JRob BDay!

Before I run out of time here:

Happy Birthday Jeremy!

For some reason I thought tomorrow was July 3rd. Weird.

Anyway, my best bud now has a super cool son, Lex, a beautiful place to live, a great job, a wonderful wife, and some fantastic parents. He's the man, and I feel lucky to be a known comrade of his.

I wish him all the best, and owe him a bday present or dinner--his choice. I know we love food, so I think this one's a toss-up.

Star Chamber: Incursions is here!

After months of design, weeks of closed beta, weeks of open beta, the time is finally here. Star Chamber: Incursions is here. I am very thankful to be a small part of this excellent game, and all that I contributed to it.

The manual in its truncated and still-needs-to-be-finished form can be found in this location. As of this writing the Strategy and Misc sections are not complete. Those will be done soon. Also the Tip on the right is always the same, something I will update asap.

The full set goes on sale at the Star Chamber store on Monday. While its not exactly a mystery, small game companies don't rake in cash. Star Chamber certainly doesn't. Paul Dennen, the lead developer and financier, does all of this out of his own pocket.

Before I post some relevance, let me give some background: Today (ie, Saturday) we're holding special pre-release tournaments where players can purchase Incursions and Origins packs (the expansion and the original card base) to use in said tournament for even more Incursions prizes. Incursions, as I said, will not be available until Monday, so this is a special event for the players.

That's why this comment infuriated me, as posted on the Star Chamber beta forums:

soljax wrote:

I'm not going to play in this tourney because I think it's unfair to the consumer to force him/her to purchase decks to play in a tournament.


Yeah, because its not like every other online or offline CCG doesn't make you do the same. Not to mention that soljax was a closed beta tester as well. Not to mention the preferred sealed deck of Star Chamber is called 'Phantom', something that has spoiled players as they can play in sealed deck tournaments for just $1 instead of $12, but they don't get to keep the cards. In these pre-release tournaments they can. Those players will get to use/trade Incursions cards and packs before anyone else.

I see the comment as a very spit-in-your-face gesture that was very much hurtful to the playerbase who read it. I post this here, and not in a forum reply, because I'd rather not stir up any bad blood. But if I see soljax, which I have not, I'll be sure to give him my regards.

Perhaps players think that the creators of this game are swimming in money from it, when they are not. All small game studios who make niche games do all they can to get more players and sometimes never break even. I for one am very proud to work with Nayantara, and while this sort of attitude is something that soljax is known for, but is nonetheless just as hurtful to a small company trying to do good.

I guess he'll purchase Incursions packs on Monday just like anyone else, but he didn't have to imply that we were ripping people off by giving them 8 packs for $12 worth of Events Tickets, only a slightly worse deal than buying a box of cards for $50. Not to mention the fact that the participating players get a chance to use/trade Incursions before anyone else.

Grr. I had to get this out, it's been bothering me exponentially.

Conversations in Geek

The Gillmor Gang is fascinating and interesting. Listen and learn, peeps.

Miss Marketing

I've been reading What's Your Brand Mantra? for awhile now, and am trying to learn as much as I can about the video game industry and how these marketing tips, articles, and strategies can best help Nayantara rule the world, amongst other things. Besides, I think it's terribly interesting.

For some more cool reading you can check out Testify!, a very interesting and free e-book about homegrown and grassroots marketing. Basically it's about companies finding people like me (ie, the fanboys of the company), nurturing them, listening to them, and then implementing the good ideas from the community you've created.

It makes sense, but a lot companies seem to specialize in Making The Most Money Right Now instead of building a terribly loyal fan and customer base that can truly carry them through the years. Sometimes listening to those 'annoying' customers is a good thing. Think about it: If they're taking so much time to actually fill out a form, call a support line, or request a meeting with a manager, perhaps not all of their comments should be in vain.

Food for thought, anyway. Me, I'd like to read Free Prize Inside, a marketing book I've heard cool things about.

I get obsessive about my little notions, and marketing is certainly the flavor of the week. But what can I say, I think I can bring good ideas to the table, and how best to present them to make them effective, endearing and lasting is something I'd like to learn how to do. I'm a pretty decent communicator, so I'd like to learn about this social art.

Who knows what might come of it?

Manually

I'm currently working on the game manual for Star Chamber. As I write this I have far too little done and a lot ahead of me. I worry if I can make the deadline which technically is tomorrow. Eek.

Until then I'm going hammer out on the small intricacies of the game, and it turns out there's a frickin shitload of em. You just never know what kind of work goes into the manuals you never read, eh?

Somewhere a technical writer is crying, knowing that his 8 hours a day of writing some boring ass "Click here to do this" will never be read.

