Sandy Antunes has an excellent column up on RPG.net today, in which he reveals the results of an informal survey of RPG designers and developers. The question he put to them was: “What is your day job?” The results are not particularly scientific, which Sandy (whose day jobs include astrophysicist and stay-at-home dad) freely admits, but they’re fun. I didn’t …
Back to Lothlórien
Turbine recently posted an article on The Lord of the Rings Online that I edited: “Hero’s Guide to Lothlórien.” The inimitable Will Hindmarch did an excellent job with the heavy lifting of actually writing the piece and taking all the screenshots. If you like MMOs or The Lord of the Rings in any form, be sure to check it out.
Game Balance Is Overrated
I recently wrote this bit on a private mailing list. Jeff Tidball saw it and asked me to repost it over at Gameplaywright.net in the discussion about Things We Think About Games, the game-ruminations book he and Will Hindmarch put together. Which I did. And so I thought I’d post it here as well. I’m interested to hear what you …
Scrye Folds
ICv2.com reports that Scyre, the last remaining magazine devoted to collectible games, is ending its run in April. By my count, Scrye was also the last adventure game magazine of any stripe left in wide circulation, joining Dragon, Dungeon, InQuest, Games Quarterly, and several others in the periodicals graveyard. I used to love reading gaming magazines, but with the rise …
Forbidden Mail
A couple weeks ago, I received my first e-mail from a concerned parent about More Forbidden Knowledge. Honestly, with a title like that, I’d have figured on more outrage in my inbox by now, but I’m happy to be wrong on that point. The woman had some real, if misguided, concerns, and I did my best to answer them. You …
Superhero Wishes at Bookgasm
Fellow IAMTW member and comic-book legend Paul Kupperberg recently asked a bunch of us to tell him which superhero we’d like to write a novel about and what kind of story we would tell. Oh, and did we have any horror stories about such books to tell? You can see my answer–along with those of Richard Lee Byers, Greg Cox, …
Finding the Narrative at Storytellers Unplugged
My latest essay, “Finding the Narrative,” is up at Storytellers Unplugged. This time around, I examine the needs of narratives through the lens of the inauguration of President Obama. Please check it out.
Break Time Is Over
Tonight is effectively the last night of Winter Break. Although the kids don’t go back to school until Monday, that makes Sunday night a school night–and therefore tonight the last break night. It’s been a busy, fun couple of weeks, but I’ve not gotten as much work done as I’d hoped. I love having the kids around–maybe too much. They’re …
Four from Forbeck: Why Santa Must Be a Gamer
Top 1d4 Reasons Why Santa Must Be a Gamer He’s surrounded by munchkins he calls “elves.” (Come on. Real elves [4E: eladrin] are much taller, specialize in more than “toy magic,” and are wicked with a bow.) Collects magic items and mounts. (A bag of holding [for the toys] and a sleigh of flying, plus eight flying reindeer led by …
Noncompulsive Storytelling
My latest essay, “Noncompulsive Writing,” is now up at Storytellers Unplugged. It’s about how I motivate myself to write when I rarely find that just can’t do without it. Stop by and give it a read!