It’s the far side of a very long day. I was up too terribly late with my daughter (roughly 3 a.m. or so) watching The Walking Dead. She’s never seen it, but got interested in it because of the video game. As for myself? I’ve read the graphic novels, and have enjoyed the series (more or less) fairly well. Not avid, mind you, but interested. Today was spent working on some mockups for some as yet unannounced stuff as well as attending to various managerial bits of minutiae I shall not bore you, the viewing audience with. Suffice to say, [...]

Today, on the Reality Blurs’ Facebook page, I asked, “Why do I create so much work for myself?” It wasn’t meant to be whiny or self-pitying or any of another hundred things. And no one took it that way. Not really. They said things varying from humorous to downright nice. The real question wasn’t that, at least not to myself, but I didn’t feel that was the place to peel back the mask and get down into it. I thought I’d do that here. You see, I put a lot of myself into my work. It’s not like it’s any [...]

Some folks liken any discussion about “The Process” as ugly work akin to making sausage. Well, you’re not gonna get that here. Nope. The way we do it is is all assembly line vegetables. We give you what you need, and you will eat it. Okay. Let me reel that back a bit. Game design requires one to be somewhat schizoid. Got that? A good, old fashioned mental disorder used for good. You have these voices in your head. Some say do this. Some say do that. Ultimately, they are broken down into four discrete camps. 1. The Creator: This [...]

Some folks, heck, some of you even, may think game books (or any book for that matter) is written in a clear, precise fashion. Certainly, this is largely true for support materials which don’t rely so heavily on the design aspect of the process. When it comes to the rules parts, anything goes. The short answer is: it’s not so clean cut. Game designers are one part analyst, one part writer, and three parts crazy. We have to sort out design goals. We have to make certain things make sense. We have to make certain they are both crystal clear [...]

Evidently, a good number of you guys pay attention to what we do. How about that? After nearly eight years of waving my arms, wailing for attention, and general huckstering, you are actually paying attention to me, and what the Blur puts out. I must admit, this makes me a bit nervous. But, more than anything, it makes me grateful. Your outpouring and generosity and, yes, sometimes, even your criticisms, keep things moving. If you criticize, you see, I know you’re paying attention. And, there is no doubt in my mind you are. In the past week, there have been [...]

Today, I did some tweaks on the layout at the behest of my editorial team. Bullet points were added in here and there, a few minor revisions, but nothing of great substance. It’s kind of like when you get dressed up in your Sunday best and you’re brushing your sleeves, combing your hair for the hundredth times, and making sure your clothes aren’t wrinkled. You look fine. You know it. Still, since you have time, you fiddle just a bit. The trick is not to fiddle too much. You can get so engrossed with picking every little loose strand on [...]

The upside of not running a mega-company is accountability typically lies within rather than without. After posting yesterday, I realized my general ramblings may have made some of you think we were not continuing development for Savage Worlds. Please realize, that is definitely not the case. I’ve been posting here religiously regularly over the last few years and a number of you cats follow along and, while most of you are quiet, I totally dig you taking a slice of your day to see where my headspace is and what I’m up to. Despite casualness and trappings to the contrary, [...]

The other day, my buddy, Ron Blessing wrote a sort of wish list of what he’d like to see in his perfect game. If you want the specific details, check out RoleplayDNA. At any rate, I think what he’s talking about is kind of like the Questing Beast from Camelot. You may have fun looking for it (like physicists and their cold fusion), but the odds are you’re not gonna be the guy to find it. Okay, maybe not quite the Questing Beast, but the Holy Grail. Are you pious enough to get your mitts on it, let alone catch [...]

When I was in college, there was The Market in downtown Charleston and there were these ladies there who would lay out their baskets week in and week out. They were made from scratch. These ladies always had regular customers come rain or shine and they were there despite the latest craze or new thing that people in the stalls around would be selling. They always had smiles on their faces, and when they weren’t swarmed with customers, they worked on their wares and took pure enjoyment in what they did. Sure, they made their livings at this, but you [...]

It’s no idea I’ve been among those who have come with neat ideas while reading books. You’re most likely to say, well sure, if you’re reading a western, you’ll get a western idea, a samurai book, an eastern idea, and so on. It gets far more interesting when you’re reading something completely different from what you’re working on. For example, I do a lot of research when I’m getting neck deep in the development of a setting. There are times, though, when you are out of the weeds and you’re able to let your eyes survey the landscape, the horizon. [...]