Played, of all things, Dungeon World last night.

Played, of all things, Dungeon World last night.

DW is not usually my jam; it is a bit heavy and feels too close to D&D. I know that's intention; still, I have hangups with D&D.

Still, sometimes things are glorious. We had 3 players, two of us new in an ongoing campaign. In each previous session, the PCs had learned more about the necromancer kingdom to the east. Everything they learned convinced the players that the necromancers were the good guys.

So, of course, the two of us who were new were from the necromancer kingdom. I played a wizard necromancer, the other new PC was a Paladin. We were out of towners, finding ourselves in a bar (of course), with a local drunken fighter.

Fantastic moments:
-- Using unseen servant to raise the dead, and have quickie zombie servants.
-- Magic Missile as a spell to prepare the dead to come back to life.
-- Describing the undead lands as a parliamentary democratic theocracy with a planned economy. You can be any religion you want, but you only receive the minimum basic income (hah) if you are of the Faith.
- You elect your local priest, and the priests elect the bishops. And the bishops elect the Council, which has a chairman. Wizards, though, don't need to be elected. There's a house of lords -- "experts" -- that absolutely includes wizards.
-- Afterwards, thinking through the economic ramifications of long standing undead labor.
-- Getting really concerned about having a class of person who do all the work and are thought of as less than human. This is concerning.

Is it odd that I listen to sad music while happy?

DT will be the bestest President ever. He'll make Teddy look like FDR.

HRC will be the bestest President ever. She'll make FDR look like Teddy.

In the U.

In the U.S., we’re left with a patchwork benefits system, an indecipherable alphabet soup of programs ...  The U.S. government spends nearly $1 trillion across dozens of separate programs at the state and federal level ... This all requires enormous administrative oversight on the part of the government, and it requires the ability to navigate multiple agencies on the part of recipients.

We already spend nearly a trillion dollars on various programs, and we've made it hard to use and hard to administer. Let's fix both with one swoop.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/universal-basic-income/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/universal-basic-income

Soylent: not bad.

Soylent: not bad.

Soylent with a touch of vanilla: better

Soylent with cocoa powder: Chalky.

Is there a pbta cyberpunk hack where there's a street samurai and a decker?

Let me try this again.

Let me try this again.

I adore this:
http://www.sorting-algorithms.com/

Last time I tryed to show something I adored, folks (including me!) focused on the subject rather than how it worked. Maybe this'll work better?

Each of these sorting algorithms is the result of human brainjuice to solve hard problems. And now, we've got animated pretty pictures to show how they work to folks who don't understand them.

That we have the data and the computational capability to do that is astounding. That it happens in real time is phenomenal. I sometimes think I'm living in a simulation, because the computation in the real world is too good to believe.

And that's more the point; computers are magic.

Me: Makes a station for "Prince"

Me: Makes a station for "Prince"
Pandora: Did you mean Michael Jackson? Here's a half dozen MJ tracks.

Me: Pandora, play Purple Rain
Pandora: Did you mean Billie Jean?

Me: ... fuck it, Billie Jean is fun to listen to, even if it has a horrible moral.

PSA: Blue Apron is pretty great!

PSA: Blue Apron is pretty great!

* If you have the luxury of getting into a food rut and want out. Blue Apron will bring delicious things to your house and tell you how to cook them.

* If you can afford $60 for 3 meals for 2 people, generally with leftovers. Call it 8 portions, so $7.5 per portion. Our Blue Apron budget comes from our dining out budget, not our pasta at home budget. Within that budget, it is pretty cheap.

* If you want to cook better. And don't cook super well now.

* If you don't feel the need to be as connected to your food. As they bring you the ingredients, you don't shop the market looking for what to create.

... then Blue Apron is pretty great.

Q: What do you mean, you neither railroad players nor have a prepped sandbox?

Q: What do you mean, you neither railroad players nor have a prepped sandbox?

A: Improv!

Q: But wait, what does that mean?

A: OK, ok. Here's the long answer. Games like Dungeon and Dragons necessitate a lot of GM prep, because building monsters and dungeons is hard work. It takes time and energy and brain juice. And then you have an incentive to get the players to do the things you've prepped. But, here's the secret, deserving of its own paragraph: 

That is a product of game design.

