To all reading this, happy new year. Let's hope 2009 goes a bit more smoothly than 2008.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Companies that have done right by me, part 5.
Games Plus: I suppose this should be "businesses that have done right by me, part 1." because I don't think this privately-owned brick & mortar game store is technically a company, but for the purposes of this blog post, we'll keep 'em in the series.
Games plus is my go-to place for physical RPG product. They're located in Mount Prospect, IL, right by the train tracks, which is an awesome place for them to be, because the trek out there takes me an hour, and I'd rather be on a train than grumbling in traffic, particularly on the return trip when I have new gaming stuff to look over. They are almost ridiculously well-stocked. When I was playing GURPS, they had it. When I was playing d20, they had it. When I got interested in indie RPGs, they had it about half the time, which is more than can be said for any other physical game store in the region (and by "region," I mean something like a 100-mile radius.) If they don't have it, they can usually get it. If they can't get it, they're almost comically sorry about it. The staff is friendly and professional. You can stand around and talk gaming with them, but they can also just get you rung up and on your way when you have a train to catch. And they know their stuff. You can walk in and ask for something fairly obscure, and chances are, they'll know it. If you ask for something really obscure, they'll know where to look. Like most physical game stores, they don't discount, but they do have a nice frequent-buyer program. I like them so much, that I favor them over a much more convenient game store that is about half as far from me. If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.
Games plus is my go-to place for physical RPG product. They're located in Mount Prospect, IL, right by the train tracks, which is an awesome place for them to be, because the trek out there takes me an hour, and I'd rather be on a train than grumbling in traffic, particularly on the return trip when I have new gaming stuff to look over. They are almost ridiculously well-stocked. When I was playing GURPS, they had it. When I was playing d20, they had it. When I got interested in indie RPGs, they had it about half the time, which is more than can be said for any other physical game store in the region (and by "region," I mean something like a 100-mile radius.) If they don't have it, they can usually get it. If they can't get it, they're almost comically sorry about it. The staff is friendly and professional. You can stand around and talk gaming with them, but they can also just get you rung up and on your way when you have a train to catch. And they know their stuff. You can walk in and ask for something fairly obscure, and chances are, they'll know it. If you ask for something really obscure, they'll know where to look. Like most physical game stores, they don't discount, but they do have a nice frequent-buyer program. I like them so much, that I favor them over a much more convenient game store that is about half as far from me. If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.
Companies that have done right by me, part 4.
Noble Knight Games: Noble Knight is my primary online source for actual, physical gaming materials, and they're a joy to deal with. Because of their close proximity to where I live, I've been able to drive up with a bunch of trade-in stuff and peruse their stock directly from the warehouse. Their prices are fair, their staff is courteous and friendly, and when you do have them ship something, they take pains to insure it arrives intact. The last package I got from them sat in a couple of inches of melting snow in the bottom of my mailbox for several hours due to a combination of bad luck and bad weather, but once I got through the outer two layers of packaging, I was relieved to discover my books were bone dry.Any communications with the company via email goes straight to the owner, who is a very courteous and helpful man. Oh, and they have almost everything you can think of, including a lot of out-of-print product. Noble Knight will continue to have my business for many years to come.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Companies that have done right by me, part 3.
Country Companies: Even by the standards of the other companies I've mentioned, my car insurance company, Country Companies, has done right by me and my wife. To an almost absurd degree, in fact. Certainly more than we would have expected them to on at least one occasion. They have gone to bat for us on a couple of occasions, have given us back our full deductible when the insurance company of an at-fault driver wouldn't, and have just generally been a pleasure to deal with. They are a fantastic insurance company, and I would recommend them without reservation to anybody with a car.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Companies that have done right by me, part 2.
T-Mobile: T-Mobile has been my cellphone provider for the last couple of years. Over that time I have had... ...no problems with them.
