Closed for audit purposes…
I’m hosting a pair of scientists for a quality audit of my lab on Wednesday and Thursday (I’m a Quality Officer in a Genomics service lab). I’m more or less focused on this so I have little creative juices for this here blog.
But never fear dear reader, let’s see what excellent stuff I browsed lately that might be of interest to you.
Lawful Stupids vs Chaotic Jerks
Vanir of StupidRanger.com talks very passionately about the D&D alignment system. While I do not currently share his apprehensions on the subject, he makes excellent points on the ‘Always and Never’ that some players use to rationalize their, often stupid, actions. The discussions in the comments is very interesting. See this Trope, also very ‘à propos’.
Your inner Halfing
Have you tried Yax’ Inner Character quiz yet? Apparently I’m a Lawful Good Hafling Rogue (told you I was crazy!)
Save or Die, but read this 1st!
Have a look at Greywulf’s new RPG Ezine. It’s called Save or Die and it’s worth the read. I enjoy his House rules and I have already stolen a few. Greywulf has a great way with words, graphics and Photography. A man of many talents it seems.
Harrassed Webartist
Finally, it seems that Shamus of Twenty Sided has hit some very heavy controversy already with his new webcomics Chainmail Bikini. In the last few strips, a male character groped a female character (both played by guys). This has exploded on both the comics’ forum and on Shamus’ blog.
I’m in the ‘you guys need to take a chill pill’ camp. The act of rape is totally unacceptable period. Talking about such a strong subject and tackling it with humour is okay in my book, and legal last time I checked our respective constitutions.
Immature/objectionable sexually-themed issues have been seen in most if not all Role Playing games table. Just look at these examples:
- The Farador Skit
- Jeff Rient’s Tale from the Dorkside
- Martin’s All holes filled with Harn post (in theory this was consensual with all players)
I believe It’s a function of having mostly male players with varying degrees of issues to work out about the opposite sex (we all have them). I think that if this happens in your group to a level that causes discomfort or worse in some of the players, there’s some serious Storming issues going on that should be addressed really fast. Talk openly about it with the DM or players if it affects you, and leave the group if no compromise can be reached.
Shamus took quite a risk in tackling this so early in a very scrutinized strip. But it needed to be approached. Pity the debate became so crystallized so fast. Go Shamus!
On a lighter subject
This is such a stupid game, totally unrelated to RPGs but I somewhat keep playing it…
Oh well, I guess the juice does come out when the fruit is pressed…. See you on on Thusrday night!
New Milestone!!!
Image Source: Mille Bornes! (What? You never played that game???)
This here blog thingnie hit the 100 unique visitor’s in a day mark for the 1st time yesterday at midnight.
And that was before Martin’s shout-out this morning (Thanks so much, it means a lot to me)!
I might as well spend a few lines to talk about where I want to go from here.
I wrote an insane number of posts in September and I know I won’t be able to keep up. Heck I don’t know if you, dear readers, can keep up!
I’d love to keep at least a 1 post a day schedule and would maybe take one day off on Wednesdays which is, so far, the lowest point of the week traffic-wise. (My lab is being audited tomorrow, don’t expect anything since I’m the lab’s quality guy).
I plan on concluding the 4-stages series this week or the next. I’d also like to re-edit them and create a PDF for it as I have already had 1 indication of interest. I could host it on the GM Google group I created or have a nice soul host it for me on a GM-site like Treasure Table or Dungeonmastering.
I’ll continue the Adventure Preps, DM Logs and RPG Tropes series because I’m having a blast writing those. Also, now that Yan has tasted the joys of Feedback, I’m confident I can count on him to continue writing the players logs. (You really rock man. I knew you could do it!)
I’d also like to tackle another series project after the 4-stages thing. I’d like to discuss the concepts of awesome DMing and playing practices side by side with those of Emotional Intelligence. I feel there is a gold mine to explore there also. All in the lighthearted but-not-dumbed-down approach I hope I have been able to achieve.
I’m also having a ball jumping between the Fluff and Crunch subjects (and I see I’m not alone also) but I don’t see those as features or series yet. Expect more!
