constitution saving throw

The water he drank is... not great

His goal was to get all wrinkly, and counts that as a success

During the night, Graham goes to check on Escrima

There’s puke everywhere. It smells disgusting

A maid tries to clean it up

Escrima asks Graham how he’s handling Nat 20’s info dump

Graham can barely understand a ham sandwich 

Escrima suggests they go to the bathhouse and turn it into puke water

They instead decide to try to become frogs

For some reason, they are unsuccessful

They’re not even green

Mother tells Escrima that she has more things to do

Escrima feels rebellious. He wants a piercing.

Graham considers having the blacksmith make Escrima a lily pad-shaped helmet

Lucas tries to relax in the hot spring

Distracted by current events, he fails to notice Coy and Zerander in the springs when he got in

Zerander explains the boomstick

Lucas doesn’t pay attention, and is instead transfixed by Zerander’s giant dong

It’s like, the size of his leg

“Eyes up here!”

Lucas comments that Coy looked better when she was a guy //Damn it, Rich

Lucas and Zerander fail their diversity training courses miserably

//Specifically, Zerander calls Coy “it.” Of all the shitty things to call a trans or intersex person, “it” stings the most in my mind. We’re human too, damn it. I’m still a bit sore about this whole interaction, but I guess this is the sort of thing that happens when you hang out with cis people in stealth. Since opening up to the players about being trans, it really hasn’t been an issue.

The gang goes to retrieve the items they ordered

Graham also has the lily pad hat made

He dubs Escrima “Sir Escrima of the Lotus Helm”

He tries to remove the hat, and fails

Lucas is informed of the frog plan, and polymorphs him into one

Graham kisses frogscrima, returning him to normal

Lucas turns him back in the middle of this

Lucas then polymorphs Graham

Graham attempts to pee on Lucas

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Coy buys a crossbow that she can fire grappling hooks out of

Zerander goes to find a boxing ring

He meets a half-orc boxer named “GGrumsh”

GGrumsh wants to fight. The organizer sets up a match for that night

The whole of Neverwinter will be there

Connie asks Nat 20 about airships

Invented by dorfs on the continent of shulk

Big business in Neverwinter

Denyr’s Mechanical Marvels

The gang heads over to the shipyard to check things out

Their couches are okay

The boss mentions that they’re manufacturing ships for the sisters of dawn

Coy remarks that the sister’s ship was poorly made, having had firsthand experience

Coy has Connie message Rocky about the appraisal of the diamond

Janice, Rocky’s secretary answers back, which is odd

It was worth 1,125,000

The gang asks about types of construction

They gravitate towards rune-fueled, heavier than air flight

They pass a few of the sister’s ships on the way out

As Lucas wraps up, he hears some murmurs about the fight between GGrumsh and a foreigner. It’s starting soon!

The gang goes to watch the fight

Zerander strips down to boxing gear

The crowd cheers for GGrumsh

They boo Zerander as he enters. He flips them off

Graham bets on Zerander, and Lucas bets on Zerander’s dick

Battle against Ultraheavyweight GGrumsh of Neverwinter

Zerander pulls a “Well! What is it!” to try and goad his opponent into attacking

...which he does.

Zerander trips GGrumsh

GGrumsh regains his balance and attacks

He calls his attacks like a true monk

Zerander tries to trip him again, but sneak attacks only work once!

He then tries to grapple GGrumsh, and again fails

GGrumsh releases a flurry of blows, wounding Zerander

Zerander pins GGrumsh to the ground and slugs him several times

GGrumsh tries to get up, but is unable to get out from under the goliath

Zerander continues to pummel GGrumsh

GGrumsh manages to land a solid hit from his compromised position

He continues to try to escape the grapple, but fails

Zerander continues to pulverize GGrumsh

Zerander pulls out an elbow drop!

GGrumsh yields to nobody

Zerander picks him up, and slams him into the ground, knocking him unconscious

Zerander is awarded a belt adorned with the crest of Neverwinter

It grants +1 CHA

Also 250gp

Graham won 80gp on the fight

Escrima christened him “Dong, Champion of the Crucible”

The crowd begins calling him that, angering Zerander

The next day, Zerander goes to the smith, and asks about melding it into his armor

You can’t do that

Coy has pancakes

The gang heads to the old trade hub

It’s abandoned

They venture deeper into the castle, and find a courtyard

The castle is covered in seals of Amarak and other kingdoms

The party is curious as to why the castle was abandoned, and consult Nat 20

It has teleportation circles to Calimport and Baldur’s Gate

Lucas asks Natalie whether or not we could easily travel back and forth from Calimport

Probably, if the return portal is still active

Escrima expresses distress at the idea of going back to Calimshan

The temple Escrima was living in was ransacked, and the perpetrators are likely still there

He fled with another acolyte from Calimport to Candlekeep

“Now I gotta go take a shit in that bush”

Lucas opens the door to the portal rooms

There are a number of safety measures in the complex designed to brutally murder invaders

DAE acid?

