Brighter Tomorrow?

Well, it's been a while for a few reasons. Partly because I am so broke I can't afford to pay attention these days and just making ends meet is a full time job. I have been tied up in some legal crap that should wrap up soon and that I won't get into details of. Have had repeated computer problems over the past few months as well as periods of limited internet access. So... pretty much, I haven't had the free time to put into something like this, or my photography or much of anything else that are potentially money making hobbies, if I had the time.

This is where my heart really is, though, along with some software development ideas that go hand in hand with what I plan to do tabletop, but those details will wait for a future posting.

The bright side of all this is that most of financial problems should be over around mid-summer, which is around the time that the legal matter should be cleared up. Should be getting me some long overdue funds that are owed me. Around that time is also Oregon Country Fair, which I play photographer during, but after that?... I'll have the funds that hopefully I'll actually be able to pay for some artwork and the rest of the pieces that go together to make actually publishing possible... Up to date and working computers are a must too.

Sooo... I wouldn't expect to see many posts here in the next couple months, but after mid-July has rolled past, this place might get active again, as I'll have the tools, time and means to do my gaming ideas some justice. Until then, game on folks.

A New Publishing Name

Wow, did this one hit me like a ton of feathers last night. Been pondering a name for my gaming publication efforts for a while. Originally, almost two decades ago, I came up with Vizhon Design Studio, Vizhonsoft, Vizhon Games, and so on as an idea, and I am indeed using Vizhon Design Studio as my primary DBA. Thing is, at that time, the idea of actually publishing pen and paper games like I am working toward now was a fizzle in a fart storm in the back of my mind and I was thinking software. Well, over the years, I've just never managed to get my hands on all the tools needed to go far with the programming ideas. Few useful applications that were for little more than personal use was about the furthest I ever got.

Ever since I started this blog, though, the name Vizhon Design Studio and Vizhon Games just hasn't sat quite right with me for a publishing identity in a PnP style market. Oh, I've bounced names around in my head. Most don't do anything for me, and those that do are either already taken, or have something very similar to it already in business. It's that whole thing about distinctly standing out with a company name rather than sounding like part of the crowd. Oh, I've had ideas alright, enough that I have long since lost count, sometimes a few dozen in one day, but just none of them stuck. That is, until last night.

Last night, when I was particularly stoned, and more relaxed than I have been in a long time, I started really milling over the idea. I knew I had something that was tickling my fancy, but it just wasn't quite coming to the surface. The first thing that came to mind was a trademark that I won't actually describe at this point, as even the concept will take work before it would be iconic enough to actually work as a trademark. Suffice it to say the image set me to chuckling. It's not very flattering and would be a rather humble trademark in the gaming industry but in the indie markets and with gamer's humor, it's tongue in cheek enough that it could work.

Once I had the visual image, it didn't take me long to run threw a handful of possible company names that would go well with that image or one of it's general flavor. The first several got bounced but one cracked me up... Got me so good that when I stopped laughing it took me a couple minutes to remember which possibility I'd run through I found so funny. Remember, I did say I was particularly stoned, as in way more so than normal. Normally memory isn't a problem when I'm stoned because of the type of weed I smoke - I much prefer Indian Hemp or Indica over the more prevelant Cannabis Sativa and it's effects are considerably different. Indica is what is usually termed medicinal and works better than Morphine for many pains but doesn't have the degree of psychological effects that normal THC laced locoweed does, but like I said, I was quite heavily medicated on it. When I did remember which name it was, I filed it away in my memory where I wouldn't forget and decided I'd see if it still sat well with me after I slept on it.

Well, it's well into tomorrow. I have run around town for a few hours, taking care of business and chores, spent too much time on the phone to the executives at Wells Fargo concerning an email spam issue they have been denying responsibility for for over a year, but that I just proved them wrong. Oh yeah.. I'll share a little on that.

