Industrygothica's "Those Left Behind" [OOC]

[Leif]

how about a BMT sandwitch? that would be a bacon, mutton and tomatoe. on rye bread with a dab of mayonaise... most delicious!

That sounds like a good start, but I have a definite feeling that Uulark would also add copious amounts of onion and horseradish. Not me, personally, though: sounds like a ticket to in-di-GES-tion of the severest variety. (Not to mention halitosis in the first degree!)

 

[Leif]

I guess most of you guys already knew this, but I didn't realize that we've had a bona fide celebrity game designer right here in our midst: yep, our own little Friadoc. This was his post recently in one of the discussion threads about layoffs at WotC:

"Damn, that's a sad list, like any layoff list would be, but I owe Jonathan Tweet for the first freelance job I did, thanks my selection heading a 3e playtest team. Between playtesting 3e, which lead to some 3e product testing and some pre-release 3e PHBs, I had a head start or designing magic items, which landed my artifact, the Tear of Mormo, in Relics & Rituals and, thus, my first paid gig.

My best wishes and hopes for those laid off, hopefully things will turn around for them, quickly, as I know being laid off sucks, big time, as I've been laid off, twice, in the past handful of years, and I'm still recovering from it.

Best of wishes and luck to you and yours, people."
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Robert N. Emerson
Magister of Glen Ravin - Down, but up again soon.
The Emerson Papers - Personal Blog
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[Scott DeWar]

Are the tomatoes fresh, and the lettuce nice and crisp?

They're so perky. I love that.

the 'maters are from my own garden and the lettuce is fresh Romain.

 

[Leif]

Speaking of "lettuce" (as in the green folding kind with pix o' presidents) and 'maters (as in flinging them at the heads of your former bosses), I seem to recall a recent spate of difficulty that you had Friadoc. Unfortunately, I've slept since then and so can't fully remember what it was all about, but I think a job may have been involved? Anyway, just wondering how you're doing in that regard now, and if things have, hopefully, righted themselves for you. (At least somewhat, if not totally.)

 

[Friadoc]

Oh, now that's a loaded word, Leif, although I appreciate the thought and sentiment of it, I am not a celebrity, not in the least, although I have done some playtesting and some game design work. To give you some perspective of where I am coming from with that comment, my lifetime income from all things related to freelance role-playing game design and development is, maybe, between one hundred and two hundred dollars, American, over an eight year period.

My celebrity is more on the level of the folks you see for American idol who do not get picked, but avoid making a fool out of themselves. Who knows, maybe if I do good in the Pathfinder Society Open Call, or this years RPG Superstar, then I can, tentatively, acquiesce to such a compliment.

Thanks, though, as it is cool to be noticed, although one of these days I would really like for it to be a girl who notices, instead of a dude. Seriously, thus far, it is always dudes. I even have had a couple of fan letters, from dudes, talking about games, asking questions, and so forth, but no dudettes. Now, if my boat floated in dude waters, it'd be awesome, but...yeah, nope.

Seriously, though, thanks.

Now, as for my life and troubles, I'm doing okay. I'm still out of work, but thankfully it has allowed me to focus on my school work and I'll have earned my Associates this March, which I am looking to see about leveraging into a program at my local college, the Oregon Institute of Technology. They have a nice Applied Psychology program, which when leveraged with an Associates in Criminal Justice, could make for some interesting opportunities. Once the Associates Degree is done, I am gonna apply for a few licenses here in Oregon, one for private security and the other for investigation, see what I can do there, while also going to school.

While I have applied for a few jobs, thus far nothing has panned out, although my unemployment is still fairly solid and my living expenses are modest (the house payment is only $395 for a three bedroom two-story house with a basement and a garage), so I'm doing okay.

After several months with no tabletop games, that should be changing this weekend, which is cool, as I have been way too much of a hermit, lately.

Anyhow, as I said, all is good, just different, and although I am not floating in ducats, I am not homeless or destitute, either, so I've got that going for me.

 

[industrygothica]

A bonafide game designer eh? I guess that leaves me a lot to live to up for this game, eh?

Actually, I did know that, as I've talked to you about the freelance stuff before. Just jealous I've never been able to come up with anything solid enough to submit anywhere.

 

[Friadoc]

A bonafide game designer eh? I guess that leaves me a lot to live to up for this game, eh?

Actually, I did know that, as I've talked to you about the freelance stuff before. Just jealous I've never been able to come up with anything solid enough to submit anywhere.

