Hit by a (consultative) Drive-by Shooting
This morning I woke up covered in (figurative) blood.
I had just been the target of James and Harry (of Men with Pens‘s fame) Drive-by Shooting Sundays.
The rather colorful and fluffed-up setup is actually a lookover consultation of the blog from the eyes of trained online buisness men.
While I knew that the Blog could be improved, I must say that my Ego was somewhat bruised (As often happens with brutal honesty my buddy Graham would say).
I think that part of their criticism comes from the fact that they were cold called on the blog and know nothing of what I was about (except that I was a gamer) so they evaluated the blog from that stand point.
Regardless, all their observations hit true to a certain extent.
Here are a few key observations (Read the whole post here):
Hm. I’m not sure what to think of a first impression. Personally, I’m not big on cartoons. I think cartoons should be used sporadically and be well illustrated to convey a message without downgrading the seriousness. (Is gaming serious? Damned straight it is.)
I pointed out in the comments that the Cartoon is actually a caricature of me. I don’t think I’m going to surprise anyone by saying that the blog’s branding turns around a certain Chatty guy… (I’ve even been accused, quite nicely, to foster a burgeoning personality cult… what? I’d never do this to my minions!)
The banner title is fuzzy, so that should be cleaned up to be sharper. Harry finds the comment bubbles interesting and I hate them, so it’s a toss up on that, too.
That is something I might have to take up with the Artist that made the banner. I didn’t mind it when I got it, but I’ve had more than one feedback on it. With 4e’s publication, I think I’ll commission Veronica for an update.
The tagline gets lost in the banner and isn’t visible at all. Who is Chatty DM? Why should I read these musings? What’s this site about anyways? It does tell readers what the site is about – your quest. But again, why should I read this site?
With 4e’s publication, the tagline will lose it’s meaning. I’m probably going to change it with ‘Where the Rule of Cool meets the Rule of Fun in Tabletop RPGs’ or something.
The comment count should be at the bottom of posts to allow readers to read and then click immediately to comment without having to scroll back up.
That’s actually a very good point. Maybe I’ll ask Graham to hack this bit when he’s done with his finals.
The main problem seems to be that the overall color theme is bland. There’s nothing really wrong with it, but it’s… forgettable. There’s nothing interesting to capture readers at a glance and no punch to the page.
This is where I disagree (as often happens in artistic decisions), I quite like the soft, bland colors because I wanted a relaxed atmosphere. When we discussed colors, it was suggested quite early on that we’d move away from the current color schemes and go for different… I think that once again the suggestion comes from a ‘I’m a first time visitor that dropped from a search result… make sure I stick around’ which is a valid point… although I’m guessing my growth comes more from word of mouth than from random walk ins.
There you have it… your friendly Chatty’s head has exploded and for once I had to use my minions’ cloning banks for myself. I’ll have my revenge, MWa HA HA HA!
Still, I’ll look into this more and start planning for Chatty DM’s 4.0.
From the WTF Crossover Department…
Many years after Capcom vs. Marvel, the other side(s) have responded!
A Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game looks to be in development (and has a brief Sub-Zero vs. Batman brawl trailer.)
I suppose in video games, ridiculous crossovers will never go out of style, no matter how advanced the graphics are!
Who wants to start the argument about who should win a fight: Superman or Raiden, God of Thunder?
"You're a disgrace to Tauren culture," said the shaman Lolhamburger
Normally I don’t link to Penny Arcade, since telling gamers to read Penny Arcade is like telling ninjas to sneak around: it’s just gonna happen anyway.
Today’s column is well worth reading and recommending. The results of their “Exactly 10 Words about WoW” contest were posted today. There’s some really good ones in there, both if you’re a fan of Azeroth or if you’re just a fan of really short stories. There’s even one that evokes Hemmingway’s original:
“Please, use this training sword. My son never got to.”
Chatty's Random Thoughts: Potions
Chatty steps on the stage and walks up to the mike, looking nervous. He clears his throat, takes a deep breath and starts.
How ya doin? Nice to see y’all here. All right, what’s the deal with potions? I mean it’s a spell that you drink. You chug that little bottle of power and it does things to you. That just freaks me out!
Here’s what I don’t get. How does that work in your digestive track? How the hell does the magic know that it’s supposed to do its stuff and not just make your crotch glow or your hair catch fire?
Does anyone know what happens with the juice once the magic’s gone? I can’t find any reference in the SRD that says how you eliminate potions from your body? I mean, is the magic transfer complete? Does the local latrines have a slight transmutation magic aura once you’re done? Y’a know what I mean?
Seriously though, what about empty potion bottles? I mean don’t they have a deposit on them? You have to pay for it when you create a potion, so how come you can’t reuse them?
If ya ask me, I think all dungeons have a bunch of low level wizards hobos raiding it for empties and selling them once the PCs are done killing stuff and taking the loot.
All right, you’ve been great, I’m here all week!
Chatty leaves the stage in a hurry, dodging Handaxes and Tanglefoot bags.
300th Post!
Hell, I’ve been trying to say something about my 300th post and everything sounds either clinically boring or monstrously egocentric. This is my 3rd stab at it…
Bottom line, I can’t believe I made it that far and I owe it all to you that take a few minutes to read my ramblings! It means a lot!
