That’s when the PDF for the Advanced Player’s Guide gets released for all us poor schmucks who don’t a have subscription. My prediction is that it’s going to almost as bad as when they released the core book.
I’m really excited about this product. From the play test documents that they’ve released and the awesome previews they’ve been giving us, it looks like this going to be one hot product. I feel I can say this some amount of confidence since we’ve been using the play test version of the classes in our Pathfinder games.
In the Second Darkness game, we have a witch and a barbarian/oracle of battle. The witch has been fun to have in the party and has proved to be quite handy. The player took the Cauldron ability and has been a constant source of potions for the party. The Witch has a good selection of spells and abilities. Personally, I’ve been playing the barbarian/oracle. For some odd reason, I like to play multi-class characters, spontaneous spell casters and I get drafted/volunteer to be the cleric. A solid spontaneous divine caster is just fits me and the way I play. Give me a round or two to buff and then rage. Things can get real interesting. I also did a quick test of the inquisitor during the Second Darkness campaign. The barbarian/oracle was temporarily dead and waiting for reincarnation so the GM let me bring another temporary character. Did I mention I like multi-classing, a paladin/inquisitor. It was fun but that whole Lawful Good thing just kind crimps my style.
But there’s more than just base classes in this book. Feats, class options and ton of stuff that’s going to add some really neat flair to the games. So come tomorrow, I’ll be sitting hitting refresh on the Paizo web site trying to get my copy.
California’s Video Game Law
Oh not you too, Texas. Don’t tell me you’re in on this too. Somebody tell them that the state brings in some good money from all those evil games. But then again they still should be considered a form of expression and (I dare say it) art. Just like a bad novel or the latest stupid reality show. There’s already a rating system and if parents don’t want their kids playing a video games, it’s their responsibility. This is just another case of moral panic followed by bad legislation.
This doesn’t directly connect with table top RPG’s but it does harken back to the dark old days of D&D teaches Satanism,BADD and the moral outrage around gaming (table top and video). Here’s the neat little quote, “I accept that 98%, 99% of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the 1% to 2% could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence. You don’t need to be playing a game in which you impale, decapitate and dismember people.”
Now where does this come from? Not from some third world country whose government is referred to in the news as a regime. Nope, our good friends from down under in Australia. You know a modern industrialized and free country and from the Attorney General Michael Atkinson. This refers to the Alien Vs Predator video game. Down in Australia, they too have a rating system. But in this they can they refused to give the game a rating and thus virtually banning it for sale. The developers have refused to cave. Bravo to them. Now I’m not saying that there isn’t content that is unsuitable for children. There is and their exposure to it should be controlled (primarily by the parents). But such a statement as Mr. Atkinson’s is ridiculous.
If we take that assumption that if 1to 2% of any group partaking in an activity are mentally unstable then we should ban such an activity just in case. So would have banning the Beatles kept Charles Manson in line? Would banning pet ownership kept David Berkowitz from murdering people? Maybe we should make sure that there aren’t any books that just might inspire someone sometime to do something horrible. Should religion be banned to prevent a list of atrocities too long to even name here from happening just because a few individuals go off the deep end?
Yes, I may get flamed for comparing a video game to religion. But it boils down to this, the mentally unstable are just that mentally unstable. If not a video game then maybe a book, a picture, a piece of music or who knows what else might trigger them. Should we just ban things just in case? You can’t shield society from the misinterpretations of a deranged mind. It’s that simple. If you banned all forms of artistic expression, what kind of society would you have left?
I’m not saying that there isn’t worthless crap out there. You know there is. And if you’re reading this then you’ve probably been around the Internet a few times and seem quite a few things without any artistic or cultural value. But responsible adults should have the right to chose their entertainment as long as no one (and nothing gets hurt in process). No matter what your preferred form of entertainment is, I’m sure that in today’s world you can find someone out there who is offended by it. If you’re any kind of artist then out there somewhere is someone who will misinterpret your work. Banning works doesn’t solve any problems. It doesn’t prevent or cure mental illness. It just covers it up until the next round of the blame game begins.
