Transparency in Communication and in Deals

TL:DR i noticed that you can spend time and money on marketing or transparency in game kickstarters or biz projects. I'm in favor of smart transparency, less noise and simpler to deal with. sadly its not the practice.

I guess this can apply to many other communities, but I'm more interested in the Gamer Market. I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to funding Kickstarters. One of the annoying thing of funding such projects is the lack of Transparency or the ability to Ask Questions to a real person (not that FAQ crap). Given the many and recent Kickstarter Failures and Scandals (despite Funding) the frustration grew because of the tools we have available.

Establishes lines of communitation: the business plan

The basic business plan. Some part of the business plan should be available to the funders. By Business plan I mean, I they are going to get the product to the people (logistics), and who are their target market (market analysis). I know its a requirement that is PISSING off people because Paypall is being shrewed about it, but given the recent scandals it should be a requirement with all, and this business plan should be visible to anyone who is risking hard earn money on the people.

If one is seeking funding outside one's target market, then make it clear who your market is. Many kickstarters and starting projects are made by the producer and marketing is something done ad hoc. So often these small projects can't communicate it effectively. Its forgivable if its a project of a few dollars, and goal that are equal to a few months of pay but the product's comparable market value is better than those established online.

Larger projects, strangely has no time to report to stakeholders (anyone who has a stake in the product, including the people who bought it and have yet to see it).  I mean there is Google OnAir! One has no excuses to set aside 0.5-1 hour taking questions (and you can have a volunteer type up the FAQ as one asks, since you are using the same FAQ for all other events, you can just direct repetitive questions to FAQ. )

Open Systems Promises

I'm a big fan of  Open Systems, either computer based or for tabletop. There was an allegedly, Open project that is currently seeking funding but unlike the other Open Projects they did not make the code available to begin with. In fact, they promised to give USBs with the code to the larger backers... why would you need that if the code is open and available? Its basically because the kind of "deception" one can do for an employer (doing X for employer but also doing Y with the same money and time) can be the same kind of deception to a faceless mass of backers.

Open Communities have many idealists, but I think one should never take forgranted the good will and trust given by an open community. I mean that you give them the information and report to them without them Asking. Such practice is expected merely because of professionalism and not because of being Open. Open implies broader boundaries of transparency and information sharing, you can tell people that your not meeting some ideals and how much a certain ideal would cost in time and money.

Its like I want X but I need Y to go with it, because professionally this is optimum in the industry. I tell people we can do X with the budget and it would take an arm and leg for Y (pretty much stretch goals).

Work with the Crowd

Good communication is setting reasonable expectations, and opening up your Notes (sure you can reveal everything or very little) allows you to be able to get corrections quickly and immediately. Why go for Crowdfunding if you don't intend to Crowdsource some of the editing and corrections. I mean feedback as fast and soon as possible is GOLD! the ability to adapt and correct youself or at least have another point of view is valuable. Especially the opinions of people who really care for you to succeed.

Milestones and Celebrations. I think they should be at about 2x a month or every two weeks if its part-time OR every week if it is a fulltime project. This includes the onAir discussion. this really depends on the kind of project. If I were to do one, I would do it part time but have a couple of full time people working on it while I do logistics, marketing, and executive product design decisions. When that person higher up Answers to everyone and scores (an ability to measure consumer confidence at the end of the show would be awesome).

Prepare for Trolls

What if: Assholes and Trolls, one of the key tests of business (especially being well rounded professionally). Despite how much preparation and expertise you can bring to the table Assholes and Trolls adhominem and ignore all Technical and factual answers. If you've been in an encounter where every answer you give, the other side makes you to look like the worse person in the world lolz. I know a particular business practice where personal attacks are part of "Business" (which is bullshit if you ask me, when is personal attacks being PROFESSIONAL?). You gotta take the bad with the good, in business.

I do not consider harsh constructive criticism as part of this kind of bad, it is easy to Frame harsh criticism in the voice of an over-demanding Mentor but pure personal attacks are really what they are: pure personal attacks. Benefit of the Doubt, or what everyone else calls  naivety is a state of mind that can prevent a knee jerk reaction to personal attacks or what appears as  personal attacks. Its best to Ask everyone one else if that is a personal attack before responding to block a person for not keeping within the medium and topic of discussion.

Don't Gamble with other Peoples money

like Stu Veneble of Happy Jacks, I whole heartedly agree with his idea that: Do the project first, then get funding for it. What is essential in this strategy is you DO NOT GAMBLE AWAY your credibility. You can FAIL and having never let that Failure touch your credibility you can TRY AGAIN! Like the many kickstarters that made funding but failed, and seem to get funded again and again I think Paypall, Kickstarter and Indiegogo shouldn't let these people ever ask for funding if they fail to deliver.

Having done the project first also means you have a GOOD track record, your practically done and just adding Stretch goals as a bonus. The cost of implementing reasonable stretch goals are   

If you did the project ahead, what will naturally come up is Mothballing the project to give yourself some time to have a different mindset and be able to see if the product with a different perspective. If your cynical self goes back and begins to believe in the project again: Go ahead. 

