Topic: Site Announcements / Who's going to GenCon?

Hey guys. GenCon has pretty stringent ‘no leaflet’ policies, so its not really a good option there. That being said, there are numerous other ways to get involved even semi-indirectly. For example, instead of getting a booth yourself, you could help support someone that already is getting one. Then they could pass out flyers/cards for you. That’s legal. You could also be a sponsor for the ENnie Awards, ala what we just did: http://www.avatarart.com/qnamii/index.asp?Mode=ViewArticle&ID=2

Being the Oscars of Gaming, its a great 'cause' to be involved with & we'll be doing it again next year.  Lastly, I have ties to a few official GenCon gaming groups & that's another avenue into "the Best 4 Days of Gaming."  This being our 3rd straight year going, some tips/tricks have been picked up.  Contact us for details.

Topic: Site Announcements / Obsidian Portal beats WotC, film at 11

Which was caused by Gleemax: http://forums.obsidianportal.com/forums/1/topics/450
:)

Topic: Site Announcements / Last Nights Outage

Hmm…my post to this thread also disappeared. {repeats}

“Looks like the brain hit you guys with a dying blow.”

Topic: Site Announcements / Obsidian Portal beats WotC, film at 11

Hmmm. Micah’s & FemmeLegions’s posts in this thread are both gone. Conspiracy?!

Topic: Site Announcements / Database backup restoration - flames here, please

That database problem was really Gleemax getting its revenge- a dying blow from the brain against the underdog.

Topic: Site Announcements / Obsidian Portal beats WotC, film at 11

http://www.enworld.org/articles/Gleemax_is_Dead/6908
Congratulations to Micah, Ryan, & the entire OP Community. I’ve been absent for quite a bit (our new website) but I’m very happy to be the messenger on this. Go Darwinism!

Topic: General Discussion / Everyone thank Ryan for the speedy site

I AM thankful, but rather than slow him down with PM’s, I’ll thank him here. Thankee, Sai Ryan.

Topic: Site Announcements / The 2,000th Forum Post

Thought this milestone was worth an announcement. :)

Topic: General Discussion / Anyone use projectors in their games?

I love my tiles, but I have to admit that this was a pretty cool setup:
http://www.penpaperpixel.org/tutorials/tabletopprojection/

Topic: General Discussion / Any OPers going to GenCon?

Wanted to see in anyone else would be headed down to Indy come August to participate in, “the Best 4 Days of Gaming.”

Topic: General Discussion / "Featured ___________"

Perhaps AvatarArt credit for custom pieces? Never hurts to have more prizes.

Topic: Feature Requests / counters for members, campaigns, & characters

Hi. I think it would be neat to know how many OP members, campaigns, and characters there were at any given time. A running tally to show exactly how OP is growing and the available resources it contains. Now I know its easy to ask and harder to do, but maybe a code similar to what calculates visitors to a website?

In the middle of November ‘07, OP got its 500th member Bog97th. I thought I remember hearing about a 1,000th member at some point. With an up-to-the minute calculation of the number of users and the number of things they’ve created thanks to OP, it’d be a good way to convince other potential members that OP is ‘for real.’

-Steve G.

p.s. speaking of an upwards count: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

Topic: General Discussion / Anybody have a problem with

FYI, Sci-Fi channel is going to be doing a “What the Frak is up with BSG,” where there summarize everything in 8 minutes. Refreshing everyone’s memory if they don’t have time to watch the marathon.

Topic: General Discussion / In Memoriam to 'a Father of Role-Playing'

Found another good one and it nicely sums up everything:

Gary Gygax: Remembered

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The galley proofs for Gary Gygax’s novel, The Samarkand Solution, are sitting on my desk right now, ready for the final check-off before we send the book to the printer. Sitting above my desk, packed into little cardboard sleeves, are dozens of copies of Dragon, the original RPG magazine for which Gygax served as publisher in its earliest days. Until recently, I served as publisher of that magazine, and it always made me proud to know I was following in Gary Gygax’s august footsteps.

Gary died this morning in his sleep, bringing to an end a decades-spanning career that created an industry and brought joy to millions of people. The game he created with Dave Arneson&Dungeons & Dragons&has had a more profound influence upon my life than any other factor save my family, and his passing has affected me deeply.

When I was a kid growing up with D&D, Gygax’s name was on the cover of just about every official product. He wrote the best adventure modules, he set the template for all future campaign settings with the World of Greyhawk, and perhaps most importantly he introduced a generation of kids to a game that was more than a game. I’ve met many of my closest friends in the span of my entire life because of Gary Gygax.

Last year, I launched Planet Stories, a line of fantasy and science-fiction trade paperbacks aimed at reprinting some of the classic works of sword & sorcery that inspired Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy gaming in general. In the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide, a fascinating work that surely serves as Gygax’s masterpiece, Gary thoughtfully included Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading, a list that included such luminaries as Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, Jack Vance, and more.

So in addition to my friends and my career, I also owe Gary Gygax an unpayable debt of gratitude for introducing me to the greatest fantasists who ever lived and a lifetime of excellent reading. Planet Stories is, in some small sense, my attempt to repay that debt by bringing many of these fine authors back into print to be enjoyed again. Like Paizo Publishing itself, Planet Stories exists because of Gary Gygax. I chose to honor Gary by including several of his own exciting fantasy novels in the Planet Stories line, including the imprint’s very first release, The Anubis Murders.

