Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Right lets get this update underway. First off I'll touch on a subject that I rarely venture to in my blog - work. Work is less than perfect at the moment. Hours are longer, work is more intense and the blame culture is in full flow. Moreover the minutae are overwhelming the bigger picture and it is strangling everything. As a result of that and two rather horrific viruses I have been almost totally unproductive. Inert. Living to work rather than working to live. That sucks.

So what have I been up to? Well, I have returned to WoW after a pretty long break. A new server (The Maelstrom) and a new guild (The Border Reivers) and a new character (Gorthe, a Warrior of all things!). Everything is very pleasant, the guild is an absolute pleasure and the commitment is almost zero. Alls good really - WoW is definitely a 'game' now rather than a lifestyle choice!

I've finally got my roleplaying game, Duty and Honour, into some form that can be properly playtested. I've been conversing a lot with the guys from The Collective Endeavour (see the links in my sidebar) which has been very productive. I like the vibe there and the collective nature of the contributions appeals to the old Leftie in me.

The game itself has changed quite a lot as it moves from being a set of chargen rules and a resolution mechanic and becomes a real game. So far it has been reasonably well received but there is a fair bit of work to be done yet. If anyone is interested they can download the alpha playtest documents here. If you have any comments I would love to hear them.

Fan fiction wise I have been formally given the Teen Titans to write at DCI, which is very cool. I still have Green Lantern on the burner as well. The site is moving along, albeit slowly, but my ability to write is severely curtailed by my lack of energy after work. It'll come.

Roleplaying-wise we are still playing Pendragon and motoring towards the magical sword in the stone moment. The stories of our original characters are coming to the end now and it is going to be a sad moment to see them ride off into the distance but there are lovely new characters ready to take their place. We have also just finished a very-alpha playtest of Ben's 'Liberty Comics Presents...' game and then we will be playing Cold City ran by Andrew. I went to Furnace, a convention in Sheffield, a couple of weeks ago and it was excellent. I played Monkey (a game in development), Mob Justice, Dead of Night, Conspiracy of Shadows and Burning Wheel. Yes, I know, indie games whore...

And thats about it really. Who knows what will come in the near future - I'll just keep on plodding on though.

Neil

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When did you get back into WoW? You must have been keeping the fact you're playing a secret the characters 65! :)

Vodkashok said...

About two and a half months ago. Not really a secret, more just not screaming from the rooftops about it. And no 10 hour sessions on a Saturday either. A totally different approach to playing the game.

Neil