This is important because you want to time your project in periods where there are not many other competing projects, and since you can deliver by the end of the month or two, 

The RPG Business is exhausting to puzzle

Its 2013 and GURPS 4e is now about 9 years old. Prior to GURPS 4e, GURPS 3e was 1988. The product cycle can be seen in the wiki. It looks like there is going to be continued support and products continually coming for as long as the 3e. Hopefully its going to exceed the 16 years of 3e.

That said, can a business survive in this Long Game? New versions is a way to consolidate all the new rules and learnings into one reorganized package?

I'm so glad I'm not in the RPG business, because those are hard questions. There is so much theory and marketing that goes into the business, that sadly, a great product is not enough. I've come to appreciate support and community, and that also is not enough. There is also that Perception and Reputation that gets annoying, that really is the most exploited in business as it does not need to be grounded in reality (it just needs to be a little grounded) and the emotional temperment and fickle nature of consumers.

Can you believe economics and trade is build over such fragile and illusionary concepts of value?

Everyone has their preferred system, but not all systems are equal. In all the preferences and perception, there is some reality to be found despite our childhood nostalgia and fanboy enthusiasm. Some systems can be said to be "mathematically" simple and elegant, to others "WTF is MATH doing in a story telling exercise?!". In gaming the RPG market one can approach the lowest common denominator OR creative and thrive in a niche.

The more I look at what makes a succesful product, the more it is the marketing and not the product. Because the "market" is that one advantage that once you have it, for what ever reason you gained it, you pretty much just have to figure out how it would happily part with its money. Again i'm so glad I'm not in this business.

All skills are not equal, and marketing (propaganda and merchant in GURPS) does not need to have a great product, you just need to gain peoples trust (OR just make everyone else appear as a worse option) and you can build that great product while people wait for it, even if a better one is out there which no one trusts. (this is basic customer support and public relations).

Its not even about credibility, one can be in the market for the longest time and has one of the best track record in a business analysis metric, but its worth squat if the market is not the kind to shell out cash.

So how do you win the RPG business game? You grow out of it, you adapt your IP to be more than just RPG material.  You create worlds, build stories, and use that internally consistent expertise into a new experience.

I was talking to a friend about trying to supplemental our income, and puzzling all this it seemed pointless. Of course, the only thing going is all that imagination we got from playing. I realized might as well use that and pursue Blender, programming, art and story telling. Build those up and have fun with it, make in a way you can share it. Or make a way for others can build up their worlds easier.

The way we game is changing, with this technology that can "bring a lot to the table" literally. I'm thinking, hopefully we can be part of it.

Bull Pup version of STG44

Poor lighting is a great way to hide the flaws. Lolz. 

I wanted to make WW2 gun updates since they should be "public domain" by now and the rights to them should free and available. I like the Stg 44 and even had for a short time impoverished myself to buy the Airsoft Version. 

To WW2 people this gun is Blasphemy lolz. You have to thank +bobby navarro for getting me into ww2 since this was the GURPS games he ran and his traveller games had a WW2 flavor in them. (i even have my own german soldier uniform). WW2 is an expensive hobby, until maybe 3d printers or a friend with machining tools and a garage of easy access. 

So this is actually made for IMSU (in my sci-fi universe) and my GURPS modern campaign. This is the "standard" gun and has the reputation for durability and ease of production at the expense of precision. There are many variants that cater to Doctrine of various States and Militaries. There are 7.62x39mm versions to Nato 7.62 to 5.56 to 10-15mm caseless rounds. 

It ejects cartridges where the original STG44 would have its sight. (I will details this if i have the time) throwing the casing (if any) forward and front. The designs of so many variations litter the web and many emerging economies find this very easy to produce with stamped sheet metal and wood or plastic. 

I was able to use Google Hangout with +James Austin to test out doing blender in On Air and it works. It works and wow, its a great learning tool too bad I don't have skills worth teaching that would have people pay good money for Lolz! 

 

 

Open Computing (Any System)

If you just look at FLOPS Magnitude of Computing you pretty much get the benchmark for computer stats. I tend to have to refer to these stats when I do Rendering in 3d or When we build out a Server Rack for Dialers, or When i want to buy a new computer and I want to know what their stats are. Since NO ONE seems to put their computing stats in FLOPS (shifting standards for measuring computer performance is a b*tch) there is Passmark.

Simply type the Processor and Passmark and you will get the passmark rating. You "Add Up" passmark or FLOPS for multi-core/thread computing. Servers basically fulffil the role of allowing you to Stack as much CPUs in one computer as possible. You want to migrate to FLOPS since its an open standard.

Related to Both Computer and 3d is Graphic Card Processors or GPU (Graphic Processing Units) pretty much the a CPU dedicated to graphics. Its relevance is because Nvidia, like ARM, are now in the CPU industry (doing a Honda where they produced Anciliary and smaller versions of the main industry and growing to the point their technology allows them to compete with the big boys).

So basically Graphic Cards allow 1 computer to have multi-core processing like a Server up to the number of GPU Slots the computer's other parts can take (and boy the wattage and heat generated by these badboys).