Take that in for a second - no problems with a cellphone carrier. My calls get through. When they're dropped (an exceedingly rare occurrence) the phone beeps to let you know the call's been terminated and you can get them right back. Good network coverage, good reception, very reasonable prices, and, oh yeah, their customer service, both face-to-face at their retail locations and over the phone has been superb. When our contract was nearing the end of its life, my wife & I did some comparison shopping, nearly did a spit-take at what the other companies wanted to charge us for a worse plan, and gleefully re-upped for two years. They're not all full of the latest tech and gizmos, but if you want a good, reasonably-priced cell phone, I'd suggest checking out T-Mobile.
Take that in for a second - no problems with a cellphone carrier. My calls get through. When they're dropped (an exceedingly rare occurrence) the phone beeps to let you know the call's been terminated and you can get them right back. Good network coverage, good reception, very reasonable prices, and, oh yeah, their customer service, both face-to-face at their retail locations and over the phone has been superb. When our contract was nearing the end of its life, my wife & I did some comparison shopping, nearly did a spit-take at what the other companies wanted to charge us for a worse plan, and gleefully re-upped for two years. They're not all full of the latest tech and gizmos, but if you want a good, reasonably-priced cell phone, I'd suggest checking out T-Mobile.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Companies that have done right by me, Part 1
With the economy being what it is these day, I figured I'd give some positive publicity to a few companies that I feel deserve it. This will be a series.
Barnes & Noble: Barnes & Noble is my employer, and has been for the last 7+ years. I started out as a part-timer to make some money while going to school and am now in charge of the receiving department of the store I work for. During that time, the company has treated me quite well. I have almost ridiculously good benefits, a fair wage for the retail industry, and a corporate structure above me that, for all the grumbling we on the front lines do about it, really does have its collective head screwed on straight. Knowing what I do about what goes on behind the scenes would actually make me feel more secure as a customer. B&N truly puts its money where its mouth is.
Barnes & Noble: Barnes & Noble is my employer, and has been for the last 7+ years. I started out as a part-timer to make some money while going to school and am now in charge of the receiving department of the store I work for. During that time, the company has treated me quite well. I have almost ridiculously good benefits, a fair wage for the retail industry, and a corporate structure above me that, for all the grumbling we on the front lines do about it, really does have its collective head screwed on straight. Knowing what I do about what goes on behind the scenes would actually make me feel more secure as a customer. B&N truly puts its money where its mouth is.
Traditional RPGs to Indie RPGs in less than a years' time.
Have a seat, dear readers. I've got a tale to tell. Quick note: none of the links in this post are ads; I've provided links to the various stuff of interest as it comes up in case you want to check it out.
This January, if you'd asked me to name an indie RPG company or designer, I would have given you a blank stare. (I would have Stood and Drooled, as it were.) If asked to name game designers I admired the work of (even by reputation), I would have gone to Monte Cook, Jason Buhlman, Steve Jackson, David Pulver, and Sean Punch, rather than Luke Crane, Judd Karlman, Fred Hicks, Ron Edwards, and Vincent Baker.
What I did know was that the evil Wizards of the Coast had "updated" the perfectly good D&D3.5 to 4e, and I wasn't going along with it. I already had a massive (MASSIVE) d20 library, you see, and the new rules weren't backwards-compatible. But Paizo Publishing was doing a continuation of the 3.5 rule set, and releasing their own, upgraded, but still backwards-compatible version. I immediately glommed onto this and became an avid poster on Paizo's forums. There, I ran across a couple of links to podcasts that various Paizo employees and freelancers were on. Then an adventure writer of theirs, Nick Logue, spun off his own game studio called Sinister Adventures. As part of the new website, there was a podcast about the new company's products. "Cool," I thought. "I'll listen to this at work." (My job is solitary; I'm the receiving manager for a Barnes and Noble store. Due to the size of the store, I'm essentially a one-man department.) In the podcast, Goblin was mentioned. I headed over there and listened to their one episode of the Goblin Podcast and everybody mentioned the Sons of Kryos. After going through "Suns of Crios" and about 50 other variations, I found them and voraciously listened to their entire backlog of podcasts in about 3 weeks' time (I can chew through 30+ hours of podcast material per week at work alone, and that doesn't count commuting and listening at home on the weekend.). I then ran out of SoK episodes and proceeded to make a pest of myself on their forums, chomping at the bit with other fans of the show for the new episodes. When they announced they'd be switching to videocast format, I branched out a bit, finding Canon Puncture, Narrative Control, This Modern Death, The GM Gourmet, The Independent Insurgency, and the occasional episode of Voice of the Revolution or Have Games, Will Travel to be, if not a replacement, at least a good substitute for SoK.