In case you haven’t heard on the good old blogosphere, the FTC has stepped into policing reviews on blogs.
OK, we all know why they are doing it. If you’ve surfed around the net long enough you seen them. Let’s call ‘em spam blogs. It looks like a blog but it rails on the benefits of some product that you’re sure you’ve seen pop up in spam folder. These guys are weasels. They’re the same type of folks who ignore do not call lists. Use an “unsubscribe” email as a confirmation that it is a good email. If things get dicey folks like that are just going to move their virtual operations off shore.
When I started this blog, I had no idea that I would ever have to worry about an 80+ page documents put out by the Federal Trade Commission. I’ve no problem with idea behind the guidelines. In my short time as a blogger, I have gotten a total of two products for free and yes, I did mention that in the reviews. That’s just ethical. The bad part is that for some odd reason, me or another small time blogger ends up on somebody’s shit list. There’s a chance that they could have the Feds climbing up their ass with a microscope. And chances are that person won’t have the money for a good lawyer. You know how that’ll end. I fear some people might get zapped by some overzealous bureaucrat just because they were in the wrong place, at the wrong time and forgot to mention that they got a free bit of swag.
So maybe I’m wearing my tin foil hat right now. But then again, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you’ve been paying attention there’s been some pretty crazy stuff when it comes to enforcement. Like the grandmother going to jail for buying cold medicine or federal charges for orchids (This story even goes into some current proceeding at the House Judiciary Committee). Now, I haven’t read this book yet but I’m really starting to get interested in it. It’s called Three Felonies a Day. Check it out.
I’d like to pose some questions for all the armchair lawyers out there. If I get some products for free but pay for others out of my pocket. How long should I keep the receipts to prove to the Feds that some of the reviews aren’t “paid endorsements”. Since this technically isn’t a criminal type offense, I don’t think that normal burden of proof would apply to such a case. Also, if I get a free product then comment on it somewhere, should I start attaching a signature that reads “Paid Endorsement”?
There are people who are abusing the system but my fear is that this regulation isn’t going to catch that many of them. Just simple folks.
Two back to back Savage Worlds fantasy mini-campaigns are done and it’s time to take a little breather. Plus it’s getting close to that time of year.
Every year I do some house cleaning and reassessment of the good old blog. First, I clean out the archives of all those old posts that really aren’t relevant any more. I reflect on the successes and failures of the year and then I start making plans for next year.
This year I’m starting early. I’ve got some big plans for the rest of this year and for next and if I want to get a good start on all these projects, I need to start working now. Posts are going to be a little sparse this month but there should be some really cool surprises coming up in the near future.
Just stay tuned, folks!
Yeah, that would be easy question for most folks but I was one of those uber nerds who took a couple off last week just be one of the first to pick and play Wrath of the Lich King. I pretty stay in the geeky closet at work. When asked what I did, I pretty much replied, “You don’t want to know.” or “Nothing special.” Inside, I was grinning and saying “I spent two days in Azeroth! Death Knights RULE!” but I restrained by myself.
Of course, while spending so much time time playing Warcrack it meant that I really didn’t have time to come up with something insightful and witty for the old blog. But then again, it’s that time of year again. It’s time not only to find just the right gifts for friends and family and to start getting all that paperwork gathered into somewhat organized piles in preparation for tax season. It’s also time to go through the blog archives and weed all those old and irrelevant posts. Time to take stock of what I’ve written and think about how to improve the damned thing.
A new also means a new campaign. The Star Wars campaign (Dawn of Defiance) will be coming to an end soon. No thanks to WOTC’s amended release schedule. And starting next year we’ll be going back to Vampire for a while. This should give me (and the respective publishers) to get things ready for next my game but more on that later. Hopefully, next week will yield something more meaningful that just a silly rant.
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