Now that you know some basic overview of computing power you can figure out how simple it is to make a computer metric system for games.
Just Get the FLOPS and the Exponent as the Rating. if you go to magnitude of computing you will notice we are in the Giga-Flops range 1 to 900 x10^9. If you check Passmark (Convert it to Flops at around 8894 PM the  Intel Core-i7 980X but in FLOPS  147.6 or around 60PM to 1GigaFLop or 1x10^9; Pentium III 311PM to 1.4x10^9 = 230 PM so this is not a very precise system; note that you can "overclock" a computer but I don't know by how much does it improve performance; Note FLOPS and passmarks converted with simple math wont' cut it in the real world but its a great benchmark non-computer scientists).

In classic Traveller you can divide the FLOPS performance ranges into TLs. Servers and few Computers can "stack" their CPUs. Typically they have a Limit in how much can be stacked.

The GM can set a "Standard Computer" (a desktop board) weight, cost and FLOP rating and give it Extra Processing Slots. he can also set "Server" stats (pretty much a heavier Computer designed to fit as a slim pizza box into a "Cabinet" Server Rack) there is also the "blade" server. Smaller more compact computers to fit as "VCR cassete" (but much heavier) sized blades into a specialized server rack.

Pricing seems to double. Standard Computer is about $1000 w/ 1 CPU with variance of performance and cost (only taking GPUs which still need to be modded to do other stuff than graphics). Pizza Box Server is at about $2000 having higher end 2 CPUs that are double the performance of a Computer (effectively x4),  a blade server is about $4000 but only comes with 2xCPUs using up one slot out of 16 (these typically are in divisors of 8 or 4) each "blade" costs about $2000 (your are paying for the size reduction).

Note that there are Open Compute Versions of all these. Which I think a Sci-fi setting would be moving towards because of the "NSA" backdoor problem. ?Democratic Anarchy vs Representative Plutocracy?

Programs consume Computing Resource (See your task manager or system manager of your computer) its an accounting thing, that can be simplified by the same Threshold based systems in "Abstract Wealth" system or "Abstract Damage" system. Having certain thresh-holds where every additional burden penalizes the computer's performance till nothing can run (sounds familiar?) and running a program has diminishing returns (allocating a server to run Libre Office doesnt make the experience so much better, but you can open a ton of documents!).  

Just Take a number like 4 and say this is the benchmark and standard for X task (where X may be an amazing feat like doing ships accounting in under a minute and market analysis of all future options given the data in the time it takes up upload the data). Without it task will be -4. now for every addition of Y program of B size your 4 is reduced by 1. Every additional program reduces performance by 1 and the benchmark feat degrades.

Its mostly about setting benchmarks in RPG system mechanics. Clearly defined ones that are well thought off are awesome.
++++++++++++

Best CPU to Cost Ratio. A simple way to pick a good cpu is seeing how much passmarks (you can covert it to flops later) to $cost$.Note what kind of CPU this is by clicking on the CPU. It might be a great value but its only 850passmarks (where a 2008 computer averages 1100-1500 passmarks; computers like my newly purchaed notebook is at 3000 5 years later). You can do the same with Graphics Cards.

So Ideally for 3d Rendering I get a $1.2k/Php60,000 gaming computer with a large mother board and use the GPU benchmarks to get 2-4 $160-180 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (probably importing it from HK because it would be a b*tch to import into the Philippines electronic hardware without gross price barriers) Having about 4500+(3500x3) passmarks under the hood for Rendering. this will allow me to use the "rendered" viewport (a very low render view to see if all the lighting and textures are in the right places) while I work. Ouch thats Php100k where am I gonna get that kind of money lolz. To dream...

I wonder if there is an App that allows me to measure my computer (phone and notebook) in FLOPS? oh well.

Sigh, oh open computing. open and transparent standards, would be something of a Sci-fi Discussion. Particularly regarding 3-Laws of Robotics, would it be part of AI hard wiring and tampering with the 3LR in a computer.

added Notes and update
Encryption is Easier to Crack (from MIT).

Overclocking. There are so many variables in architecture that its up to the Game Designer to dictate assumptions about processors and how they are used to push them beyond their safe operating margins (see system bottlenecks in the article).

Learning Circles

Made a "Profile" regarding Learning using Google Hangouts. Just opening up opportunities to meet people and learn things, and find other people of the same interests and want to learn things through sharing experiences and talking about various topics and subjects.

By this method my Real-World munchkin-ness reveals itself by how I exploit such a medium like Google Hangouts to try to make connections and possibly discover something new. I try to make time to have discussions online regarding various gaming topics, fulfilling my curiosity regarding what other people think about.

Anyway, making this known and visible, not just to my Circles. I should have done this simultaneously when I made that Learning Community in Google+ but it just occurred to me recently.

I guess such should be advertised in a way, like "Learner" or something.

Simple Suit Creation Process (any system);

Very Simple Suit Creation process because its mostly hand-waving and light math.

