Welcome home.
It’s September 20th, and the episode title is “Digital Love/Hate”.
[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #301]
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Than Gibson and DMing the World Press are in the Spotlight and we talked about the lure of Shadowdark to the publisher.
Shadowdark, says team DarkSpace, is perfect for running one-shots. I don’t know about you but I’ve certainly seen the rise of one-shots over the last ten years. Once they’d be a one off but now they seem to be a recognition of the world we live in.
However, this podcast leans towards escapism, so let’s not dwell too much on the world we live in.
If you’re a reader of the Geek Native blog, thank you, and you might have noticed that a rosette sometimes appears in the corner of the screen. This only happens on desktop because mobile screens are too precious. Designed by Bronwen, this rosette is our thank you and pitch as an indie news blog.
We’re not asking for subscriptions. Patrons can vote and help steer content, but there’s nothing behind a paywall. Yes, we have advertisers, but they can’t buy our opinions. In today’s media landscape, I think this makes us a rare creature, and so the rosette is there to note that. If you visit the blog, especially if you let the ads run, then you’re one of the heroes.
Creature Curation is an indie publisher also showing us a way to go against the powers-that-be. Firstly, they’ve bought their own printing press, and it’s good enough to do zine-style games. Secondly, they’ve bought their RPG in-house, taking it back from the old publisher, which means they can now print Vast Grimm. Thirdly, they’re taking the next in the Vast Grimm series, Escaping Stasis to Kickstarter themselves.
Go, Brian and team. Stick it to the man and good luck.
Let’s stick with publishing because digital platform Neon Ichiban is having a moment. They’ve already signed Marvel, DC, Dark House, Vault and Kodansha, and this week they added Dynamite and Titan.
Neon Ichiban is founded by some former Comixology executives and comes at a time when that old platform has essentially vanished into the Amazon ecosystem, offering readers little in the way of an advantage. It also comes during the Diamond Comics crisis, but it makes sense that comic book makers are looking to diversify their channels.
Speaking of Diamond Comics, in the US, the courts have instructed Ad Populum to halt sales of the items found in their newly acquired warehouses until the matter is resolved. It’s better news in Britain as there’s been a management buyout of Diamonic Comics UK, where the company had a much better reputation. Now, of course, the team has to step up and sort things out.
Another United States of America legal decision which made the news this week is care of Nintendo. The Pokémon stewards have managed to get a patent on summoning in computer games.
I kid you not.
How did Nintendo do this, given that summoning clearly wasn’t invented by them? Some experts suggest that they hid the nature of their request in technobabble. For example, a key part of the patent basically talks about game saves but says “non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a game program.”
If you think computers aren’t coming to tabletop RPGs then you might be in for a surprise. Hasbro boss Chris Cocks is already on the record saying his gaming buddies use AI. Now, Quest Portal, a virtual tabletop, have announced a powerful AI assistant GM coming to their platform that can spin up NPCs and encounters.
When the press release for that landed on my desk I wrote back to say it was a hot topic and would they be prepared to answer some robust questions. Team Quest Portal were and so I’ve an interview up on Geek Native.
I think they make some good points, perhaps the most controversial of which is that human players use platforms like Pinterest already to steal creative assets for games. At the heart though, I don’t think Quest Portal is big tech bro coming to control the hobby. I think they’re doing what they think is cool and might help, and they might be right, for all I know.
Geek Native has previously published posts from young mums using AI to help GM games for their young kids because they’re out of time but not out of love for their daughter.
On the other hand, Asmodee has published survey results from 8,000 people, and the results are staggering. This research says more than 1 in 4 people manage to play board games once a week. The figure is catching up with computer games.
Asmodee’s statistics suggest that escapism is a significant reason, especially in the USA, for playing board games. That, sorry to say, is less staggering.
If this data is on the money and people are increasingly putting value in face-to-face time and away from the computer screen then maybe Chris Cocks is wrong and the future of D&D isn’t digital.
In another nod to escapism, HalloweenCostumes.com also released a costume survey which shows more people are going to decorate outside their homes and have more costumes this year, even though we don’t have more money.
Few people said they’d spend more, but most people planned to do more. This is entirely possible because when we try we can be imaginative creatures but it’s perhaps not the news the costume site wanted.
A company famous for dressing up locations is Meow Wolf and if you have a good memory, you might recall they announced a TTRPG project with Exalted Funeral called Tavers.
Well, I was able to interview the co-founder of Exalted Funeral and the Senior Creative Director at Meow Wolf.
The two were a bit coy but this TTRPG can be tied into the physical art installation of Meow Wolf and if you can’t get to one then you have to make it yourself. That’s a turn up for team Theatre of the Mind so I’m curious to see how this game looks when it’s published. That, by the way, is slated for next Spring.
For your radar is one of my favourite events of the year. That’s Scotland Loves Anime, which is coming back to Edinburgh for a week, staying in the Picturehouse Cameo but also showing one feature in the newly reopened Filmhouse.
This is an event in which I’ll stay up late to review the new anime, which are often premieres, and have picked up sponsors for in the past. You get a thank you in each review, ad space and a video. If you want to woo anime fans, then get in touch.
There are two bundles to tell you of and the first is at the Bundle of Holding and for Raging Swan’s Lairnonimicon. As the name suggests, this deal is ideal if you want to up your lair game.
The second is a superbundle at Humble and it’s from Goodman Games, who have a host of Xcrawl to offer.
Thanks for listening, take care, stay safe and do let Muzan and the demons get you.