I think I stopped reading manuals around the time I learned I needed them. Ironic, ain't it? This kind of ties in with that post about being self-taught I did a week or so ago. Weird how it comes full circle so quickly...

Don't worry, I'll have some semi-interesting diatribe for tomorrow. But for now, it's back to the grindstone for me...

Playing Roles and Games

I think it's so cool to be on the other side of video game development. The more I learn, the more enamored I become. And based on my current position at Nayantara, I think if I really pushed I could get a full time job doing this with another game company.

But for me, it's Nayantara all the way. Why just get hired by 'a company' working on 'a game' that I really don't know and can't naturally get excited about? Hrmph.

To be involved in something small is to have an intimate relationship with the developers (no, not that type) that you just won't get anywhere else. It's also another reason to find your niche game and champion the hell out of it. I literally get paid to be a fanboy. There is no greater reward. I am very happy doing what I do. I feel I can bring things to the game that others cannot, whether it be sys and forum administration, web skills, or content creation. These are strengths, and it's nice to flex those muscles, let alone be appreciated by such excellent company.

I'm writing this as I read Casual Games Are Serious Business, from the Hollywood Reporter (as found on A Shareware Life). Basically it entails that web games are big business, and that PopCap is thinking of producing a small RPG that can be played in 15 minute chunks.

I think it's either going to be gangbusters or fail spectacularly. The realist in me doesn't believe a 15 minute RPG can be adequately designed for multiple uses and specific time limits, so I fall in the latter of the opinion categories.

However, contributing my small part to Star Chamber, I think that anything is possible. If they work hard enough at it, it is a possibility. There are many games I never imagined being as fun as they are, such as Bejeweled or Zuma, so it's tough to say what will come out of the PopCap magic factory.

Hmm, let's think about this: 15 minutes. That means no character creation. That also means a very short story. That means a set group of characters whose goals may change and whose plot may have to change even more drastically. The key to small web-based games are replayability. I can play Bejeweled today and get just as much satisfaction as I did years ago. What about this RPG? Will I be playing the same story over and over, or a slight variation?

Can you inhabit the role of a character for 15 minutes and truly feel that the experience was worth the time investment? There is a certain connection made to characters you control in RPGs, and usually that emotional investment is only hardened by hours and hours of playing.

That is why games such as Final Fantasy are so popular. In particular Final Fantasy VII, which I still regard as a masterpiece of game-making. The way they introduce the story, get you involved in the game early, and have you actually affect what is going on is absolutely crucial to making an RPG work. When you try to truncate it, you are either watching/reading too much and not playing enough, which of course will kill any web-based game almost instantly, or have you always involved, and make it as bland as bad oatmeal.

There in lies the balance. Can it be done? Particularly within a 15 minute time limit? With a small download, a great replayability factor, and create the emotional involvement necessary to carry a Role Playing Game?

There-in lies the design question. How they solve it is anyone's guess. Good luck.

Work and Play

So, some interesting developments here recently.

One, now that I'm back from Origins, I got to see just what I bought and what happened.

I purchased about $50+ of Magic. This came in the form of multiple booster and starter packs, and I also talked Brian, the Nayantara producer guy ("Ship it!") into buying some too. The Gary Adkison guy I spoke of a few posts ago taught him to play, and a monster may have been unleashed.

I bought Korsun Pocket, and this is some hard core shit right here. And I mean that in bold italics, like so: hard fucking core. It has a 'Tutorial', but the tutorial is actually 10 seperate lessons that are printed out in the manual. It literally says stuff like "Click the yellow button. See how it made the unit primary? Okay, let's choose the unit description in the window below the battlefield." Damn, I'm gonna bring a paper and pen next time.

The idea with Matrix Games is that they cater to these hard core types (excuse me, the hard fucking core types, which we'll shorten to HFC), and make games that suit them. They were at Origins and they had a very nice setup. They also had war games of all types, they had videos running, demos running, and one game with little miniature pieces being moved around by a God-like hand.

Only HFCs can truly appreciate an expansion pack that you can't pronounce without googling.

So there's that challenge. On the other hand, I love a good board game. After being turned onto the notion by Paul Dennen, the guy who created that game I work on, I have become something of a board game superfreak. And that is not the mentality you should enter the largest RPG/board game expo of the year with. It simply lays out everything you want in a nice, easy to digest package.

Firstly I damn near bought every game that Days of Wonder publishes. This includes Gang of Four, Queen's Necklace, and Ticket to Ride, totalling about $80 for all of those. Did I mention I already own the fantastic Mystery of the Abbey? Because I do, and it's a wonderful game. I paid $50 for that one.

I like small publishers, I love good games. I like supporting small publishers who make good games. Let's move on, and I'll show some more goodies I got.

