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Old 08-09-2018, 11:24 PM   #51
Tom H.
 
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Default Re: DFRPG momentarily on Board Game Breakfast

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If he was in Austin, he'd be able to stop by SJGames. He's in Canada :)
Yes, that was a bit of a joke, but it never hurts to be welcoming.
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Old 08-09-2018, 11:46 PM   #52
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No longer . . . two players moved, one died, and one is soon to be divorced from me. I'm pretty much restarting my life from very little at the moment, and I don't see getting back to gaming happening in the near future.
That sounds rough, but I have inferred much from your posts for a while. I also find clues in how the "About the Author" changes for writers among the products I buy or preview. (I haven't been able to inspect one from PK in a while ;-))

It's hard to get a sense of perspective. Some people seem to be on top of the world, and then I find many others who struggle.

I can't recall how I found this blog, but I really enjoy the layout and tone:
Old Guy Gaming

However, I know more and more the author has been struggling with his diabetes and its complications.

To me gaming is about creating or recapturing good memories, but many things can get in the way.
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Old 08-10-2018, 12:18 AM   #53
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Default Re: DFRPG momentarily on Board Game Breakfast

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See this map for why that could be tough.
Bah. It's only 29 hours, put that default Driving skill to the test.

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I don't see getting back to gaming happening in the near future.
My sympathies.
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Old 08-10-2018, 07:56 AM   #54
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Default Re: DFRPG momentarily on Board Game Breakfast

This strays off-topic from the subject line, but I think it remains somewhat relevant because it explains the mood of the DFRPG's designer and perhaps the mood of the DFRPG.
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It's hard to get a sense of perspective. Some people seem to be on top of the world, and then I find many others who struggle.
It's often a choice. Since early 2016, in roughly chronological order:
  • I had a project at work that consumed all of my time and then went into extra innings, often on top of my regular workload.

  • While that was going on, my father was diagnosed with incurable cancer, and later died of it.

  • Owing to the previous, I had to travel home four times – mostly without warning and at full fare. Travel expenses and missed hours at work (I invoice hourly and have no paid leave) cost me an amount with four zeroes after it.

  • When I finally got back home for good, my immune system was shot. I fell ill with a virus and was off work for almost another month, losing further revenues.

  • Concurrent with the above, the dance studio where I was a student, then a barman and class accompanier, and finally a very junior teacher, went under. I lost a second home and my surrogate family, and the activity I pursue to stay sane was somewhat curtailed.

  • The stress of everything so far made it impossible for me to ignore cracks in my long-term relationship that I had previously been able to manage. I am now separated.

  • Dealing with all of the above meant paying a therapist, which was helpful but costly.

  • I received a minor injury this past winter that further limited my dancing. It's still with me, despite paying a fair sum to professionals to help me with that.

  • The separation went from "separate but cohabiting" to "I want you to move out right now!" without warning, so I had to divide bank accounts, find a place to live, switch over utilities, pack, move, equip a household, etc. in a few weeks, while still injured. That was very expensive and tiring.

  • That mess meant paying a mediator and a lawyer, which was helpful but very costly.

  • And now SJ Games is having a tough enough time that it has laid people off and cancelled its 'zine.
Now I could dwell on the fact that I'm stressed, injured, close to broke, and starting from next to zero, but I don't!

I love my new girlfriend. I love my friends. I love my new apartment, and the new neighborhood it's in. I love to dance, which I manage to do despite injury and the need to find new places to do it. I love to work on games, even if it's work.

So I choose to be happy, despite the struggles with grief, illness, fiscal woes, a schedule filled with deadlines and appointments, and other stressors. This is why the therapist is so helpful.

Which means that here and elsewhere, people see positivity from me. And because of that, they respond mostly positively, which reinforces my own positivity. I just hope that the DFRPG also comes across as fun and positive, not gloomy, dry, and negative.
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Old 08-10-2018, 09:38 AM   #55
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Default Re: DFRPG momentarily on Board Game Breakfast

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Which means that here and elsewhere, people see positivity from me. And because of that, they respond mostly positively, which reinforces my own positivity. I just hope that the DFRPG also comes across as fun and positive, not gloomy, dry, and negative.
It does.
I wish the economy was doing better in the states and that any improvement translated into more game sales.
As for your stuff personally, I feel for you but applaud the positive attitude. When things are bad I choose to remind myself they could always be worse and a lot of people do have it worse than I do.
That attitude also helps you as more people enjoy being around you and your wasting less energy on things you cant help.
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Old 08-10-2018, 10:23 AM   #56
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I wish the economy was doing better in the states and that any improvement translated into more game sales.
I've worked on games in good and bad economic times, and I've never seen evidence that the economy influences games sales much. My personal theory is that when times are tough, money is tighter but games offer entertainment people can afford, while when times are good, people have more money but spend less on games because they can afford more extravagant recreations. The effects cancel out, leading to a sort of homeostasis.