In a Nutshell, if you look up Wellsconnect on google, it's regularly reported as a source for phishing email, and Wells Fargo has been telling me for over a year that that is the case for all email advertising from Wells Fargo, which is not true, because Wellsconnect is the name of Wells Fargo's email advertising campaign done through the advertising firm Responsys. That isn't to say there is no phishing that claims to be from Wellsconnect, but in every example I've seen of them, there is something sorely mispelled or out of place about the URL the phishing is coming from. Anyway, they finally conceded that yes, they do advertise in email, but still claim the execs at their HQ were not aware of it till I gave them enough info to track it down and that it seems to be coming from some department in the bank that may not actually have permission to be doing so.

But here I am, late afternoon, early evening, mostly sober, clear headed, and still irked at my bank, and the PnP RPG publishing name I'd come with still appeals to me as much as it did when I thought it up, though it may not be quite as much of a gutbuster. So, without dragging this out any further, and not trying to make the company look any more grand or illustrious than it is, I'll present the name DBA I plan to do my publishing under: Bubblegum and Bailing Wire Games or BNBW Games for short.

But I'm not dead yet!!

Sorry for the lack of activity here, not that I have a following of more than a couple dozen repeat visitors since I started this site, but I have had little to say. None the less, I feel I need to make an appearance here to at least bring some things up to date.

First, I have not been ignoring the game design projects. Infact, I've been making more headway in my game designs over the past three months than in the rest of the time since I started this blog. Thing is, none of it is anywhere near presentable yet, nor is it even focused around a single project. Instead I been all over the place in working on various different projects. I've added to the TAGE game system, done a bit of work on Clashlands including the beginning of a 'monster manual' for the setting. I've also been working on my own offshoot from D20 3.5 and have been considering the idea of making my first real shots at self-publishing be in the form of stand-alone excerpts from the system in the form of alternate rule supplements I am currently calling "Rethinking D20" and the rule supplement I have actually been focusing on concerns the more general RPG concept of Action Points (as opposed to the current D&D versions of action points) and how to work them into the D20 rules as a replacement for the current initiative based and attacks per turn combat system.

Also, in addition to the time I have been spending as much time as I can muster working on trying to hammer out the my multitude of RPG related projects, I have also had unrelated but serious issues I won't get into distracting me in a big way from other facets of my life, but with any luck, these issues will be behind me within the next month.

Anyway, for those that may actually be following this blog or have any interest in the ideas that I have splashed up here, I may be going pretty slow right now, but I am not dead yet, nor is this blog.

Clashlands and the Future...

Okay. I know it's been a while. Clearwire problems pretty much shot my ability to use the internet and though I have had it back for over a week, back on Comcast, I have been busy catching up on all the other crap I was behind on due to lack of net access.. I mean, I'm totally a first generation kid of the digital age. I don't even have a TV because I depend on the net for all my input... But anyway, I'm back but not yet back into the swing of things and when I am, finishing up my picture projects comes first... SO what's happenning and what's the plans?

Well, Dystopian Dreams RPG is definitely on my to-do list as leveless and fixed Hitpoint game concept based on the 3.5 d20 system, but it will be a while coming. Along side it, will be the Clashlands setting I was first focused on when I set up this blog in the first place, but I have bigger ideas for Clashlands that I am putting this out as a first call on, though it will easily be 6 months before I can get the foundations set up. My idea is to introduce the Clashlands setting first to players as a MUD... That's right.. a text based RPG MUD, and if I can pull it off, it will be a test platform for the rule system as well. That will be a big time consumer when the time comes, and is not something I am completely unfamiliar with having been involved in the design of a few MUDs and MUSHes over the years. The big issue will be that in doing it, I really do want to set it up from the core out as original code so it is not bound by any licensing restrictions on derivation from past MUD code. On the otherhand I do NOT mind putting it together with pieces of code that are GNU licensed.

In other news, it looks like the RPG4.ME idea might actually go somewhere. The friend I have been talking to about it likes the idea enough that she is supposed to be crunching out code to partner up on it with me and in the process launch her own market ideas in similar venues... The whole e-book market is something she never noticed before, so it's a bit of a shock to her, but at anyrate, I may be involved in setting up another e-book source on the net, and LPjr, I'd host you logo on my site.

