I think I’ve hit on my primary stumbling block in this game: I have no idea where I am, who anybody’s talking about, what’s happening, why it’s happening, or how I go about fixing it. In this exciting chapter of Ruts vs. Battlespire, nearly one of these mysteries will be revealed.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Ruts vs. Battlespire CH7: A Wizard Hid It”
In the decade or so I’ve been doing this whole quasi-videogame journalistI’m actually not a journalist. I’m either a pundit or a critic. But these days everyone who writes about games gets called a “journalist”. thing, I’ve seen my share of pointless arguments that stem from simple misunderstandings. Again and again I see the same points, and counter-points, and counter-counter points, until I feel like I could jump into a random forum somewhere and single-handedly write both sides of a 50-person flame war.
This can be really irritating.
So in the interest of having one fewer endlessly looping debate in the mix, let’s try to put this one to rest:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “This Dumb industry: This Game is Too Videogame-y”
It doesn’t sound like it at first, but Mumbles is actually on the show this week. Also, thanks for the mailbag questions. As always, the email is somewhere in the header image.
Hosts: Josh, Rutskarn, Shamus, Campster, Mumbles.
Episode edited by Issac.
Show notes: Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Diecast #151: The Hugos, Fallout Mods, Mailbag”
It has come to this. I am about to work for the post office. This is after their incompetence led to the destruction of an entire city and the death of Dirk Mudbrick. (That’s how I see it, anyway.) Then I took a bunch of mail and threw it away. In front of the postmaster. Multiple times. While maintaining eye contact. And humming.
The upshot being, I do not have a warm relationship with the Shire Post. But if I want fancy dresses and expensive dye, then I need money. And if I want money I need a job. And this is the best job around.
Which is a shame, because this is a terrible job.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Lord of the Rings Online #10: Gold Farming”
Last week I explained the basic principle of GMing: above all else, and whenever possible, give your players something to do. Give them problems to solve, environments to explore, and opportunities to show off their character’s strengths and quirks and you’re well on your way to running an entertaining session.
Today I’m going to explain something that I think is nearly as important. It’s an idea I’ve never seen or heard comprehensively explained before, and call me paranoid, but I think there’s a reason for that. I think even such GMs as have figured out how to put this idea into words leave each other to figure it out on their own. I think there’s a fear, and a not entirely unreasonable one, that some secrets shouldn’t be given legs–some illusions should be protected at all costs. If that means failing to write down or explain some of the practices that contribute to those illusions, then that’s the price they pay.
I don’t really buy that, and this isn’t just any GMing trick–when you get right down to it, it’s the heart of your role as storyteller. I’m going to take the time to explain as completely as possible the artistic theory of GMing.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Rutskarn’s GMinars CH2: You Are the Illusionist”
People that follow me know that I am firm in my enforcement of the “no politics or religion” policy here on the site. I don’t talk about it, and I don’t allow the comment section to veer into politics. While I’ve offered a few reasons in the past, and I imagine most people intuit the reasons for it, I think it would be useful to have all of the rationale in one post.
From here on, when I say “politics” I mean “politics and / or religion”, since the two are often linked or occupy similar head-space.
There are many good reasons for the ban on politics:
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “The No Politics Rule”
Link (YouTube) |
So Simon makes a copy of himself. Only instead of seeing the copy as the Best Ally Ever, he gets mad and calls Catherine “disgusting”. I think most people feel Simon is being a dunce here.
But there is an interesting dilemma. Simon is upset about the fact that a copy exists, which (at least in this context) I don’t think is a problemIf you’ve got a spouse, kids, and a social life, this becomes more complex.. But what I do see as a problem is that he’s made a doomed copy. There’s only one copy of Catherine. And Old Simon can’t follow New Simon into the trench, which leaves Old Simon here, alone, trapped in this single room with an unstoppable monster banging on the door.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “SOMA EP14: DOOMed”
Here is a 13 part series where I talk about programming games, programming languages, and programming problems.
We were so upset by the server problems and real money auction that we overlooked just how terrible everything else is.
A novel-sized analysis of the Mass Effect series that explains where it all went wrong. Spoiler: It was long before the ending.
What lessons can we learn from the abrupt demise of this once-impressive games studio?
His problem isn't that he's dumb, the problem is that he bends the world he inhabits.
Is it real? Is PC gaming returning to its former glory? Sort of. It's complicated.
There are two major schools of thought about how you should write software. Here's what they are and why people argue about it.
Two minutes of fun at the expense of a badly-run theme park.
Small changes to the animations can have a huge impact on how the audience interprets a scene.
Sometimes in-game secrets are fun and sometimes they're lame. Here's why.
T w e n t y S i d e d
