Well, not much to say. Summer is in full swing and I am not accomplishing as much as I would like. Not even close really.
4e notes to ponder: Well, I think I have said it here before, but I think 4e is a good game, just not the DnD that I got used to calling "Dungeons and Dragons." The feel is different, I am not saying this is bad, just different. In some ways it really does throw back to earlier editions because classes really do have defined roles. It is also easier to create monsters and NPCs (yes, I have fiddled around with a few). Some things though just have a different feel. I have never been a stickler when it comes to alignment, so I suppose the alignment changes should be no big deal to me, but they do seem to grant a different feel or purpose to the game. I don't know why. Magic items and equipment are, well, more "vanilla" to me. Again, not really sure why. I am fine with Wizards and Clerics having "at will" powers but I don't really like the way rituals are treated. I honestly think that leaving out some of the "favorite" races and classes was a deliberate move to help maintain sales for later books. While I understand doing this, I don't respect the way it was done.
If I can find a group to play, I will play 4e. The little bit of playing and demos I have done might not give the game a fair shake, and I do think it is a decent game.
4e GSL?? Um, yeah. Let's just say that the claims that the GSL was done and ready to go appear to be "mistaken." RUMORS (ie. can't claim a real basis in fact, and I don't know anything) indicate that changes have to be made to the GSL to allow companies to have multiple product lines with some products 4e and others OGL. Basically, members of WotC claimed this was already the case, but I heard, from, um, some birds talking on a branch outside, for this to be the case some clause or other in the GSL needs to be changed. Again, I have NO idea if this is true. If it were, it would be a more reasonable explanation for the delay providing the GSL than not having a proper page on the website for it ...
Well, enough of my opinions and rumor mongering for one afternoon. Surprise, surprise, it is almost time for DS#1 to go to soccer practice.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Back, again ...
Okay, things have been going "okay" for GU but not what I have wanted. I honestly feel that I need to have 5 products completely ready before I start any releases. This makes 1 free product plus 4 paid releases. I believe that once I have that I can make better predictions as to completion of other products and time the finished releases so that I will have new products ready when I am done with those releases. This means the first releases might trickle out once every 3 weeks, with a goal of hitting a release every 1-2 weeks. I still don't have 5 products fully ready to go, sad isn't it?
On other fronts, I have set up some forums through Yuku (what was once EZ boards). I need to try to customize the background, look, etc. before I set up links to them. I have more information ready for the website but I haven't uploaded that yet. I am signed up and ready to go on the OBS (OneBookShelf-RPGNow-DTRPG) front so that is ready to go.
Basically, I need to step up my organization a bit. When I am only writing it is okay to get distracted and outline new ideas for future books/products. When I need to be the one that also takes care of the other aspects of getting a product ready I need to get much more focused and organized. I think I am close to "getting in the zone" so, although I am frustrated at not having things ready now, I am more satisfied with my progress.
I knew the summer would be busy, and it has certainly started off that way. We went to Houston for the weekend for my Father-in-law's birthday party and the kids have some summer activities going right now. DS#1 and DS#2 have soccer camp this week. It is a half-day camp, but pretty intense. Both of the boys got grouped with older kids which helps push them. Last night DS#1 had a team meeting/practice with the new team. Basically, it sounds like most of our games will be in the San Antonio-Austin area but we will have games much further away as well. There is a possibility that an El Paso team will be put into our grouping. Those of you that know your Texas Geography will recognize that El Paso is a VERY long drive from SA. We don't have to worry about games until September, well our first tournaments are in August but those are reasonably close (here in SA and in Austin). It is a bit scary to realize that I now consider a soccer field over 90 miles away to be "reasonably close."
Okay, time to crack the whip on myself and get back to work.
On other fronts, I have set up some forums through Yuku (what was once EZ boards). I need to try to customize the background, look, etc. before I set up links to them. I have more information ready for the website but I haven't uploaded that yet. I am signed up and ready to go on the OBS (OneBookShelf-RPGNow-DTRPG) front so that is ready to go.
Basically, I need to step up my organization a bit. When I am only writing it is okay to get distracted and outline new ideas for future books/products. When I need to be the one that also takes care of the other aspects of getting a product ready I need to get much more focused and organized. I think I am close to "getting in the zone" so, although I am frustrated at not having things ready now, I am more satisfied with my progress.