Just look at the following benchmarks

• Human Surface area 1.5sqm or about 15sqft (includes head, neck, and extra space for flexibility). 
• Surface are for just clothing (exposing extremities like head, hands, feet) 1sqm or 10sqft
• Torso is about 0.5sqm or 6sqft to get the full suit just x3. (the wife and my mother sews, and I got some sewing books) It takes as much material to sew a jacket as pants. It takes almost as much material to sew long sleeves as to sew a vest (but who wears vests?) 
• Weight of a Full Space (Orlan Space Suit 130-250lbs or 60kg to 120kg) 
• Weight of a Full Plate 60lbs or 27kgs

with the given surface area you can work backwards from various historical benchmarks

Sq-Cubed rule thingy magic. Increase the size by double increase the weigh by x8-x10 or increase the size by 50% x2.8-x3 the weight.


Cost is about the Infrastructure and Economy 
Cutting edge 2MB was millions when it was first introduced and now just $20 and you can get 32GB flash disk (then there is resitive ram that promises Terrabyte flashdisks) Platearmor was about the cost of fair's ransom or about 20-30% a knights annual revenues, but with machining tools as cheap and available a full suit can built at a fraction of what it used to cost counting inflation.
Cost of a pinnacle dragon scale ballistic armor is around $5k (if you make it full body its going to be around $15k)
Cost of a Space Suit in their era is about $2M but mass produced and an economy geared towards the use of this would make its cost go down. pretty much the value of a car and all as much variety, with standards, and common features.

Same rules can be used to make armor, clothing, and life support suits.

re-learning 3d Graphics again :P

Relearning 3d again. Its much easier now than when I first learned it in 2007 but in blender instead of 3ds Max. Before I was in denial that I can learn game design without learning programming and I have finally accepted all the work that is going to be needed. 

What's its relationship to gaming? I've been frustrated building ships with game rules and I want to just use the existing infra others have built and just make a freaking way to bring my imaginations to reality. 

I'm frustrated making hardware for GURPS cause after playing around with the ballistics spreadsheet I've hit a wall and I can't get my ship combat off the ground implementing the some well known "hacks" that screw up standard ship combat doctrine. 

Relearning this skill has brought back some memories of long nights, several burn-outs, and overly-naive-and-ambitious projects. My training as an analyst and a manager should put some strategy in learning much faster and plugging as many hours in this.

Oh well, hopefully by sept I can get back to full skillset (being able to do basic modeling projects at realistic or clean renders)... whoah i'm getting flashbacks lolz.

Is there a bias against ak? Scientific damage

Ok GURPS calculates damage based on barrel length, diameter and mass of the bullet. The ak101 is an ak that uses the same rounds as an M4/m16.

In GURPS high tech ak101's 410mm barrel deals a little less damage than the m16 508mm and more than the m4's 370mm barrel. At least 5d-1 (average of 16.5), vs 17.5 of m16 or 16 of the m4. Just a .5 better damage.

Anyway it seems that GURPS is not using joules or kinetic energy for damage so I hope I can claim this and make it open - meaning anyone can use joules * area of impact/effect * mechanical efficiency as an open method of calculating damage.

By this method an ak47 does more damage at 2100 joules. I don't know where that bias is coming from, although I've never touched a real ak I can from thinking about it see how 2100 joules will screw you with recoil.

Waiting for my dad to get back from south Africa so he can transfer his gun to me, so I can learn to shoot real steel. Mulling the grey area of Philippine gun ownership, regarding assault weapons - sigh- some weapons are cheaper than the airsoft version.

Local Artist Leads

Surprisingly looking for artists and checking their capability takes a lot of time...  Anyway I am looking for more local artist for the mapping. I told my friend, who is in the University of the Philippines Fine Arts College, that I'm looking for both for professional or amateur.

I'm slowly moving towards a bias to professional... but lurking in the Cartographer's Guild, there are not any identifiable Filipino Cartographers. There are many Filipino Artists... Illustrators, all making a great living in comics. Those guys don't need my money, as much as a start-up, but hey.

Filipino Artists who find this blog - Check out the Forgotten Realms Map.  Give me a quotation based on your ability to make such a map. As a test, make a map close to the standards of the FR map but a size

Anyway basic rules with artists, as a former artist

1. No free work - I will pay for custom samples. Of course I can ask for quotes and what should I expect. The two artists I'm talking to are completely outside the Cartography Illustration.  
2. No piracy please - use open source PLEASE... I think it is unfair to the honest others who use open source or paid for their tools, and have to scrimp and save to pay for them. If they use their work places tools, I might lose the rights to the work they are supposed to assign me, after payment. For ethical practices
3. Vector Graphics Map - this means the art may be zoomed in continuously, allowing for an insane amount of detail a GM or myself may want to add in the future. Empowering GMs by making tools that are easily modifiable for them. Allowing them to adjust and alter the map. 
4. Expectation of Professionalism and Smart work process - like finding ways to communicate ideas effectively. 
5. Must factor rework into expectations. 

For the Novices - this I recommend this process, because it will come in handy if I critique the work and will judge it not passable professionally.