I attribute the sag in sales of rules-medium to -heavy tabletop RPGs of the traditional Rule Zero variety to a change in what the market wants. In the digital era, more and more people play games that (1) leave rules to computers, (2) have cool graphics, and (3) allow them to game online, which makes a much larger community of potential gamers available. This doesn't necessarily pull people away from tabletop games, but it does slant interest toward games with fewer rules and better visuals, and that support more-casual play.

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As for your stuff personally, I feel for you but applaud the positive attitude.
Thank you.

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When things are bad I choose to remind myself they could always be worse and a lot of people do have it worse than I do.
That attitude also helps you as more people enjoy being around you and your wasting less energy on things you cant help.
Yep. I needed therapy to figure that out, but now that I'm aware of it, I give thanks for the positive, try not to dwell on the negative, march toward the future, and do my best to help friends and acquaintances do the same.
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Old 08-10-2018, 12:12 PM   #57
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I just hope that the DFRPG also comes across as fun and positive, not gloomy, dry, and negative.
It does. And in my opinion an improvement over DF (which also wasn't ever gloomy or dry or negative, but at times has a 'silly, kitchen sink D&D' feel, which isn't my cuppa).
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Old 08-10-2018, 01:39 PM   #58
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Which means that here and elsewhere, people see positivity from me. And because of that, they respond mostly positively, which reinforces my own positivity. I just hope that the DFRPG also comes across as fun and positive, not gloomy, dry, and negative.
Your positivity is infectious on these forums. One of the major perks of GURPS and DFRPG is having such transparent access to the authors and editors on these forums.

As far as the tone of the product goes, you nailed it with DFRPG. At every session with my adult group, I introduce a few new rules that either apply to the beginning of the upcoming session or that clarify situations that we encountered in the previous session. I usually read the text aloud because it is crystal clear, flavorful, and funny. Last time we had a running gag about "killer bunnies and man-eating shrubs" anytime anyone attempted a foraging roll (Exploits, p. 18).

I am personally hoping that another print run happens some day. PDFs are great, but I have a much harder time selling a game to new people when there's no physical product to show off. Last year, a number of my student gamers (at least three that I know of) convinced their parents to take them to our FLGS to buy them copies, including the GM screen. It's much harder to introduce a game to young people with PDFs. As it is, I'm hoping to convince my principal that we should buy a few more endangered boxed sets for this year's activity program.
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Old 08-10-2018, 03:27 PM   #59
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Default Re: DFRPG momentarily on Board Game Breakfast

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My personal theory is that when times are tough, money is tighter but games offer entertainment people can afford, while when times are good, people have more money but spend less on games because they can afford more extravagant recreations.
My spin on it is that ironically when times are tough people may have more free time being unemployed. (And, as you suggested, the cost of a game can pale in comparison to the cost of housing.) When times are good, people may be even too busy to consider much gaming.

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I just hope that the DFRPG also comes across as fun and positive, not gloomy, dry, and negative.
One thing that is refreshing about your writing is its sometimes casual and candid tone. You definitely take more risks with humor, asides, and the PC police than would be allowed by a large, monolithic corporate entity.

In fact, I have been also reading the Genesys Roleplaying Game from Fantasy Flight Games. It's a pretty tight, abstract system, but the writing can be dreadfully formal. Everything must be a complete sentence with the obligatory introductions and transitions.

(I was just realizing that a lot of text is lifted and transferred right from their Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG even after the four plus years between products.)

Almost at the other end of the spectrum is Douglas Cole's writing in his recent Dragon Heresy RPG. It gets right to the point and rules and doesn't mess much around with pleasantries and nebulous flavor.


Well, best of luck to you Kromm. From your posts, you've definitely had a lot to contend with, and I hope that everything works out.

Last edited by Tom H.; 08-10-2018 at 03:49 PM. Reason: punctuation
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Old 08-10-2018, 03:47 PM   #60
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It does. And in my opinion an improvement over DF (which also wasn't ever gloomy or dry or negative, but at times has a 'silly, kitchen sink D&D' feel, which isn't my cuppa).
I hear ya. I'm especially glad that they have toned down the "knock down doors, kill monsters, and take their stuff" from the ad copy marketing. It makes it a lot easier to sell to prospective new players, IMO.
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