I knew the summer would be busy, and it has certainly started off that way. We went to Houston for the weekend for my Father-in-law's birthday party and the kids have some summer activities going right now. DS#1 and DS#2 have soccer camp this week. It is a half-day camp, but pretty intense. Both of the boys got grouped with older kids which helps push them. Last night DS#1 had a team meeting/practice with the new team. Basically, it sounds like most of our games will be in the San Antonio-Austin area but we will have games much further away as well. There is a possibility that an El Paso team will be put into our grouping. Those of you that know your Texas Geography will recognize that El Paso is a VERY long drive from SA. We don't have to worry about games until September, well our first tournaments are in August but those are reasonably close (here in SA and in Austin). It is a bit scary to realize that I now consider a soccer field over 90 miles away to be "reasonably close."
Okay, time to crack the whip on myself and get back to work.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Grumble ...
Well, I had some major email problems with the Generic Universe accounts yesterday. Let's just say it was VERY inconvenient. I was unable to send anything out. I received fine, but ended up using a different email address to send a few things out. I haven't had a response yet that those got there so now that the sending is fixed I suppose I should send a message from the GU address asking if the files got through. All of this was the info to open up the DTRPG/RPGNow/OBS retailer space for GU.
Other things have been going slowly. I thought I had some things through layout and looking good but when printing and when creating the .pdf for two of them something goes wrong. I am guessing there must be some sort of MS Word hidden code or macro that doesn't install properly. It looks good onscreen but send it to the printer or through Adobe Acrobat and "something" happens. Sigh. After talking to someone that does a lot of layout, it sounds like the answer is to save the text as an RTF and put through layout again. We'll see how that goes sometime this evening.
I clearly won't have 5 products fully complete for Friday. I was really hoping to match my launch with the advent of 4th edition. Then again, who knows, 4e is going to overwhelm everything else for a few weeks. I guess they'll be done when they get done. I think I am spreading myself too thin and working on to many things at once. I am going to go back to focusing on one item at a time-hopefully in rapid succession. The kids are home from school so there are lots of summer distractions. We got back from the Zoo a little while ago and DS#3 is napping. When he wakes up I'll give him a snack and haul all of the kids to the neighborhood pool. We'll see what I can get done during naptime.
Other things have been going slowly. I thought I had some things through layout and looking good but when printing and when creating the .pdf for two of them something goes wrong. I am guessing there must be some sort of MS Word hidden code or macro that doesn't install properly. It looks good onscreen but send it to the printer or through Adobe Acrobat and "something" happens. Sigh. After talking to someone that does a lot of layout, it sounds like the answer is to save the text as an RTF and put through layout again. We'll see how that goes sometime this evening.
I clearly won't have 5 products fully complete for Friday. I was really hoping to match my launch with the advent of 4th edition. Then again, who knows, 4e is going to overwhelm everything else for a few weeks. I guess they'll be done when they get done. I think I am spreading myself too thin and working on to many things at once. I am going to go back to focusing on one item at a time-hopefully in rapid succession. The kids are home from school so there are lots of summer distractions. We got back from the Zoo a little while ago and DS#3 is napping. When he wakes up I'll give him a snack and haul all of the kids to the neighborhood pool. We'll see what I can get done during naptime.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Oh Well
Okay, as I was afraid, things got slowed down significantly. I had a few things that I needed to "deal with" and the kids are blowing off the last day of school. This means that our celebration of the end of school was a day earlier than planned. My wife's call schedule has been a bit brutal lately too. I don't have the magic 5 products completed yet. I might be able to recruit some free help tomorrow though, maybe it'll still work out.
Anyway, I had another chance to look at the 4e books on the weekend. I was mostly looking over monsters and monster creation. Material on monsters is cleverly split between the MM and the DMG, you'll need both if you are planning to DM. I have seen some message board comments questioning the need for the DMG, but in my opinion, you'll need it. I am NOT all that impressed with some of the monsters. Some of the changes to things like the Dryad are, well, stupid really. A few monsters are much cooler, so I suppose in the long-run that will balance out. Fortunately, with the new edition it is much easier to make your own adjustments to monsters and/or simply create new ones.
Will I want to write for 4e? Yes, but I am not sure when I will find the time.