I keep doing this because I have been receiving absolutely phenomenal feedback from you and the rising numbers of readers who don’t necessarily drop comments seems to indicate that I’m doing okay so far. Feel free to suggest subjects or issues to tackle. I’ll try to rise to the challenge!
Thanks again!
Has it been 2 months already?
Image Source: Old-translated-to-French Manga called Mini-Fée.
Yax and the Stupid Ranger crew (Stupid Ranger,Vanir and Dante) celebrated their 2 months on the blogosphere earlier this month and it made me realize that I started at about the same time. Woot, 2 months, 60-some posts (I ain’t called Chatty for nothing!) , 2000 total page views (since Sept 12th) and clicks from 32 countries! This little side-project to wean me off World of Warcraft and improve my DMing skills has been 100 times more successful than I ever imagined!
So that makes our three blogs the ‘Enfants Terribles‘ of RPG-themed blogs with a DMing slant. (The Stupid Ranger herself is the exception as she bravely tells it from the player’s side, a good sounding stage for all DMs around). I really feel part of a shared community with them around. That’s why I wish to thank them all for the support and help. A special Thanks to Yax who linked me on one of his Monday Morning Speed linking and provided multiple suggestions to help me get better at this.
Speaking of links, I also wish to thank the Evil DM (Best Motivational posters and Babes!) and Dr. Rotwang (Best darn Blog title ever) for the early shout outs.
Another round of thanks to the bloggers who added me to their blog rolls or linked to my somewhat wordy musings and sometimes overly-crunchy posts this month(in no particular order):
- Dave and Danny from Critical Hits (Go Ninjas!)
- Jeff from Jeff’s Gameblog
- Jonathan from Jonathan Drain’s d20 Source
- Greywulf from Greywulf’s lair
- Ronin from Ronin’s Fortress
- Becky from Imaginary Dilemmas
- Mike from Hackslash
- Derek from Deck of Many Cards
A few very personal thanks to my players who drop in from time to time:
- Yan: Thanks for the help and constant feedback.
- Eric: My favorite Butt-kicking Method Actor!
- Franky: Our Role-playing political bug
- Steph: Our calm Story-telling Casual player.
- Math: Our Supercool overworked buddy and longest time player.
Finally a thanks to all the readers and those who make the extra effort of dropping a comment: Noah, Fang, Doug M., Seth, Tom (Gospog), Chris, Bruce and Mythusmage.
So what’s next?
I already have a few things ongoing. The Trope in RPGs, The DM logs (shorter, without the story), Adventure preps, Yan’s player logs (He’ll handle the story), the 4 stages thing, Online tools, etc. I don’t have a schedule yet and I usually manage 1 post per day (more on slow days). I plan on keeping at it as long as I can.
I know I can get wordy so I’ll try to cut on the word count to increase readability (or break posts and spread them over a period of time). I also often do the Lucas thing and go back to edit older posts, that’s how I try to improve my editing skills. (I will probably re-write the Forming post this weekend as it’s quite a mess)
I would also love to get a custom header for this blog. If you guys are or know any graphic artists, send them my email. I’d like to discuss with them how much it would cost to have my very own header and little picture thing for my post pictures. I’m willing to pay a fair price, provided fair is within my means.
Thanks again one and all! I’ll come back to this at the 6th month point, if I make it there. As usual, I’m open to suggestions in the comments or at phil (dot)A(dot)menard(at)gmail(dot)com.
Obligatory Blog Social Meme: Four on the Floor
Wow, a few days shy of my 2nd month doing this Bloggy buisness and I’ve already been tagged by The Stupid Ranger for a thing called a Meme. Now having read both of Brin’s uplift Trilogies I know that a Meme is a lifeform made out of ideas!!!! So I am basically being infected!
Never being one to miss an occasion to yap about something, I’ll tackle this before breakfast! (As usual, when I do one of these things, I’ll try to add a more gaming related post later today…)
Four jobs I have had in my life (not including my current job):
- High School Teacher
- Environmental Microbiologist
- Pharmaceutical GMP Compliance Supervisor
- Project Manager, International Pharmaceutical Product Launch (that one nearly killed me)
Four Films I have watched again and again:
- The 1st Matrix movie
- Amelie
- Any Pixar Movies (with our without my kids)
- Run Lola Run
Four places I have lived:
- Montreal
- Chibougamau (Amerindian for ‘the pavement stops here’)
- In a church’s Presbitary (cheapest rent ever!)