From Trying to Game Work
Its a surprise to me it is applicable to project management. I guess the thing about Art is that each project has a LARGE emotional investment when you are starting out, and you learn to divorce emotional investment as you start working. Emotions have to be managed and keenly focused in aspects that won't affect your ability to make strategic decision making while executing the project. 

1. Make more than One sketch. (Make more than one plan)
2. Take the opportunity of the additional sketches to try the other plausible strategies. (each plan must exploit different theoretical strengths and scenarios)
3. Visualize and plan out everything, maybe even write it down. (detail the scenario planning) 
4. If possible make time to finish at least 2 at 60% using the 1/2 the time you have to execute your project to see how things go. (narrow down to 2 scenarios that encompass the key threats but are flexible enough to fix most of the potential ones).
5. Finish early and have some time remaining to sleep over what you have done, and enough time to make small alternations. (pre-ops check, don't over think or over do)
6. When making alterations, list down what you want to do then ct it down to half or 1/3.

Do this repeatedly and accept the failures, despite personal standards of taste or perfection. Note that what counts most is the opportunity to practice and implement a learned skill/mindset/theory. Even if it costs a failure, the practice is very important, thus the opportunity to retreat to fight another day more is important. Choose the option which gives you more practice vs immediate success/failure until you are in a level where success is very certain.  

Specializing - multi tasking

I am commissioning a map, which I plan to detail with some economic information. I'm familiar with enough of the economics and the variables that I can make the details of an area my problem is the seed - w/c is the geography itself.

My differation strategy is using standards we find in work/biz and studies that can allow us to save mental space and transfer real world skills into the game. Also filling a niche that is modular - rpg and war gaming and the hybrid of both.

I hope to publish something I can charge by next year. Just to have something of great quality and workmanship with my name on it. Also filling that niche I can provide by my odd mix of skills and interests.

I'm sure it will break even and do well because I plan to attack a problem that I feel i am suited to fix w/c is (trade secret) :p

Wish me luck, hope I can find a skilled and affordable artist. I should really contact my UP fine arts contacts for talent :p

Gaming, the Future of Education

It is easier and easier to cheat understanding with all the access of the internet. In one of the forums I'm part of, someone tried to use it to get answers for their homework instead of generating their own ideas by reading up on the matter. Being a nerd and part of a "diploma" factory and a friend who is working in my alma matter trying to teach Game Design and theory, I find it highly annoying to learn that out of 40+ students, only 10% is actually really interested in gaming and the rest are in it for the "easy" grade just because the term GAME is in the preface to the subject matter.

In the Philippines, there is no serious course for Game Theory or Game Design, and such disrespect for the subject matter is only natural given how education has really degraded in the country. because of government spending targeting the middle class, which can already afford education instead of the Struggling and Poor education is taken for granted by those who can easily afford it. The value of education goes down when Colleges like my alma mater are there to catch drop outs, and the general attitude where meritocracy doesn't matter as much as family and connections makes for a slothful professional environment over all and instigates the countries brain drain.

Looking forward, the only way to prevent "cheating" understanding is by making education more practical, hands on, more quickly gratifying, and less frustrating. That is where gaming will be in the future, I presume. The future is for the Parents who use gaming or who communicate the attitude that learning and Nerdy knowledge is fun to their children despite the stress and problems of their own educational systems.

My economic lessons have also made me aware of Americas metrics regarding education. (source Timothy Tailor) I admire that America is still one of the Highest spender to education in the world, and still generates most of the technological advance. From an economic and strategic perspective, Government spending on Social Goods are always subject to economies of scale. The Progress to more accountable and publicly efficient kind of health care services and social projects is what will improve the educational turn out and not just throwing money at education. The point of diminishing returns has been reached with some aspects of education, and resources is best reallocated to other tertiary or adjunct problems where the returns are much greater and complimentary.

Like in Neo-confucianism, All good must be tackled in the same time follows an a practical economic truth and not just a philosophical one. Families that benefit from government social good will bring down the cost of parental involvement in helping in children and their education... this also includes the parent's own pursuit of education and knowledge.

I envy the american school system that allows even the poorest a good quality education and a fighting chance to change their quality of life. As for the Philippines, distractions are abundant in politics, theocracy, rabble rouser, and terrorists.

The only chance my own kids will ever have at a decent education is If I am a mega nerd take a lot of time to communicate my value for knowledge, learning, details and enthusiasm through gaming. In the end, after the complication of economic, political and social challenges Gaming will win out as the best chance the next generation has.

*yes my alma matter was admittedly design to cater to the rejects of colleges, like myself. In a crystallized education system LONG outdated those who do not conform to the Parroting Text and teachers who ask their students to do Collages of the subject matter. Thats what happens when social justice has been ignored, and throwing money at education was the preferential expense. Over time, injustice adds up and inequality arises. Those who thrive on top has the least to gain from public education and have very few people to keep them accountable.

When america came and gave us universal education, through public schools, our entrenched oligarchy would eventually eat away the benefits of a more education and active population when they left. Social justice is not socialism, its accountability for a fairer system not punishing the Innovators as people who demonize sides or those who seek to profit from the power-shift would advertise.