Conversions from older editions? Okay, here is the thing, in general I think it'll be easier to convert old 1e and 2e material than some 3e material. The problem is going to be with maps, 4e combat is highly dependent on movement and abilities that allow you to shift before or after striking. Without running an encounter in a tight space yet (I might run one today with my boys) I can't see if this is really a big deal. A lot of Monster abilities also involve pushing, pulling, or otherwise moving characters too.
I have the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure and some notes on things to add/subtract from the books and I plan to try the boys on it with 2 of the pre-gens each. I expect we'll all be running characters as more of a mini-combat trial at first than a real role-playing game.
Anyway, I had another chance to look at the 4e books on the weekend. I was mostly looking over monsters and monster creation. Material on monsters is cleverly split between the MM and the DMG, you'll need both if you are planning to DM. I have seen some message board comments questioning the need for the DMG, but in my opinion, you'll need it. I am NOT all that impressed with some of the monsters. Some of the changes to things like the Dryad are, well, stupid really. A few monsters are much cooler, so I suppose in the long-run that will balance out. Fortunately, with the new edition it is much easier to make your own adjustments to monsters and/or simply create new ones.
Will I want to write for 4e? Yes, but I am not sure when I will find the time.
Conversions from older editions? Okay, here is the thing, in general I think it'll be easier to convert old 1e and 2e material than some 3e material. The problem is going to be with maps, 4e combat is highly dependent on movement and abilities that allow you to shift before or after striking. Without running an encounter in a tight space yet (I might run one today with my boys) I can't see if this is really a big deal. A lot of Monster abilities also involve pushing, pulling, or otherwise moving characters too.
I have the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure and some notes on things to add/subtract from the books and I plan to try the boys on it with 2 of the pre-gens each. I expect we'll all be running characters as more of a mini-combat trial at first than a real role-playing game.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Distractions
Okay, I know someone that did receive the 4e rules early. Now, he says it wasn't from Buy.com. I guess some others busted the release date after Buy.com did. Who knows.
Anyway, the books look very nice and what I had a chance to look at indicates what I thought before. It isn't the DnD that I started with and some of it isn't very "comfortable" but I think it'll be easy enough to adjust to. Having a chance to borrow the books and read a bit was pretty nice. Probably not going to get a real chance to look anything over until I have my own copies next week.
This is likely a good thing as I am sure I'll get more work done that way.
In other news, DS#1 had good soccer try-outs. He is with the same coach as in spring, but that trainer is taking care of the team one division up from what he was last year. Basically, he is going to have to work hard to get play time. He is excited about the prospect. I am happy for him too. I am not sure I am happy about how much driving we'll be having to do this fall. The sad thing is that not enough kids were at try-outs to form a full team at the level he played before. This means that a number of those boys didn't get an offer. DS#1 got an offer as one of the dedicated, hard-working players that the coach believes can play at this level. We'll have to see how it goes. DS#1 seems very energized by the prospect.
Anyway, the books look very nice and what I had a chance to look at indicates what I thought before. It isn't the DnD that I started with and some of it isn't very "comfortable" but I think it'll be easy enough to adjust to. Having a chance to borrow the books and read a bit was pretty nice. Probably not going to get a real chance to look anything over until I have my own copies next week.
This is likely a good thing as I am sure I'll get more work done that way.
In other news, DS#1 had good soccer try-outs. He is with the same coach as in spring, but that trainer is taking care of the team one division up from what he was last year. Basically, he is going to have to work hard to get play time. He is excited about the prospect. I am happy for him too. I am not sure I am happy about how much driving we'll be having to do this fall. The sad thing is that not enough kids were at try-outs to form a full team at the level he played before. This means that a number of those boys didn't get an offer. DS#1 got an offer as one of the dedicated, hard-working players that the coach believes can play at this level. We'll have to see how it goes. DS#1 seems very energized by the prospect.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
I'm Back
Okay, really we got back yesterday afternoon and I actually had the laptop with me while we were out of town. The little I did use the laptop (my wife used it for her blog a bit) was more for writing than anything else.