As they go deeper, they hear a deep moaning noise coming from the portal room

Lucas uses an arcane eye to see into the portal room

There’s a beholder in there!

END

#let's play #dungeons and dragons #d&d #d&d5e

[kayawagner]

Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior

Donna “Danicia” Prior is the Sparkly Princess of Social Media & Community Management. She is currently the Organized Play Manager for Catan Studio and the Executive Director of OrcaCon, the inclusive tabletop games convention. She has worked in both video games and tabletop games. In short, gamer, geek, and future wife of Wedge Antilles. Lives on Twitter as @Danicia. Find Donna on about.me/Danicia and Twitch.tv/Danicia

What projects have you worked on?

I’ve been working in the games industry now since 2007, starting with the video game industry. I got my start on Pirates of the Burning Sea, Guild Wars 2, Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, TERA Online, and numerous properties for SOE (Sony Online Entertainment). I met Chris Pramas, CEO of Green Ronin Publishing, while working on PotBS, as we both worked at Flying Lab. I started contracting with Green Ronin a few years ago as the Events Manager, handling the Gen Con volunteer GM presence and outlining a Volunteer GM Program aka the Green Ronin Freebooters. After my last video game layoff, I was forwarded the Organized Play gig with Catan by a friend and that’s where I am today.

  You work in areas of gaming that are often overlooked in favor of the creators and designers, but the industry relies on hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are not  in the limelight. What does your job entail, and how did you get into that area of games?

My role as the Catan Organized Play Manager involves a lot of spreadsheets. Hah! I schedule regional Qualifier tournaments for the Catan National Championships where Catan is published in the English language. My largest amount of work is the US program, but I’ve also restructured the Canadian, UK, and Australia programs, plus created new programs for Ireland and Vietnam. I’ve still got so many more to put into place. I also coordinate and facilitate the Catan Masters Invitational, which a special tournament for the top tier US players. Plus, I coordinate with our team and Asmodee for a presence at shows such as Origins, Gen Con, UK Games Expo, and more.

Whilst Organized Play Management is different from what I’ve been doing (Community Management), it still involves community outreach, communication, coordination of people and events. There’s an aspect of content creation, social media interactions, and more. My plan is to also build out some typical community gathering spaces, to help grow said community of both competitive and casual Catan players.

As far as Community Management as a career? I was actually hired right out of a game community to work on PotBS’ Community Team. I was naturally already doing outreach, working with fansites, moderating and running communities on forums, LiveJournal, and more. It was a natural progression to actually start doing it for a living. Left the IT field behind without looking back!

For the future, I’d love to do some more writing and freelance work.

You spend a ton of time traveling to conventions and events. What are your secrets for survival? 

Alone time! No, seriously! I avoid parties. I make sure to take extra care to eat and drink plenty of water. I will meet with friends for dinner sometimes, but otherwise, I am back in my room in the quiet, watching Netflix or reading. It helps, when you’re running a 64-person event with all the chaos that it entails. I tend to bring along protein snacks with me when doing shows, or pick some up when I arrive. Nuts, cheese, trail mix, that sort of thing. Carbs might get you a big energy rush at first, but then you crash right on down. I also don’t drink sodas, eat candy, or chug coffee. I sit whenever I can, as the standing in one place thing is super hard on one’s body.

For the travel part of it, I tend to pay for slight upgrades on flights. As example, if it’s not too expensive, I’ll upgrade to first class for the relaxation of it. Doesn’t always work, but I go for creature comforts whenever possible.

There’s a lot of discussion of community and community responsibility lately. How can we build a better, stronger gaming community that welcomes everyone?

Gosh, there’s so much to unpack with this one. Really, it has to start from the top down. Geeks & gamers are not an oppressed group. Gaming and geek things are mainstream, and we should welcome the chance to play with everyone.

First, companies and community leaders should actually listen to people who aren’t already gamers. You’ll get a very different response on what people want in games and game communities. Listen to why people don’t feel welcome in game stores. Why people have a hard time finding D&D groups, tabletop groups. Find ways of making people feel welcome, instead of excluding. As an example, I was visiting a local game store. I talked with the owner at some length. He’s got a heavy Magic & Warhammer clientele. That’s not bad at all, a lot of those stores are very successful. But he wants to create a hub where everyone feels welcome to play games. Where women and families feel welcome. I asked him, “Do you have tampons and pads in your restroom?” and he looked at me like I was speaking a different language. It’s not that he was excluding people intentionally; I felt he was truly baffled why he couldn’t generate a good board game meetup hangout establishment. He’s got LOTS of potential in his store, but he just doesn’t know how to fix it.

