I don’t have quite enough for a sustained post, yet, and I’m still editing a music review (yeah, seriously) and my Master of Orion science post. But I should write something since people keep visiting. Also, healthy to keep at it.
* I have not been following the news on the upcoming Shogun 2 expansion as closely as I should be, but Bill Abner’s preview over at No High Scores has me interested, as does Phil Cameron’s glowing review. It’s a challenging time frame for a game. The Boshin War was short, not really that close or tactically interesting, and it is one of those rare dramatic transitional periods in a national civil war, when one side still has traditional weapons and tactics and the other side catches up on the last 200 years in military tech in one go. It’s a fascinating setting, but given Total War’s historic issues with AI at a lot of levels (somewhat addressed in Shogun 2), I worry how the mix will pan out. I am convinced that whatever happens it will be more realistic than the anime (Yes, I need new friends.)
* I occasionally get questions about when the video blog will start up. Soon. I finally have found time to play a little with the webcam, and was given a couple of studio lights to help brighten my evenings and melt my face. The video stuff will focus on game design stuff, and will be mostly webcam with video edited in until I find money for a real video camera and someone willing to follow me around. Watching my good friend, Jenn, experiment with streaming and other video work has been very educational.
* The board game meetup is on for March 31st at the location mentioned in the post from a couple of weeks ago. 2 to 6 PM. I will do a larger post/update later in the week.
* The Maple Leafs really suck, and I can take no solace in the fact my childhood favorite team, the Edmonton Oilers, suck even more. Honestly, you should never let me cheer for your team. I curse everything I touch.
* The science series is continuing, but is proving to be just as hard to write as I had anticipated.
* I will be at PAX East from April 6 to 8. We have a panel for the last time slot of the show, and I will also be working with the Paradox folks at their location. If you are there, please stop by and say hello.
Let me know if you need help with your video blog. I am not an expert but I have some experience and I also watch tons of video podcasts so I know how they set things up.
You may also be able to use skype to have people who aren’t local join in and give their thoughts.
Thanks for the offer, ShadowTiger. My set up will be quite limited to the equipment I have on hand, and I will be taking things pretty slowly. I have a pretty sharp friend already on hand if I need some questions answered, but really I have to figure as much of this out myself as I can first. Then I move forward.
The video blog will not be interactive for a while, beyond comments. A Skype call in show or streaming chat might be fun for the podcast later, but FoSTV will keep a strong authorial voice until I find my footing. I think of it as ordinary blog posts but with a handsome hobbit talking to you.
FYI, for skype I meant the 3MA hosts not the audience. Well, good luck finding time in your schedule!
My Sharks are faring little better than your Leafs, so take some small amount of solace in that.
Also, more Total War, so hooray and all that.
I just checked the standings and the Sharks are currently in 10th place, but only one win out of 3rd. That’s the West for you.
Looking forward to FoSTV! I’m quite interested to see the direction you’ll take it.