All of these podcasts are very into indie RPGs. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me. I purchased a copy of Don't Rest you Head in PDF form from Indie Press Revolution. I picked up a copy of Burning Wheel at my Friendly-but-sadly-not-so-Local-Game-Store. I sat on that copy of Burning Wheel for a while. Flipped through it a few times, then decided to really get down to brass tacks and read the thing. That did it.
At this point, I'm officially a goner. The indie gaming scene has made a convert out of me. Now I just need to get some more gamers to play the stuff with.
To any gamers that haven't given the indie gaming scene a look, have a gander at the podcasts I mentioned, particularly Sons of Kryos and Canon Puncture. It's neat stuff.
This January, if you'd asked me to name an indie RPG company or designer, I would have given you a blank stare. (I would have Stood and Drooled, as it were.) If asked to name game designers I admired the work of (even by reputation), I would have gone to Monte Cook, Jason Buhlman, Steve Jackson, David Pulver, and Sean Punch, rather than Luke Crane, Judd Karlman, Fred Hicks, Ron Edwards, and Vincent Baker.
What I did know was that the evil Wizards of the Coast had "updated" the perfectly good D&D3.5 to 4e, and I wasn't going along with it. I already had a massive (MASSIVE) d20 library, you see, and the new rules weren't backwards-compatible. But Paizo Publishing was doing a continuation of the 3.5 rule set, and releasing their own, upgraded, but still backwards-compatible version. I immediately glommed onto this and became an avid poster on Paizo's forums. There, I ran across a couple of links to podcasts that various Paizo employees and freelancers were on. Then an adventure writer of theirs, Nick Logue, spun off his own game studio called Sinister Adventures. As part of the new website, there was a podcast about the new company's products. "Cool," I thought. "I'll listen to this at work." (My job is solitary; I'm the receiving manager for a Barnes and Noble store. Due to the size of the store, I'm essentially a one-man department.) In the podcast, Goblin was mentioned. I headed over there and listened to their one episode of the Goblin Podcast and everybody mentioned the Sons of Kryos. After going through "Suns of Crios" and about 50 other variations, I found them and voraciously listened to their entire backlog of podcasts in about 3 weeks' time (I can chew through 30+ hours of podcast material per week at work alone, and that doesn't count commuting and listening at home on the weekend.). I then ran out of SoK episodes and proceeded to make a pest of myself on their forums, chomping at the bit with other fans of the show for the new episodes. When they announced they'd be switching to videocast format, I branched out a bit, finding Canon Puncture, Narrative Control, This Modern Death, The GM Gourmet, The Independent Insurgency, and the occasional episode of Voice of the Revolution or Have Games, Will Travel to be, if not a replacement, at least a good substitute for SoK.
All of these podcasts are very into indie RPGs. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me. I purchased a copy of Don't Rest you Head in PDF form from Indie Press Revolution. I picked up a copy of Burning Wheel at my Friendly-but-sadly-not-so-Local-Game-Store. I sat on that copy of Burning Wheel for a while. Flipped through it a few times, then decided to really get down to brass tacks and read the thing. That did it.
At this point, I'm officially a goner. The indie gaming scene has made a convert out of me. Now I just need to get some more gamers to play the stuff with.