I am experienced with games for years and years, so you have to do something super jerky for me to feel unwelcome. But, your average consumer will totally feel unwelcome if your store looks like someone’s extended basement. Clutter, posters on the wall with masking tape. Dust, unpainted concrete floors. Broken furniture (or cheap Costco folding tables and chairs) and the like. If you want to become a destination for communities, you need to clean the place up and make it friendly. It’s a hard thing, too, because that all costs money, which is something not a lot of FLGS (friendly local game stores) have, with the margins on games being so tight. That’s where it starts. If you create a welcome and safe environment, don’t tolerate harassment and grossness, you start creating a healthy community.

If you wanna have grognard shop, that’s fine, too. Some folks like that and that’s okay for them. For me, it’s sad, because it means there are heaps of people who will never feel welcome to play games, but folks can run their business how they want.

You’re also an avid gamer. Which properties and settings do you most love?

I am an unabashed lover of Forgotten Realms. One of my hobbies is actually just making characters and developing backstories, in hopes of playing them in a game someday. Hell, I hope to play in a game where people love the Realms as much as I do, and will have a super RPG heavy campaign. (HINT HINT IF ANYONE IS LOOKING FOR PLAYERS). I’m a huge fan of the Shadowrun lore, but HATE the system(s). I hate math. There, I said it (I’ve got Dyscalculia). I’ve always been a big Classic Deadlands fan, but it’s super hard to find compatible players. I love love love the Dragon Age setting and hope to kick off a Roll20 campaign after con season. I don’t know Blue Rose as much as some, but I love the setting and nope to get into a campaign (or run one). And I AM SO VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE EXPANSE RPG.

What is your dream game? (Either to make, or play.)

Sense8. I would LOVE to play in the Sense8 world, or run a campaign. Once Modern AGE comes out, I may try to pull together a mini convention game if Joe Carriker will help me. We have been chatting about working on this for fun ever since the series came out. Of course, I started brainstorming characters to be in different Clusters.

What upcoming projects or events are you excited about? 

I DID MENTION THE EXPANSE, RIGHT? I am also excited about REVOLUTIONARIES — American War of Independence RPG, Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game, Sigil & Sign — Cthulhu Mythos RPG where you play the cultist, Satanic Panic, Mysteries of the Yōkai: An RPG Inspired by Japanese Folklore, A Delve in the Cave: 5th Edition Adventure, Overlight RPG: A roleplaying game of kaleidoscopic fantasy, and and and…well… a lot of other things.

Gnome Stew Notables – Donna Prior published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[kayawagner]

Gnome Stew Notables – Hannah Shaffer

Welcome to the next installment of our Gnome Spotlight: Notables series. The notables series is a look at game developers in the gaming industry doing good work. The series will focus on female game creators and game creators of color primarily, and each entry will be a short bio and interview. We’ve currently got a group of authors and guest authors interviewing game creators and hope to bring you many more entries in the series as it continues on. If you’ve got a suggestion for someone we should be doing a notables article on, send us a note at [email protected]. – Head Gnome John

Meet Hannah

Hannah is an independent game and web designer living in Massachusetts. In addition to her work with Make Big Things, she recently came on board as Director of Marketing for John Wick Presents, where she gets to pitch goofy ideas for 7th Sea. She has a deep appreciation for 90s point-and-click adventure games and tea.

Hannah Shaffer on google+

@hanbandit on twitter

Make Big Things

Talking With Hannah

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work. 

I’m Hannah! I’m a game designer mostly creating in the story game space, but venturing into board games now too! I make games about queerness and people making hard decisions in unstable worlds. I’m part of a three-person game design co-op called Make Big Things, along with Evan Rowland and Brian Van Slyke, and we make most of our games together. We’ve had trouble coming up with a good slogan, but I’ve heard people describe our games as “bleakly hopeful” and I kind of want to run with that.

2) What project are you most proud of?

I’m really proud of our first roleplaying game, Questlandia. It’s a one-session RPG about a bunch of people living in weird collapsing worlds, a la Neverending Story or Miyazaki-style fantasy. Your character is trying to accomplish a big personal goal while the world around you is tumbles into chaos, and you play out how they work with or struggle against the tides of change. In the spirit of “a game is never really done” there’s a lot of stuff I’d do differently if I could go back and do it again, but I think it was an ambitious first game and people are still discovering it and creating cool worlds with it.

And the game actually isn’t done! We’re working on Questlandia 2 right now, and we’re re-designing the game essentially “live” in a bi-weekly podcast called Design Doc. Anyone who wants to follow along can check that out here!

3) What themes do you like to emphasize in your game work?