Hypocritical douchebags...

Oh, this post doesn't actually have much to do with gaming other than why I haven't been able to actually do much of any lately. It's really about Clearwire and how I am jumping into the Clearwire sucks crowd completely. Oh, and do they suck.

A post on my photoblog preceeded this one by a few days. It basically explained that my efforts to upload images had basically been halted until Clearwire can clean up my connection issues or let me out of my contract. Well, this post is a followup to it and this blog I see more as my bitching post than my photo-blog, so it's being found here.

Months ago I had issues with Comcast harassing me in their collections department over a bill that was less overdue than their normal bitching point by a month. Suffice it to say I told them to shove it for harassment. Well, I'm going back to Comcast now, but still not planning to stand for anymore harassment from them... no advertising either. Clearwire is where I ended up. Talked to a local guy in one of mall kiosks. Clearly a fellow with some neurological issues and that's not meant insulting so much as an "it takes one to know one" sort of comment. It was in the facial expressions and speech pattern, but I'm really not intending to pick on anyone for any disabilities. My only issue for bringing him up is that it was a question I'd asked him that got me deciding on Clearwire and not looking for some DSL service.

I had asked the fellow if the service worked for watching video. He asked if I meant You-Tube. I was yes, like You-Tube, i-Tunes, Hulu.com, and other video sites. He said that it worked for them. I went on Clearwire's own pages and checked for signs of video support. What I found are multiple links to news in the form of videos, an installation video right on their homepage and video online ads in the form of video user testimonials (all from people who previously used dialup, mind you). So to me, I was no signs of lack of video support. If you want to check right now, go check. Go you clearwire's homepage and search for the word 'video'. At my time of writing this up, what mostly shows up on the list is news reports about Clearwire in the form of video clips... Nothing against video.

Now, you can check their services pages too. It will list download speeds of up to 25x dialup, and "Fast, reliable internet" and they throw around the word broadband. Oh, yeah, one of their techs on the phone tried to tell me broadband meant limited bandwidth and not broad bandwidth. He tried to tell it means there are a broad number of people trying to use a little bandwidth. Heh... No. Not what it meants.

At any rate, almost since I got the service back at the start of April, I been complaining about latency issues.. That is ping times over a second, and packet loss as high as 80%. Also seconds to minutes of total disconnections... Not fast. Not reliable. Now, they have this wonderful clause if you get into their service with any sort of a discount that charges outragious fees on cancellation, and they don't want to give it up no matter what, under no conditions without a legal fight... At this point, my service is being canceled and I been through 3 layers of accounting customer support, months of technical support hoops to jump through and they still can't tell me they have dropped the cancellation fee.

On top of all this, they keep trying to tell me that my desire to play videos violates their Acceptable Use Policy. Uhm... No... it doesn't.. Not without some serious reading between the lines on those "As clearwire deems under it's sole discression" crap.

No.. There was a recent court issue, though the details of the story slip my mind at the moment, that ruled for once and for all against the legality of advertisements which promise one thing in the big print and then take it away in the fine print. And in this case it's not even in the print. It's open ended loopholes they keep trying to call policy, but yet when I ask them to define it for me, they can't point me to solid limits or policies I am actually violating. Besides, with 80% packet loss and serious latency issues, I'm going to be pulling for a lot more bandwidth than I am actually needing because all those lost packets need to be re-sent or re-demanded. Lost downloads that are disconnected mid-download usually need to be started over from the beginning. Web pages that won't load because of latency issues need to be reloaded in full to get them to display. Really, I was happier 10 years ago on 756k DSL with a lot of garbage (about 125kps) coming down my pipe constantly than I have been with Clearwire. I was actually happier with 56k dialup before that.

So, anyway, I have reordered my Comcast at this point. It should be hooked up a week from now, next thursday. I have started the process of closing down my Clearwire account. Between the two, I might be semi-netless for a bit. And as far as how Clearwire settles the account, I'm going to be contacting my bank to tell them to change the card number on the account I registered with Clearwire, and then if they do try to still charge me a cancellation fee, I'll see them in court over it.. It's only about a 5 hour drive to their corporate offices from where I live, and I'm willing to pay the $150 it would take me to set up the small claims court case. I even have a relative in the area that I could crash with for a night or two and they just happen to be an Attorney.