Since I can, as it is my own freelance career that I will refer to in such a manner, I will let you in on my secret, it is called the shotgun effect. Basically, when the desire hits me, I blast away at ideas, good and bad, and see what sticks, by sticks I mean what a publisher decides that they like.

As an example, with my first credit, the Tear of Mormo in Relics & Rituals, I submitted about, twenty things, give or take, and only the artifact was selected. It earned me about eight bucks, but it was published, textually and mechanically, exactly as I had submitted it. Plus, it got a half page of unique art, something that has not happened for me, to my knowledge, since.

My next credit is in Bastion Press (now DragonWing, I think), in Torn Asunder, where I had about six items, out of about three dozen, published. Now, to be honest, I would have to look again to remember which ones, as it has been a few years. Again, the paycheck was not anything awesome, most my freelance stuff, thus far, as been more emotional paychecks than fiscally sound ones.

Lastly, Ronin Arts has the credit of putting my name on the cover of a product, in which I was the only designer, which was Athenaeum Arcane: Esoteric Libraries. I am fairly certain I made the most, to date, off of this product, since it was a residuals sharing one, and I am fairly sure I bought an extra copy of Arcana Evolved with the money from this, so that I could share it with one of the folk at my table.

Now I have done some free work since then, over at Delver's Square, when I was more active there, but over half of the stuff that I have submitted to publishers, well over half, has never seen the light of day and was round filed. So, thus, don't knock yourself.

Honestly, it does not have to be solid or a masterpiece, it just has to be what a publisher wants to see and trying is half of the learning, I know it was for me. Up until the d20 surge, with the release of 3e, I never sent anything to Dragon or Dungeon, out of fear, and odds are I shouldn't have avoided it, since I would most likely be further ahead now, than I am. So, my advice, take a shot at it, goodness knows I enjoy your games, your writing, and I have fun, which is an important chunk of what folks like about writers.

 

[Friadoc]

Oh a side note, sadly, I could talk about myself, my opinions, and my thoughts all day, everyday, without realizing it. If I really start to drag on, in the words of Sam Kinison, Kill Me.

Seriously, though, I am not as self obsessed as I can seem, I swear, but if you like my thoughts, visit the bottom two blogs in my signature, read some stuff, click some ads, and I should be able to write more and more.

 

[industrygothica]

...goodness knows I enjoy your games, your writing, and I have fun, which is an important chunk of what folks like about writers.

The writing is what it's all about to me. I love to create, love to plot out stories... unfortunately it's getting it on the paper that's the difficult part. Sometimes, after all the thought and planning, the words just don't come to me. And then there are some people around here (but I won't mention Shayuri's name) that make me, and most other mortal beings, look completely amateurish when it comes to the written word.


-IG

 

[Friadoc]

The writing is what it's all about to me. I love to create, love to plot out stories... unfortunately it's getting it on the paper that's the difficult part. Sometimes, after all the thought and planning, the words just don't come to me. And then there are some people around here (but I won't mention Shayuri's name) that make me, and most other mortal beings, look completely amateurish when it comes to the written word.


-IG

It'll come, you just have to find your voice and hone it. Myself, I talk stuff out, a lot, when I am writing it, plus I have gotten in the habit of writing like I speak, for discussions, but also adjusting how I speak, so that it is in a more literate manner. If you can think something up, trust me, the hard part is over and all you have to do is paint the picture.

If writing it down is hard, just start with blathering the idea onto paper, or what not, and then editing it down into a workable thing. One of my other big issues is organizational work, or I should say self-organizing, as I suck at it. Now, oddly enough, I can help someone else get their act together without even breaking a sweat, which has helped in the project management things that I have done before, but getting my own act together...well, I often throw myself into the deep end of the pool and wait until the last possible moment, as my feet touch the bottom of the pool, before I try and swim.

The whole reason my G.P.A. is a 3.67 is because I don't write papers until before they are do, so thus I pound out quality work, fearfully, and thus put some extra spirit into it. Of course, the reason my G.P.A. isn't a 4.0 is because of this same thing, as I miss little things, from time to time.

Anyhow, find ways to jot the ideas down, be it a small pen and pad in your pocket, using Microsoft's OneNote on your computer, private online journals, or a tape recorder in the pocket, as it'll help. Narrate to yourself and then act like your own steno pool, and transcribe it later.