For Make Big Things there’s a definite current of collapse scenarios, community building and re-building, and the ways people come together in times of change. In my own game work I like exploring themes around people’s physical and spiritual bodies, queerness and sexuality, environmental and social fantasy. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about drugs and bugs, things that may push at the edges of safety and comfort, and I want to make more games that include those themes.

4) What mechanics do you like best in games?

I want to find ways to keep bettering the experience of shy players without making them feel put-upon. I’m not sure what those mechanics are but I’m trying my best at them

5) How would you describe your game design style?

I’ll go back to the idea of bleakly hopeful. I like games where characters confront impossible situations, and I want to find the line where that still feels exciting and interesting and not frustrating. I like a game where you roll or draw the worst possible outcome and everyone at the table goes “Oooooooh!” because that outcome just makes perfect sense.

6) How does queerness fit into your games?

In Questlandia players are exploring worlds that aren’t quite our own, so there’s a lot of exploration around gender and sexuality and different ways of being and loving. In Noirlandia, which Evan Rowland designed, players are inspired to stretch their interpretations of noir genre tropes, so you see a lot of tangled queer relationships and hidden identities that exist in a really shadowy space. Damn the Man, Save the Music is a genre game too, but it’s genre is ’90s teen comedies,  which weren’t super great about queer things. Damn the Man gives players the option to imagine an alternate ’90s where queerness could exist in a safer space.

7) What’s it like working with a game design co-op?

It’s great and hard! I love creating with friends. I think my ideas are better because of that support and it’s taught me so much about communication, shared vision, and compromise. Each one of us has our own style, which I really love, but we’ve sort of converged on a shared ethos for all of our games. I like games about sad people, Brian likes games about movement-building and social justice, but he also really loves puns, and Evan wants to make games that seem like they’re trolling people, but are actually very thoughtful and serious when you sit down to play them. That’s actually left a lot of room for overlap in the things we care about, and we each get to step back sometimes and let the other person’s design choices shine.

8) How did you get into games? Who did you try to emulate in your designs?

I graduated from college during the last housing bubble. People weren’t using the word millennial disparagingly yet, but everyone could feel this real sense of “What happens next? Where are the jobs? Why did this process look totally different for my parents?” Evan and I had been talking about our bleak job prospects, and like you do, we started making a point-and-click video game about Russian psychic technology and economic collapse. We started a little community center and youth program during that time, and on opening day a bunch of Massachusetts tabletop game designers just happened to show up.

After making these newfound friends, tabletop felt like a nice space to explore. As for who I was emulating, I’d say it was knowingly and unknowingly this Massachusetts collective—Joshua A.C. Newman, Emily Care Boss, Vincent and Meg Baker, and Epidiah Ravachol. They’re good people, and it’s kismet that I met them.

9) What one thing would you change in gaming?

I think tabletop gaming can be very insular. I didn’t start gaming until I met other folks who ushered me into the hobby, but that wasn’t for lack of trying! I’d spent years peeking in on game store events and the college gaming scene. Once you’re “in it,” it’s really hard to imagine why it’s so hard for others to get in. The things that made it hard for me that I’d love to see improved are:

Gaming event/convention websites with clear registration information, an FAQ and how-to, times and dates about when registration begins and ends, where the event is taking place, a harassment policy, and a mobile-friendly website so you can find that info easily when you’re headed off to the event.

More public introductory gaming events that clearly explain what the thing is and who it’s for. “New to RPGs? Try Monsterhearts! Monsterhearts is a game about the messy lives of teenage witches, werewolves, faeries, and ghouls. We’ll walk through character creation and play for one hour. Questions are welcome along the way.” One thing that kept me away was that any gaming event seemed to involve pre-established knowledge about the thing and required a many-hours-long time commitment.

Oh, that’s not one thing I’d change—that’s two things. I was gonna just keep going with that list. I know it’s hard to put yourself outside your own shoes, but it’s something I really try to do when I think about welcoming new folks to the hobby.

10) What are you working on now?

Aside from Questlandia 2, I’m working with Brian and Evan on Good Dog, Bad Zombie, which is on Kickstarter now. It’s a cooperative board game where you play as good dogs saving scaredy hoomans from the zombie apocalypse. It’s not a game I could have made myself, because I’m a board game dunce, but I’m really happy to be involved. You move across the map of your ruined city, herding hoomans back to the safety of Central Bark while zombies spawn across the board. It’s a board game that does a great job with its incorporation of theme and tone, and I think it inspires roleplay in clever ways!

It has about a week left on Kickstarter! After that, I guess we’ll be hitting production full-throttle. 🙂

Thanks for joining us for this entry in the notables series.  You can find more in the series here: and please feel free to drop us any suggestions for people we should interview at [email protected].

Gnome Stew Notables – Hannah Shaffer published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com