It was the release of The Anubis Murders at last year’s Gen Con Indy that brought me and Gary together for the last time. As the show’s Guest of Honor, Gygax had more than a full schedule, but he was able to carve out a couple of hours a day to sit at the Paizo booth and sign autographs of his book while sharing thoughts and memories with his fans. And the stories those fans told were just incredible. For a full hour I listened as gamer after gamer approached Gary and told a variation of the exact same story: “Thank you for a game that has brought me so much joy. Thank you for a game that has brought me so many friends. Thank you for making such a positive impact on my life.”

Sitting next to Gary at last year’s Gen Con made me realize what a huge cultural impact Gary Gygax had made on all of us. Never before have I seen such honest appreciation. Never before had I been so moved and so proud to be working with a man who had made such an impact on my life. On all of our lives.

When a friend passes away, it is easy to be sad, to think about what might have been had he lived another year, another ten years. But my friends, I am here to tell you that Gary Gygax knew what a difference he had made in all of our lives, and he was proud to have made it.

Not bad for a life’s work.

I’ll miss you, Gary Gygax. We all will. Goodbye, my friend.

And thank you.

Erik Mona
Paizo Publisher

Topic: General Discussion / Sorry, AvatarArt

Yes, we’ve kept our “get bigger” promotion a local thing for now. ;P

1) sending from Gmail
2) sending each message 1 at a time
3) haven’t sent as plain text, we could try to re-send but once labeled as a SPAMMER, wouldn’t all messages from that same address be treated as such?
4) subject line is a possible problem and will change to “custom art”

Micah, if you could please copy the warning from the News part and put it in the AvatarArt details page, that’d help.

We’d also like to see a, “Remember, check your SPAM folder” line included in the “AvatarArt has been notified and will be contacting you soon” screen. i.e. once the ‘Let’s get started!’ button has been pushed.

This is all especially important because the current News will soon become Old News and get pushed down. Plus, even with the update, we still haven’t had anyone from OP contact us despite 30+ messages of interest. :(

Topic: General Discussion / Sorry, AvatarArt

“Help me Obi-Micah, you’re my only hope.”

Topic: General Discussion / Sorry, AvatarArt

subject: are you ready to have your imagination illustrated?

“Hello!

Thank you for contacting us about custom artwork. We’re eager to help you visualize any aspect from your gaming. All pieces commissioned will help support Obsidian Portal, as well as provide you with a unique digital illustration. Furthermore, additional pieces of the same figure(s) can be re-created for 50% off or less. Plus we offer Adventurer’s Insurance, whereby if your character does meet their end, we’ll do their part in the (hopefully) heroic death scene for free. Check out the professional review of us on Gamer Bling for more info about these opportunities.

No matter what you’re looking for, please read through our Commissions Page here:
http://www.avatarart.com/main.php?id=commission

...and follow the suggested steps. Filling out our Creation Guide is a great way to get started.

We look forward to working with you in making memorable art.”

Sincerely,

Steve G.
Project Manager

—
“Drawing your imagination.”

Topic: General Discussion / Sorry, AvatarArt

Guys, many thanks for the heads up. We were a bit overwhelmed with the 20+ responses we’ve received since the partnership between us and OP kicked off. By now I have replied to each and every one of you who indicated your interest in our custom art services. With no one responding to any of these, I started to wonder if we got through the gatekeepers.

I’ll see if Micah can add an announcement to the pages to inform people how to find our reply. Again, my appreciation for calling this to our attention.

Topic: General Discussion / Alternative magic system for DD

Unearthed Arcana also features ‘Recharge Magic’ on page 157.

Topic: General Discussion / Alternative magic system for DD

Monte Cook does:
http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mpress_BOXM_preview

I’ve actually ordered an on-demand print copy and will make a review once I’ve read through it.

Topic: General Discussion / "My what big banners you have."

I like the new slogan (“The Story is the Game”) and the dragon graphic is pretty damn cool. But the existing banner as-is takes up almost a 1/3 of the page. If it was a bit smaller, visitors would be able to see both the ‘Featured Campaign’ and the ‘Featured Theme.’

And those are whats important.

Topic: Bug Reports / FIXED: about 'about'

this: http://www.obsidianportal.com/about

brings this:
“Internal server error.

The server has encountered an error and is unable to fulfill your request. An automated e-mail has been sent to the development team, but we still appreciate any extra information you can give. If you have a moment, please fill out a bug report in the forums.”

so I did this. :)

Topic: General Discussion / What sign are you?

is there any other kind? ;P

real gamers roll for their zodiac sign:
http://dicepool.com/astro.html

Topic: Bug Reports / FIXED: no news is not good news

http://www.obsidianportal.com/news

...is blank as of 1:00 AM EST. I know there’s been a major update (looks nice, btw) but wanted to make sure the news didn’t get ‘lost.’ Thanks.

Topic: Site Announcements / Premium Accounts Discussion

Micah, you had said that there would be a “whole slew of stuff planned” besides the higher zoom levels for maps. At some point can you list the benefits that come with upgrading to a premium account? Thanks.