I have a bunch of material I need to scan, and I should get to that sometime today. My wife is on the computer I prefer to scan with so I guess that it'll wait until tonight, late tonight. She is on-call and DS#1 has soccer try-outs. I know which team he'll make. Okay, I know his present coach wants him back. It IS possible that he'll get an offer for a team that is a division above. I'd prefer he play with the same coach again, he is a starter and plays every minute of the game. At his age he simply needs as much play time as he can get. He has the skill to play a division up, but not the consistency-then again, I am his papa and I can be pretty picky sometimes.
I have had a little bit more time to look at some more 4e information. I think I'll like the game. I am going to get an extra PHB for my boys to look over. If possible, I would like to run a game for them. I think it'll be possible to run 4e on a smaller scale, but we'll have to wait and see. In my opinion, it is a good game, it will get slammed by some people though. The funny thing is that I think it'll be easier to convert some 1e/2e material to 4e. I was looking over some of my older notes the other day and I realized that one particular adventure would be pathetically easy to convert to 4e. When I have the full ruleset I will look it over and maybe talk to Goodman Games about that one. I think it would fit into their DCC line pretty well. I have others that should be easy to write up too, but those would be a bit longer. The adventure I will convert first actually had some text typed out in the computer, years ago. Now, I am not sure I'll be able to locate those old files, but if I can find them I bet I can use them.
I THINK I'll have products ready to upload/sell by June 6. I just don't know what sort of schedule I'll be able to release follow-up products on. I guarantee it would be as fast as I would like.
Well, back to work ...
I have a bunch of material I need to scan, and I should get to that sometime today. My wife is on the computer I prefer to scan with so I guess that it'll wait until tonight, late tonight. She is on-call and DS#1 has soccer try-outs. I know which team he'll make. Okay, I know his present coach wants him back. It IS possible that he'll get an offer for a team that is a division above. I'd prefer he play with the same coach again, he is a starter and plays every minute of the game. At his age he simply needs as much play time as he can get. He has the skill to play a division up, but not the consistency-then again, I am his papa and I can be pretty picky sometimes.
I have had a little bit more time to look at some more 4e information. I think I'll like the game. I am going to get an extra PHB for my boys to look over. If possible, I would like to run a game for them. I think it'll be possible to run 4e on a smaller scale, but we'll have to wait and see. In my opinion, it is a good game, it will get slammed by some people though. The funny thing is that I think it'll be easier to convert some 1e/2e material to 4e. I was looking over some of my older notes the other day and I realized that one particular adventure would be pathetically easy to convert to 4e. When I have the full ruleset I will look it over and maybe talk to Goodman Games about that one. I think it would fit into their DCC line pretty well. I have others that should be easy to write up too, but those would be a bit longer. The adventure I will convert first actually had some text typed out in the computer, years ago. Now, I am not sure I'll be able to locate those old files, but if I can find them I bet I can use them.
I THINK I'll have products ready to upload/sell by June 6. I just don't know what sort of schedule I'll be able to release follow-up products on. I guarantee it would be as fast as I would like.
Well, back to work ...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Heading out ...
We are leaving town for the Memorial Day weekend. I'll have the laptop with me in hopes of getting a tiny amount of work done, but I am more likely to end up writing some notes, or maybe a bit of drawing.
I have done all the paperwork, etc. to get signed up at OneBookShelf to prepare for selling things. I probably should have signed up before to have access to the publisher's forum, but I have waited this long, I can wait until next week. I want to be in town and available to respond to emails after I send everything in.
I NEED to update the website, but that ran into problems. I tried to switch everything over from GoLive to Dreamweaver but all of the buttons died. It looks like the changeover somehow added two new lines of code that essentially kill the buttons. It'll probably end up easier to recreate the website in Dreamweaver from the ground up, creating a style sheet, etc. In any case, I really want to spend my time preparing products, what few there are.
I have done all the paperwork, etc. to get signed up at OneBookShelf to prepare for selling things. I probably should have signed up before to have access to the publisher's forum, but I have waited this long, I can wait until next week. I want to be in town and available to respond to emails after I send everything in.
I NEED to update the website, but that ran into problems. I tried to switch everything over from GoLive to Dreamweaver but all of the buttons died. It looks like the changeover somehow added two new lines of code that essentially kill the buttons. It'll probably end up easier to recreate the website in Dreamweaver from the ground up, creating a style sheet, etc. In any case, I really want to spend my time preparing products, what few there are.
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