- Here! (I’m in the red house!)
Four Programs I love to watch:
- Battlestar Galactica
- Avatar The Last Airbender
- Robot Wars
- Scrubs
Four Places I have been on vacation:
- Club Med, Florida
- Nicaragua
- Paris (Work + extra me time)
- Madrid (Work + extra me time)
Four of my favorite foods:
- Lasagna – Family Recipe
- Club Sandwich (Chicken, Bacon, Tomato, lettuce)
- Lebanese food
- Sushi
Four favorite drinks:
- Diet Coke
- Red Wine
- Beer
- Single Malt Scotch
Four places I would rather be right now:
- Playing D&D
- Home with my family
- Playing D&D
- Work, actually.
Four People I Tag (unless you’ve already done this… then you don’t have to):
- Dave and Danny of Critical Hits
- Greywulf from Greywulf’s Lair
- Becky from Imaginary Dilemmas
- Ronin from Ronin’s Forteress
I’ll also tag you all readers without a blog. Leave the answers in the comment. This is more fun than chain letters or Viral songs. (Click at your own risk)
Where you guys come from…
I’m going to commit a little blogging sin and go meta-blogging here. I’ll make it up with a Gaming Post today, honest!
Yesterday I was looking at where people link from to get here and the planet is indeed a small place. (I took out the ones that stayed less than 1 minute, those were probably bots or ‘oops wrong site’ clicks)
Country (Visits)
1. United States (60 )
2. Canada (41) Mostly me and my pals
3. Australia (3) So cool!
4. Germany (3) Bought MTG cards in Hamburg once
5. India (3) I’d love to see an Indian-themed RPG
6. Sweden (2) Cold like Canada, Hot looking girls!
8. Vietnam (1) Just wow!
Here’s a State-by State breakdown for my American visitors
State (Visits)
1. Virginia (8)
2. Texas (8) Hey y’all!
3. California (7) Yax? Still in LA?
4. Massachussets (5)
5. Maryland (4) The Guys from Critical-Hits?
6. Indiana (4)
7. New York (3)
8. Missouri (1)
There you are. It’s nice to see people coming from so many places! I love this Interweb thingnie…
Is there such a thing as too much cool?
Image Source: The Brothers Brick Blog
My friends Dave and Danny over at Critical-Hits posted this over on their side.
This makes me ask myself: Is there such a thing as too much cool?
My rational side is a bit repulsed by the sheer cheesiness of the video. But my primitive, emotional brain purrs overtime just thinking about it.
I guess it’s what the Rule of Cool is all about.
What say you?
The Rule of the modern Blog
I’ve been reading blogs for about 2 years if you count Webcomics newsposts. I’ve also read that a lot of people got in trouble because of their own blogs (Lost thier jobs usually). I would love to find the links but I’m lazy and I don’t want to spend that much time on this. So in the spirit of all future Bloggers (like there are any reading this, ha ha) I give you
The Moron-Proof Golden Rule of Blogging
- Write your Blog by assuming your Boss, your wife/gf/mom and your worst enemy will read it.
I’m trying to think of other rules but that one pretty much clinches it all (feel free to add more). Actually the rule applies to corporate e-mails too. I should know, I had an unfortunate, well deserved experience with job e-mails. I’ve learned since then 
Cheers.
Blogging or bugging my friends?
I’ve been thinking for a long time about starting a Blog, I got an account at Live Journal (Unfinished 1st Post) and another one at Microsoft (3 Posts, hate the interface).
Since I have recently gone completely Googlely, I decided I might as well give Blogger a shot.
Anyway, I think I have always been blogging ever since I was given a email account. The only difference is that my readers (read: my D&D player’s mailboxes) were more or less captive of my musings. I think out of respect for them I should move away from that form of expression and do it on a Bona Fide blog. Of course, I can’t expect to have as many readers…. lol.
