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Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Erik and his merry band of cultists over at Gaming Paper have a Cthulhu Wrapping Paper project up  on kickstarter that needs supporters.  I am doing my part to publicize Great Old Cthulhu and earn his favor. By favor I mean being eaten last. ;-)

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Trask shall rise again!

As website traffic goes, 10,000 is a very small number compared to other sites on the Internet. Still, it is a good number for a relatively small niche like tabletop gaming.  On a personal note, I started this site with the express purpose of not focusing entirely on the few largest games in the industry,  “Dungeons and Dragons” in particular.  I could easily double my traffic by simply focusing on 4E to the exclusion of all else. This is not a slight against WOTC or their products, just a belief that D&D is a tabletop game, not the tabletop game. There are so many more great games  out there that fade into the shadow of a few giant companies, both in board games and RPGs. I hope to shine a bit of light on these gems when I can.

I want to take this opportunity to thank my co-blogger Stuart for all of his help and all the other contributors that kindly added their own thoughts and opinions to the site. And of course, everyone that drops by to read our scribblings deserves our heartfelt thanks as well.

Going forward, Livingdice is looking into creating some original game content, possibly for publication. This is still in the early stages, but we have some ideas…

Check back with Livingdice.com again soon. We are just getting started!

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Trask

Check out the Vul-Con website for further update and I will, of course, be posting information as it becomes available.

Veni, Vedi, Lusi!

We came, we saw, we played!

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

We, that is myself and my collaborators, plan on attending Gen Con and the GAMA Trade Show this year and providing reports on both events. GTS especially promises some very exciting releases and that is coming up in March. Expect the same level of detail as last year. This year we hope to use liveblogging software more extensively and make the show more accessible to the masses. More on this project next week.

Technically, the site is in a good place. I implemented several changes to increase readability and speed. It cut Livingdice’s load time from 6-7 second to 2-3 seconds. Besides making it easier for my readers, it makes Google happier. Speed is now one of the factors that Google uses in determining your pages search value and this raises my ranking in the search engines. I do my search engine optimization efforts to drive more visitors to a site that is actually run by a human being for his own satisfaction and not some machine generated blog,  email harvesting site or other digital smog that chokes the Internet.

Re-dedication is a cliché, but I think it applies here. Blogs come and go with alarming frequency, often with little fanfare.  Primarily due to blogger burnout and time constraints. Happily,  I have yet to succumb to this vile disease and feel invigorated by my upcoming Nightbane campaign as a source for blogging fodder. That said, I am focusing more on quality and less on quantity this year. There is a literal ocean of game bloggers out there, many covering the same ground…repeatedly.  I have no real interest in specific game mechanics, tweaking character builds or edition wars.  Games are art as much as science and I think that is often lost in the mechanics. I hope to elevate the discourse of gaming to a slightly higher level. Tell me in 2012 if I succeeded.

The Internet is all about niches and I like to think I found mine.  Combining reviews with some sane commentary about the state of gaming, the occasional rant and all the while trying to see games as more than just a mathematical model to decide victory.  That said, there are some things I will not do.  I could easily triple my readership by talking exclusively about the two or three most popular game systems. I do not see the point in this because there are some many other great sites doing the same thing.  No, for me all game companies are equal. From the mightiest international corporation to the guy designing on his kitchen table, I believe they all deserve the same respect and attention.  That is one of the reasons I covered every vendor at GTS. Too many other sites focused on the large publishers and missed some interesting games.

I will never forget that games are not a substitute for life and base my ego’s health on winning a gaming argument.  They are GAMES! They do not matter in the greater scheme of things and are merely a pleasurable pass time. Please flame me if I ever forget this one.

That is enough for a Sunday night. If you have any suggestions for post topics, want to talk about your new game or just want to complain about my opinion, drop me a line. My digital inbox is always open.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Eoris, the massive and beautiful role-playing game box set from “Visions of Essence” released at Gen Con 2010 after several lengthy delays. Controversy raged among the RPG forums about whether or not the game

Eoris RPG Boxed Set

would ever release. Happily, it did release and I am giving away a copy.

Entering the contest is simple; join the Livingdice.com Elite Gaming Forums. On December 15th, 2010 I will get a random number from random.org and the user has that line in the user database wins. Oh, and no multiple fake accounts please. Real people only.

“What! This contest is a transparent attempt to drive people to a new gaming discussion forum with promises of great swag!”

Absolutely. “Free” draws interest like nothing else, but this contest is more than a crass marketing attempt. Livingdice gets good traffic already. I do not need to draw any more readers.

I want to build a community, a different kind of community.

I call this the “Elite Gaming Forums” because that is what I want in my community, the elite of gamers.

I want the people who went to college, got out of mommy’s basement and generally get through life successfully. I want people that never forget that gaming is a hobby and not a substitute for a well-rounded life. I want those that use games as a way to test their intellectual mettle against another human being. I want history buffs that see games as a way to touch a long-dead time and experience just a bit of what once was. I want gamers that are articulate and knowledgeable. I want aspiring game designers that desperately need feedback. I want those that want to discuss games beyond “how to pimp your paladin.” If this is you, then welcome!

I truly believe that a small minority of deeply pathetic people plague the gaming community, contaminating discussions with vitriol and personal attacks.

Venomous vermin spewing rage will not be tolerated here and will be removed. Permanently. As to moderation, I will only use my ban-hammer in the extreme cases and hope to recruit equally invested members of the forum as moderators to guide, but not control the community.

That said, I believe a community of elite gamers will resist these interlopers, much as an immune system repels infection. Flames wars will not find any kindling here. The elite are too intelligent to fall into such traps.

This is my manifesto, my hope for the new forum. My goals are modest; a community of elite gamers talking about all games; board, miniature, RPG or card in a friendly environment dedicated to squeezing just a bit more fun out of our shared hobby.

Join us!

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

The official launch (and a very nice contest prize to drum up  interest) will take place next week, barring unexpected issues from the beta test group.

If you are interested in participating in these forums, I could really use your help to “kick the tires” on the forum software itself.  I need to know about any bugs or annoying features that will make using the forums a better experience. Put up some posts, send messages and generally do forum-type stuff to make sure all the bells and whistles work.

You can register for the forums at the link below:

Livingdice Forum Registration

Thank you,

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Trask, The Last Tyromancer