To any gamers that haven't given the indie gaming scene a look, have a gander at the podcasts I mentioned, particularly Sons of Kryos and Canon Puncture. It's neat stuff.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Greatness wears camouflage
"Vice Stirs up a war, virtue fights." -Luc de Clapiers de Vauvenargues
"If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed." -Lt.Col. Dave Grossman
I had an encounter with the mother of a former high school classmate today. I've talked with her (the mother) on a number of occasions; apparently her daughter and I have very similar taste in reading material (fantasy novels) and the mother would ask me for recommendations to send over to the daughter in Iraq when she was deployed. Anyhow, I found out today that the daughter is now one of the pilots that flies Marine One on occasion. Even though I haven't seen the daughter in over a decade, and was an acquaintance at best when I was going to school with her, I'm proud of her. That's quite an achievement.
She's hardly the only impressive person I know in the military. In fact, there are several people who I am connected to only by degrees of separation that I am also impressed by. And so, to any of you who have served, no matter how long ago: thank you. It's not Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, or Independence Day, and it's not the anniversary of Pearl Harbor or 9/11, but at least one American citizen had a small, quiet moment, and feels very humbled by all that you've done for us.
"If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed." -Lt.Col. Dave Grossman
I had an encounter with the mother of a former high school classmate today. I've talked with her (the mother) on a number of occasions; apparently her daughter and I have very similar taste in reading material (fantasy novels) and the mother would ask me for recommendations to send over to the daughter in Iraq when she was deployed. Anyhow, I found out today that the daughter is now one of the pilots that flies Marine One on occasion. Even though I haven't seen the daughter in over a decade, and was an acquaintance at best when I was going to school with her, I'm proud of her. That's quite an achievement.
She's hardly the only impressive person I know in the military. In fact, there are several people who I am connected to only by degrees of separation that I am also impressed by. And so, to any of you who have served, no matter how long ago: thank you. It's not Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, or Independence Day, and it's not the anniversary of Pearl Harbor or 9/11, but at least one American citizen had a small, quiet moment, and feels very humbled by all that you've done for us.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Elliot Ness? Try Patrick Fitzgerald.
In my previous post, I expressed my delight over the snaring of Illinois gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, but I didn't give any credit to the man who took him down. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is probably one of the most impressive lawmen in U.S. history. He's been pounding corrupt Illinois politicians into the slammer for years now; including Betty Lauren-Maltese and George Ryan. He's utterly intractable, and it looks like he's nabbed the biggest corruption fish of all time with Blago. So Kudos, Mr. Fitzgerald. It's nice to see the law's still got some teeth in it, and that you're not afraid to use them to bite the bad guys.
Now this, THIS is awesome!
From the moment I woke up, the indicators were pointing to a rough day. I slept poorly last night and woke up feeling stiff and cranky. I walked out the door into a nasty morning of freezing rain. The highways were covered in half-frozen slop, and as the day has progressed, the freezing rain has turned into snow. I got to work early and my delivery was late. I had to kick ice out of gutters to help get a roof leak under control.
None of it matters, because when I turned on my car radio this morning, I got some of the most awesome news ever.
Rod R. Blagojevich (or "Blago" to us Illinoisans) was arrested this morning on Federal corruption charges. From the sound of what the formidable Patrick Fitzgerald said at the news conference this morning at 11, they have a bevy of charges to level at the governor and are actively soliciting for people to come forward with more. The time is fast approaching where that corrupt, sleazy moron will never be allowed to work in politics again. This is absolutely fantastic news!
For those who are unaware, Blago may be the worst governor. Ever. And I mean ever ever. Like, go back to the Romans. He is corrupt, incompetant, ineffective, petty, and stupid (not necesarily in that order). He's a Democrat, but that's of little-to-no consequence. Even his own party is putting snow chains on the bus so they can be sure when they throw him under it. I hope they stuff him away for a very, very long time.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
A challenge
Watch this, remember it, and try not to complain about the petty things in life nearly as much.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Drat! Part 2
In a previous post, I mentioned that I'd be trying National Novel Writer's Month next year. What I didn't mention is that, crazy as it was of me to do so, I tried it this year anyway. I managed to get over 10,000 words written in a six-day span that included several of the busiest work days of the year and Thanksgiving, but I (unsurprisingly) didn't hit the 50,000 mark. I'm still tempted to finish it, though. I've discovered that I do indeed like the setting, and would happily set more stories there.
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