geneome
Just a guy, drifting.
Social Networking
Jul 29th
The act of using social networking sites, for the express purpose of seeing what others are doing in their personal lives, does not appeal to me. I am quite alone in this thinking. However, there is what could rightly be called “social networking” sites that are used for more focused purposes. This type of site I do use, specifically a WotC (Wizards of the Coast) Community site. I use it so much that I post things there more often than I do on geneome.com. I was trying to think why I do that, and I determined it was because 1) the things I post on the WotC site I don’t consider of any real importance AND 2) what I post on the WotC site people actually want to read. The site, after all, is focused on a very specific line of games from WotC and if you’re on the site you’re looking for that kind of content. Not coincidentally, these same reasons might be given for using a bone fide social network like Facebook.
I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve fallen into the social networking trap. Am I one step away from telling the world on Facebook what I’m doing any given day? Am I on the verge of commenting on photos of people I haven’t thought of in decades? Social networking in any form is a slippery slope to playing Farmville all day. So in order to bolster my commitment to my own site I think I’ll start posting in both places, the WotC site for the social user’s benefit, and on geneome.com for my own.
Returning To The Blasted World
Jun 10th
On June 9th, 2010 I once again walked on Athas by going to the first game of season 2 of D&D Encounters entitled Dark Sun: Fury of the Wastewalker. I’ve never been that interested in gaming at these events, preferring the company of a well established group, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to play Dark Sun before the August release.
The Encounters concept is a good one and conducive to how I like to play: very structured story, short game once a week, game is on rain or shine, and an ample supply of people wanting to play. Of course, the main reason I liked it was because it was set in Dark Sun, so I’m uncertain if I will continue after the 15 week season unless there are more Dark Sun adventures available. The way Encounters is set up allows for people to be able to miss games and not be out of the loop, which is good because it’s hard to imagine being available for all 15 sessions. I also got a DCI number (formerly the RPGA number) so I can feel extra cool/foolish. I say foolish because it is a strange concept to me that playing an rpg needs an organizational structure that warrants numeric identification.
I started playing D&D again specifically because of Dark Sun being announced as a 4E campaign setting. It is my hope that these Dark Sun Encounter sessions will be an nice bridge until the main campaign setting comes, allowing players to get into the setting and bettering the chances of a regular Dark Sun group being established.
Memorabelia
May 23rd
Every D&D player from the 80′s remembers the red box, but does anyone remember what came in it? Books, dice, and a white crayon to fill in the numbers of the dice with. More >
Dark Sun 2E Resources
May 23rd
Some might recall that in the early 2000′s WotC allowed free and for-money downloads of previous Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition (2E) products. I saw all the books I used to desire so greatly. Ready. Waiting. Since 3E was the version at the time, they really didn’t have much value, but one might say it came down to the principle of the matter. That is, I wanted them so badly before, I could now satisfy that latent avarice with one fell swoop of a credit card. And swoop fell-ly I did, obtaining all manner of books in pdf form for extremely low prices (I believe it was 5 dollars or less a piece). More >
Podcasting!
Mar 11th
I oft post about the podcasts I’ve been doing with Andrew and Jonathan on cgRoundUp, but we’ve done some really good ones lately and I thought it was time to put up a “featured” post. It’s nice to be able to talk about the subject you are really into with guys who are just as into it. It’s interesting how lonely CG can be when you’re a lone freelancer or hobbyist. Yeah, you can post on forums all you want, but to really enjoy a discussion talking live with people can’t be beat, especially when they are people worth talking to. I like how the podcasts are keeping me tied to CG even though I’m not really in the thick of things right now.
WotC Community Page