When stopping by the Cheapass Games booth, I knew I was going to be leaving with something. I wanted a small piece of cheapass in my home. But which? So I asked the guy there. He noticed my badge.

"You're from Tennessee, huh?"

"Yup."

"I am too, but not from Oak Ridge."

"Oh? Where?"

"Morristown."

No. Fuckin. Way. I'm from Morristown, born and raised. Amazing!

"East or West?" He says, in reference to high schools after I splurge about my upbringing.

"East," I tell him.

"Oh, you're a Hurricane," he says.

"Dude," I say, "I'm at fuckin Origins. Do you think I care about sports?"

"Well, at least your team wasn't named after a condom," he says, in reference to the West High School Trojans.

So after some more banter, he gets around to pitching some great games. I take home Kill Dr. Lucky, One False Step for Mankind (possibly the most daunting--it says 3 hours per game), and a Hip Pocket game, Light Speed, all of those for a cool $20 bill.

I purchased Bang! from Mayfair Games which, despite being created by the company with the ugliest website ever, looks pretty fun. And thanks to my Exhibitor status, I got a sweet discount.

Is there anything else? Eh, probably not. Those are the definite notables, apart from many glasses of beer and the most amazing meal of my life I had at Buca di Beppo that was to die for. And some eye candy as well. I think they just hire pretty young girls to wear tight clothes and walk around. But that's secondary to the food. You ever order garlic bread that comes out looking like a pizza? Or a plate of food big enough for six people and then some? It seems like more people than myself and the small group I was with have heard of this place. It makes Olive Garden look like the ghetto of the italian cuisine.

All Your Gmail Are Belong To Us

I have invites. Post a comment if you want one, be sure to leave an email addy to send it to. I'd rather go the comment system than any other.

I have 2 reserved. I have 2 available. First two get em. (One each)

Kicking the Habit

So, for the past 8+ months or so, I've been a smoker. Yes, a smoker. The kind that burn cigarettes, inhale the smoke, intake the nicotine via said smoke through my lungs, and really, really fuck up my breathing organs as a result. Did I mention I have asthma?

Over the course of 8 months, I had worked up to a pack or so a day. The "or so" can include up to 5+ cigarettes from a second pack. But that was really on a long day where I did nothing but smoke.

I mainly smoked on my computer. When I was playing a game, or when I was working on something. Since smoking was the habit of choice when at the PC, I didn't really feel a need to smoke at any other time. So that's why those that know me might not know I smoke, even if they might've smelled something smoke-like in the past few months.

The reason for not smelling so Marlboro-ish is because I wasn't smoking regular, run-of-the-mill cigarettes. I was smoking clove cigarettes. Sampoerna to be specific. And since I couldn't inhale the things regularly, due to them being too harsh on my already-sensitive lungs, I would smoke french style. That's through your nose if you didn't know that. And even then I could only take a small bit of smoke, as too much would really get me wheezing.

If you're rolling your eyes or saying something along the lines of "What the fuck were you thinking", that's okay. It happens. It's natural, even, to question the intellegence of such actions. But smokers seem to quickly point out their misgivings and lack of IQ on such matters, usually while lighting up. As if admitting this gives them to the right to kill themselves a little further. But I'm all about a person's rights, so in my mind yes, this gives them the right to do whatever they like. They don't even have to give me an excuse. Just do it outside, wouldja? Thanks.

I left for Origins on Wednesday. I smoked 2-3 cigarettes on the way up to Columbus, OH. After I arrived at Tony's place, I have never smoked another. As the days went on, playing around on a laptop, not in the same confines of a bedroom with a PC nearby, and had so much fun at the convention and with the Star Chamber peeps, I never thought of smoking. The dreaded 'urge' never came, so it wasn't even a battle. It was simply a distraction that would cross my mind at some time or another.

It seems the 'moment of choice' came as I said goodbye to all the wonderful Nayantara peeps and made my way back to the car. Inside it had a full pack of cigarettes, unopened. Menthol, a type I was forced to use because my nasal cavaties were getting a little ravaged by months of inhaling that way.

I held them up. I thought about what they meant to me, which is to say not much, and what they did to me, which is to say destroy my lung capacity, bring me plenty of panic-thoughts from not being able to breath like I like and make me reach for the inhaler far too often, and how much I spent on them, which is to say too damn much.

I opened the door, laid them to rest on the pavement, and drove away.

Do I think about smoking as I sit here in the bedroom, typing on the PC? Sure.

Do I really miss it? No. And as long as I have the gumption, and as long as I can control these odd cravings, I'll be just fine. And my asthma sure as hell doesn't miss the wheezing, the coughing, struggle for breath, and out-of-breath situations I found myself in all too often.