The blog’s comment activity has literally exploded these last few weeks and it makes me very happy… even if I tend to ask people to start their own blogs.. Ha Ha!
I’ve succeeded at transitioning from my ‘I feel I must write tonight’ to a ‘I’ll write if I feel like it tonight’. While it doesn’t necessarily seem all that different to you as I still post about once each weekday, the blog has become less of a burden to me.
In these last few months, I’ve dabbled with reviews and will continue to do so sporadically. I’ve taken a stab at creating a photo Webcomics and while I find this very fun, it’s hard enough that I prefer to get struck by inspiration instead of doing them on a regular basis.
I also started doing some guest posting on other blogs (I did one for Dungeonmastering and I have a Chatty’s Tips monthly column starting soon with Johnn Four’s Roleplaying tips) and I find the experience very rewarding.
All in all, I don’t really have formal plans for the next 100 posts. I’m going to continue to do my thing and hope you will enjoy it. I’m not hunting for a writing job ( I thought about it, then I compared the revenues vs what I do now and let it at that). I’m just a RPG geek that likes to discuss my favorite hobby with people.
One thing I’d really like to do more of is Chatty’s Mailbox. I just got a question by email and will post on it this weekend. So feel free to send me questions at chattydm@chattydm.net. (However, if you are looking for love, I suggest you have a look at Dream Geek Girl)
All right, tomorrow (Friday April 18th), I probably won’t be Online much. I’ve volunteered to be a Judge at a the Finals of my Province’s Science Fair . I’m going to see what the younger Quebec Geek Generation is working on!
I’ll catch up on the blog if I can get online… if not, I’ll be back in Friday night.
Thanks for being there!
WotC: "That $5k license thing? Just kidding."
Some new details about the GSL finally posted after a lot of speculation and delay.
Sounds like you can be approved to use a “D&D Compatible” logo, and anyone can use a GSL after publication. (And no one is going to have to pay $5k.)
This ends the conspiracy theories that Hasbro insisted that they revoke open gaming altogether. My guess, however, is that the SRD will still only be references to page numbers and not the wonderful open online indexes we have now.
The best part for me though?
Wizards is also working on the details of a second royalty-free license, the d20 Game System License (d20 GSL). This license will allow third-party publishers to create roleplaying game products in non-fantasy settings with the 4E rules.
Gimme my new d20 Modern!
The Stages of a RPG Team’s Development, Part 6: Stagnation
Somewhere between September and October of 2007, I wrote a series about comparing a RPG gaming group to a workplace project team.
The analogy was rather solid and I got a lot of good feedback on it.
Since then, I was pointed toward Kyle Aaron’s similar work over here.
There, he pointed out a key difference between the a project work team and a RPG group: The project group usually breaks off after the project is done. A RPG group, on the other hand, can continue for a long time if they are playing an open-ended and/or long term campaign.
That’s why he tackled another stage that’s specific to a RPG campaign.
Since I feel our group is currently going through that stage (at least partly), I decided to tackle this as a bonus post on the 4 (now 5) stages of a RPG group performance. [Read the rest of this article]
Heroes, Paragons, and Epics
In the run-up to Fourth Edition, WotC has promised that they will be doing updates and previews three times a week. (I promise we won’t post about every single one, just the interesting ones.)
Today’s update is a doozy: it’s all about the three tiers of play. It describes, generally, what you can do at each tier. It also provides the chart for how many powers you should have at each level. It also lists other guidelines for creating a character above 1st level, and I gotta say, it’s totally easy. As someone who has run a bunch of epic games in 3.x, this looks far, far better. My favorite part is:
Mundane equipment is much less important for higher level characters than it is when you’re starting out. Choose whatever standard adventuring gear you want from the tables in the Player’s Handbook. For magic items, choose one item of your level +1, one item of your level, and one item of your level –1. In addition, you have gold pieces equal to the value of one magic item of your level –1. You can spend this money on rituals, potions, or other magic items, or save it for later.
So basically, pick three appropriate magic items. Done. Is that easy or what?
The only other item of note, to me, was final confirmation that the 8 classes we’ve seen are it for PHB1. Not a big surprise, but it’s nice to have it nailed down.
Boardgame Reviews: Gathering of Friends 2008
I’m back (but not yet recovered) from the Gathering of Friends, the annual 10 day long boardgaming convention. This year, I mainly focused on playing prototypes, workshopping, and general hanging out. Thus, there wasn’t as much time to try all the new published games that have come out recently. Still, I had a list of “must plays” that hit the table, and so here’s what I thought of some of the recent releases that I did manage to play.
Agricola: The buzz over this one was huge a few months ago. Another in the “Economic Engine” style of game that has become so popular, about managing your farm and homestead. This one managed to grab me due to the wide variety of occupations (you can be a Master Baker… tee hee!) and special buildings that only you can build. It also features multiple decks that can be swapped in and out to greatly increase replayability. If you’re a fan of Caylus or Puerto Rico… well, this just may be better. If only it were a little bit shorter… [Read the rest of this article]