What this sums up to mean is that I been pretty much tied up with Clearwire issues for days. My service has been so bad that trying to do more than just post blog entries is quite iffy. I am about a week behind on everything I been planning to because of ISP issues... Blogger could not be contacted, progress is unsaved errors keep happening as I am working on this and they almost never happened on Comcast. I'm not sure how much longer it will be before I can get things back into swing since most of what I do in some way relies on the internet, but next thursday my woes of the past months should be over and I should be back to my internet actually working in real time again.

RPGs4.me?

Uhm... Timing, timing, timing.... In my upset with the split in the gaming industry, RPGNow's deleting of the 4th edition compatible logo, etc., I been milling around in my mind the idea of pitching in at setting up a gaming store and game review site, not really run by myself so much as a similar minded group. Just another idea I been milling around.

I used to be camping on a few domain names for the possibility of doing just this, for years, anyway... I had RPGguild.net, RPGcorner.net, RPing.net and several others. Nothing ever came of any of it, and it got too expensive to keep camping on... and I've never been good at selling ideas.

So, all this in mind, I started milling through the old domains I let expire to find them all already taken by someone else that can afford to camp on them, so I started considering new name possibilities. While milling through new names, I noticed the new domain type of .me. Intended for personal sites like .name domains as well as new marketting site in the .me market... Well, Games4.me is snagged by someone already, but RPGs4.me wasn't... Anyone with marketting skills want to help me set up yet another online digital market for online materials that would work side by side with RPGnow's network of storefronts and Paizo?

Even if I don't get any bites, I will be doing something with that domain, even if it's setting up a reviews blog and some open forums on it. Infact I have a friend with all the skills to go in with me on this and make it work. I just need to call her. And with that, I'll be signing off with this update.

Pathfinder RPG rocks...

Okay... I've taken the time to look over the 3rd revision of Pathfinder RPG Alpha rules and I'll give it a thumbs up... For anyone that Likes the traditional D&D feel, complete with the Vancian style magic and all, it is definitely an solid score. The system does rock. I'd recommend it as good mining material if nothing else and will definitely be picking up my own copy of the final product... Infact, I'm thinking of shooting out a pitch to GM a pathfinder campaign in Fantasy Grounds II. Heck, I may contact Paizo and volunteer to do their core ruleset for Fantasy Grounds II. Not a short term goal, though with the irons I already have in the fire.

So, Clashlands?... Pathfinder?... Nah. Not quite.. Instead I'm leaning toward something I was brushing the edge of in posts on here some months back. I'm thinking of actually giving Paizo some competition (and selling it through their storefront) with the Pathfinder Ruleset. I'm really leaning toward doing the Dystopian Destinies RPG in much the way that Paizo is releasing Pathfinder as an offbranch of 3.5e, only with a bit more divergence from the core rules. For those that don't know yet, I don't like Vancian magic, and have several things about RPGs that I like done a little different than the traditional D&D methods. So, Clashlands looks like it may be back on the burner, but it will have to be done side by side with the Dystopian Destinies ruleset. That won't be near future. I have other work that needs finishing, TAGE playtest version and the small art related projects I also have in mind that will be coming before it. In otherwords, Clashlands has been pushed back in priorities... At least 6 months, probably more like a year before I'll really get back to it, but you never know. I might get inspired and throw the whole thing together in a couple weeks.

Now as far as that other work goes... It's been 2 weeks since the fair and I'm about 1/3rd of the way through the pictures. Since a lot of what I have ahead if me is pictures that can be batch processed due to common exposure conditions, I may actually be 1/2 done with processing the pictures and 1 day from making my next post to my photo-blog. Once that work is done, I will get back to the game stuff and the photography work will be a hobby level thing on the side for a while. And with that, I think I'm back to working with the pictures.