Got the idea to write this after reading my Criminology for Dummies by Steven Briggs and how Gaming and Economics factored into it. Gaming is so powerful and educational tool, its nice to know there is a growing interest in it in blogs about Game Theory, Cognitive Bias (Dan Ariely's Blog), and Psychology (Psychology of Video Games).

Bore the hell out of people with Criminology for Dummies in your Games :P Useful knowledge that can protect you, happens to fun, and is useful to pass on.

Answering Sources; Old School Inspired Tinkering

Answering Sources. Ancient Empires before Alexander is a great read. As for Anarchangels's question regarding taxation. Sorry I don't have a detailed account of my sources. I'm only an amateur and I don't exactly have a degree in History.

Most of my inductions is from looking at practical economics and applying it to the romans and Persians they understood it intuitively. Wagon designs, type of draft animal (mostly donkeys or onagers), before the metal reinforcement of the wheel, and limitation of wood quality, and very few specialists will severely limit the capacity per individual wagon.

The mention of Egypt and their importation of lumber was already a clue that many empires were not as wealthy to transport good quality hardwood for wheel making. Imagining the map, looking for locations rich in hardwood, typically colder temperate climates with river access (to send the logs down the river), were so few.

I brushed up o bit on the study of the Lumber process in 19C Philippine Ancestral Houses. Wood is a "modern" convenience by the standards of the time.

I got to looking at the discussion about Tin and Copper trade disruptions. It got me thinking maybe wood was also a valuable commodity that was ignored. If you look at the use of it in a macro-scale: shipping and land transportation, then the reach of empire becomes severely limited by the availability of it.

So if you factor wood as expensive, naturally cost of transportation and exchange of goods will have a different picture. Even with Roman roads, wood wears down quickly. A wagon might be good for a couple of years then replacement is needed. It even makes more sense when you consider that the less frequent they transport, saving up for a seasonal trip, the cheaper all the costs are going to be. Again, more advantageous since seasonal winds can determine the fastest time to go to where.

Economic Principles of Supply and Demand happen regardless of the awareness of the merchants and the consumers. It is only natural that one particular strategy or pattern becomes most cost effective and becomes the "default" method, dominant strategy, until technology changes that.

• Allen, The Persian Empire.
• Cook, The Persian Empire.
• Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire.
• Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander.
• Cook, The Persian Empire.
• Lancel, Carthage.
• Bagnall, The Punic Wars.
• Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage.
• Picard and Picard, The Life and Death of Carthage.
• Warmington, Carthage.
• Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage.

Old School and Economics Inspiration. Tinkering with my Game System again like almost every life long World Building GM, we all have our own homebrew game system. I'm wondering if there is a homebrew system out there that triest to precise in its use of language and science more than a particular "style" .

These days I've been reading about economists, Alfred Marshal has become a hero for me. He reminds me of that the GM who tries to model reality and human behavior correctly by numbers. He is the guy who developed the Supply and Demand Curve which is no mean feat given that 200 years people struggled with the concept. His book principles of economics, is basically the first "game" system that tried to express reality in near Physics-like precision.

Right now, I'm making a Game System based on Old School DnD and my obsession of getting thing scientifically sound. OSRIC's simplicity is refreshing and fun to look at. Of course, even with the simplicity you can still introduce some modern concepts.

Reading OSRIC really struck me how different my world view is now. In fact it helped me define it well, because almost every chapter got me arguing in my head against it. That sounds bad, but I know its fantasy and all but C'mon! 25lbs Zweihanders!?! Wielding a 6ft blade in a confined space!? Thats a freaking 7ft radius, covering areas of 35-70 sq ft.

Sorry, nerd rage.

Game Theory led me to study a lot of other things that are now practically scientifically factual. Like the definition of intuition, rationality, empathy, awareness, concentration etc. Multiple-intelligence theory is makes a lot of sense in game theory because it basically points out that our differences in strengths reflect our differences in strategies in the way we live.

Multiple Intelligence theory fill the gaps very ell and ties up a lot of loose ends. There is a social intelligence and Humans have a particularly specialized set of processors for it. Reading up of psychopaths and autism, the absence and limitations of these different intelligences are more pronounced. You can even observed the trade offs, where some Psychopaths compensate by better rationality and some autistics are, pardon the term, idiot savants.

Diminishing returns, and overspecialization at great cost is observable in both the mind and the body.

As for Strength, Dexterity and Constitution.

Beginning with Strength, I've realized something fascinating in my study of Fight Science: Mass = Strength. Bone and Muscle mass is Strength, the "Magic" happens when Kinesthetics is factored in. The skilled ability to shift weight and center of mass allows a person to multiply the force they exert without building up muscle mass.

Baseball Fast ball pitchers are ~180lbs yet produce 150 kg of force to hurl a ball 45 m/s. Boxers of around 160lbs are able to produce 1000lbs of force. I'm aware "hay-makers" are impractical and baseball throws take almost a second to wind up. Its just that even in attacks that are 1/3 of a second including recoil, how much weight we can put behind in that fraction of a second can change so easily and quickly when the whole body is a lever itself. That height and the balls of our feet allows us to shift in center of gravity very quickly forward and back. Forward adding some mass behind an attack, and back as we step forward stopping the momentum to allow us to move in another direction.

The kinesthetic practice of physical skills basically make attacks more and more effective as they better and better time the blow. I begin to imagine that a the success and force of the attack is based on the opportunity presented and how skilled the warrior is in that opportunity. A successful attack by a great margin represents a warrior who has timed a blow so well as to use up enough of a second (where part of the second is the attack, another part is recovering from that attack), to throw enough weight as to deal enough lethal and stopping damage.

Imagining two ancient fighters of the with their shortswords and medium shields. The attacker shifts his weight down, crashing his shield arm against the other's. Catching him in an angle where his is off balance, forcing him to abandon his previous intent to prevent him from being knocked back which will make him lose precious instances.

From an unanticipated angle, in the instant between two thoughts of the defender, the training of the attacker comes into play. Almost involuntarily, in one smooth motion, he catches back the weight returned by defender. His back leg moves forward encircling around the defenders shield and whipping his arm towards the defender's exposed chest. He puts enough weight to penetrate deeply hardened leather, flesh and bone. Thoughtlessly puncturing vitals and flooding blood into to lungs, stomach and throat. The force exhausted he recovers his weapon, in time to parry a blow from the corner of his vision and put his shield between him and a second attacker.

Dexterity is interchangeable with Strength in combat. Although you need to choose the particular mode of attack to gain the benefit of a higher recovery which is reflected in a defense bonus. Again the economies of action can be observed, when you are shifting a lot of weight and power around and you need just as much time to recover. Dexterity is used in precision based attacks, which has around 1/3 to 1/10 less power. In return a more flexible, unpredictable and adaptive set of movements can be taken since very little of balance is sacrificed.

I'm not sure yet how much more accurate dexterity will be compared to strength based attacks. The relationship is more of a relative difference. I'm not sure yet if I should reflect strength with a penalty instead.

I'm also aware that certain weapon weights are really dependent on its wielders mass. Its all about balance again. Spears and Axes have a couple of problems with balance. The way the sword's pommel counter balances the weight of the blade means it can multiply the speed and therefore the damage exponentially (KE equation) vs weight which multiplies it proportionally.

Weapons which don't fit a certain balance Profile cannot be used with Dex, or with severe limitations. Spears are tricky, since holding it a certain way will limit its movements and reach but increase its speed, while another way gives that all important reach.

Axes are strength based, the ease a stronger person has in wielding it without great loss in recovery is a big advantage. In the curves of damage potential (supply) vs opportunity (demand), the Character will choose his optimal damage potential depending on the available opportunity, as opportunity increases (because of better recovery) there is more damage potential.

No surprise that a 330 lb 6'11" Goliath will have a much easier time wielding the 4lbs 3ft long axe compared to men less strong. Like swords, axes benefit from length. You don't need a huge blade size, like in the fantasy art. Looking at Viking war axes, a small head is all you really need. A stone counter weight wouldn't hurt. When there is no counterweight, the body has to get the mass somewhere, and it takes it from the center of balance which slows the body down. I'm afraid though, this giant will break the axe's wooden shaft unless its reinforced with metal. On a economized attack, he can make an easily generate 855lbs of force concentrated on the narrow line of the axe blade. Definitely would cleave into a 15lb Scutum unless you catch it on the metal boss.

I'm beginning to notice that low center of gravity helps in recovery and in shifting balance quickly, while a high center of gravity helps add more weight to the attack since one can move more weight easily along the greater area of balance, the large triangle area where the balls of the foot and toes create. More large area means more leverage to generate force. Dodging giants makes sense. So Dwarves are good defenders, because they have a fast recovery for their mass while having less weight to throw... weird. How could I reflect that? But dwarves then can afford to wield more unbalanced weapons which have more damage potential.

my mass to height formula. this assumes ultra lean character, increase or decrease appropriate. Typically a 10% body fat is normal.

[(weight in kg)^(1/3)]/ Race Factor = Height in Meters.

Race factors

Orcs = 2.5 (shorter and broader)

Humans = 2.35 (default)

Elves = 2.2 (tall for their light mass)

Dwarves = 2.85 (very short for their mass).

If you have read up to this far, you might guess that I went physics crazy with all the biometrics. Can't help it, with Fight Science in Nat Geo and Arma's science of anachronistic combat how CAN'T you not do the formula and get at your own conclusion of what it all could mean?

RPG Business

This Discussion. I really should not comment, so I'll comment over here.

1. What is Between the Lines. A new Setting? why would the OP want a new setting. GURPS can do any setting and its players play any setting that tickles their fancy. What is really frustrating to many GURPS lovers is actually the Market for RPGS. Its golden age has been almost 25 years gone. There are many and strong factors that are contributing to its weakening grasp, despite it new freedom to play the game.
1.1. Virtual Table Top. WotC has the business strategists and experts to see this is the direction in where gaming can reclaim some of its lost market. If they are the industry leader and see that this is where it is going, then why isnt SJgames going there? We'll get to the reason soon.
1.2. Ebooks. Many have moved to EBooks, SJgames has their e23 and Drive Thru RPGs caters to this market as well. EBooks saves money in costs: in inventory, printing, and publishing. It allows for a wider distribution and shores up most of the advantage the Internet could provide, but that's only as far as the Internet goes.
1.3. MMO. White Wolf has moved to computer gaming. It's success is not as remarkable as those who are firmly entrenched in the industry but you don't see them doing very well either.
2. Developing a Settings. Lets go to the reason I shouldn't post this on the forums. Its the Money! It takes Money to develop a setting. It takes skilled people organized, scheduled, planning, execution and deadlines to make a setting... and what will it achieve relative to what the problem really is? I'm a fan, but I know how it is to tunnel vision and think of the games in my own distorted view of the world. Facing reality and facts would be harsh and painful, but you need it if you want any Idea, worth believing, to have a fighting chance.
2.1 Escalating Standards. WotC has escalated the Standards of RPGs. It is more visual now than it was informational. Its not about rules, its about ease and quality of fun. There are escalating and changing standards that cannot be solved with a new setting. Asking for a new setting is like asking GM, Ford and Chrysler to make a new car that will save its industry. Changing how it is organized, how they make money and its sustainability is what will make GURPS thrive or survive the change of a new generation.
2.2. Outsourcing. Strangely, with the costs of producing games, inherently Gaming has a lot to gain by outsourcing many of its aspects. Unfortunately it is the FUN of making it, which will "never" let it take this advantage. Re-organize it, break down the elements into what just needs direction and what can be done by someone else, and let higher levels of standards cull its previous weaknesses. The Global market, is a two way affair and the current culture will not be ready to take advantage of this.
2.3 Returns. Let us say one creates a really good setting and it meets all possible realistic expectations, then what? Make a good setting, you create buzz for as long as the setting gets support, people try, and people can play it. But given the factors that are affecting RPGs from being played, a new setting does not solve any of these problems. Still it becomes an exercise of futility.
3. Where are the RPGs in markets. Where are they? Markets are the first priority. If you want GURPS to succeed then where are its possible avenues of expansion? If you look at GURPS carefully it has many unique product strengths that gamers may appreciate but a business strategist will find useful in deducing what market it will choose to enter.
3.1. Product Strength: Versatility. Compared to the Industry Leader and many of its competitors GURPS claims to be something of "an" RPG. It claims to be Generic and Universal. It is a product that is Designed to be Tailored to a target market. This is IMO its key product strength when considering where it can possibly go and how sustainable it will be.
Ask yourself, How would people in the growing Middle Class of China and India think of a fairly cheap game, that has tons of replay value, and attaches itself to many of its easily identifiable Icons (like History, Pop Culture and Literature)? RPGs are all about Role-playing but different Cultures and People have their own style of Role-Playing, how would it work if WotC tried to sell DnD to India? It would have to sell DnD for Indians and make DnD more Indian. Compare that to GURPS, which already has GURPS India. Compare it again to GURPS, who also have GURPS China?
Businessmen and SJGames is a business have to Create VALUE for their product. Creating Value is not just making a product but allowing possible consumers to identify the product as it is for them. RPGs are versatile, you can sell it as a learning platform. One can sell it as a cheaper alternative to more expensive games with only paper and pencils as their primary operating capital. It can work the way it worked for the American Middle class when it first emerged. RPGs have been a mark of the Geek culture that it can be a marketing platform for Geeks of other cultures and other countries.
3.2. Technology. Add some technology in the mix. Virtual Table top but with a more GLOBAL market. It may not be an MMO but it will be an interesting ball to get rolling. If people from other countries gamed together? Will that increase its market? Will that be a good thing? And how could you spin that?
3.3. Repercussions. New market means New Cultures. Within the natural Culture of RPGs, it has been already saturated. If it were to grow in another culture, expect that culture affecting the way the game to be played. That Culture that will entertain RPGs will be in dialog with another culture and certain elements will mesh well, some cannot be practiced and a lot of unpredictable things will happen. The Certainty about it is that, the Game will Change. It will change in a way, the traditionalists will not like or possibly abhor.
Personally I welcome this change. Because, RPGs can't just stay the same in the next era to come. It has to grow. it has to adapt and through it, we understand what unchanging element underlies the hobby that so many feel strongly for.
4. Conclusion. I don't think RPG will change much or will take on these changes. Culture is a very irrational thing. It will reel back when it sees anything different. It doesn't look forward to potential change. A culture open to change is still a bit too far a way. The generation that created the hobby or the companies will not be inclined to move or innovate of this moment. There is so much too lose in the status quo and more likely an RPG from outside the west might be the one to come along and take advantage of this market.
Personally I have no mind for that. I've long ago made peace with what I know cannot change within the hobby. I feel that is because I understand its real place in my own life and I'm not so blinded by my zeal for it anymore.