There's a whole other way to do game design where play emerges from player choices, and this is baked right into the rules.

Some examples, from most accessible to least:
1. Dungeon World (DW) has many of the trappings of Dungeon and Dragons: classes, hit points, even a move called "hack and slash". The GM has to do a lot of prep compared to some others, mostly in figuring out what the players may face. Still, this game can represent a radical departure from traditional games and change people. Lots of dice, but no d20.

2. Fiasco, by Bully Pulpit games. Fiasco gives 3-5 players, in 2-3 hours, the ability to play through their own Cohen brothers style film. Fiasco is GMless, requires no prep, and is single-session driven. You -- as a group -- choose the playset, which determines the genre. From there, individuals make decisions and act in character in ways that determine the course of events. And yes, dice help, too.

3. Apocalypse World (AW) has characters (playbooks) which, by their very nature, alter the game, set its tone, and can determine how play starts. The obvious example is the hardhholder, who is the leader of a settlement and has a private army. At the start of every session, the hard holder rolls to determine if there is trouble. This trouble can readily create the course of a session or even campaign. In AW and its ilk, while the GM is encouraged to come up with "fronts" the players will face, these are meant to emerge from the first session of play.

Alex Schroeder , who asked a simple question and got a long-winded response.

Played Master of Orion 2 this weekend.

Played Master of Orion 2 this weekend.

Kicked its ass on Impossible.

Race: Aquatic (we are dolphins), +50 Population (we breeed), +1 industry (good hands), +1 Research (we smart), Creative (we see all possibilities.). Standard minuses: ship defense, fighting on land, and suck at talking to people.

Hadn't played in ... a year? Probably. Went delightfully well!

I want to put together a deck of many things for AW: Fallen Empires.

I want to put together a deck of many things for AW: Fallen Empires.

Here are some ideas for cards:
Jack of hearts: Gain the service of a gang, and the move Bloody-crowned.

Flames: Enmity between you and an outsider.

What're some other ideas? Good things, bad things?

Tell me what should be in a toilet. I'll ask questions.

Book: Toilet

Book: Toilet
Author: Harvey Molotch

Short synopsis: Edited series of articles on the public toilet.

Longer thoughts:
I learned things! Such as:
1. The gendered of public bathrooms was originally to protect women's virtue. Because Victorians.
2. Continued gendering of public and semi-public bathrooms is remarkably like the jim crow south, because women are gross.
3. The romans had public bathrooms. Whether these were gendered is uncertain, because there's nothing to tell us.

I'm still looking for stats on speed, though I'm starting to think public urinals are a negative as they are only of benefit to an elite and not to everyone.

In Toilet, I am up to things I remember.

In Toilet, I am up to things I remember.

The Restroom Revolution at UMass in 2001 -- I was in college in Oklahoma at the time.

I remember the following:
-- Being introduced to the concept, and a feeling or revulsion.
-- Walking into the male gendered, "locked" bathroom, while a woman was taking a shower.
-- Pausing, thinking, and revising my positions.
-- I remember a small-group committee meeting with the head of housing on whether the bathroom doors should be locked. And, on the side of the administration, how to keep over night guests out.

Proved impossible, of course.

Always reshare.

Always reshare.

Originally shared by CyberPunk

The UC spent $175,000 trying to remove this picture from the internet..
...so please, do NOT share this.

Nerdly is coming!

Nerdly is coming!

I have to print games, find my tent, not bring my tent, pack clothes, figure out if I really do have a ride or need to find a zipcar, freak out that I'm pitching games, get my sleeping bag and a pillow, get my camping plates and crap (maybe bringing 20 of them, like I did last year), maybe a few other things, and run in circles scream and shout because I'm pitching games.

oh my god, I'm pitching two games at nerdly. GMless larpy things that I've played once. Clearly, I don't know how to facilitate them and the game will be a disaster and the game designers will hate me and everyone at nerdly will curse my name. And I'll be kicked out and never invited back and the Chief Owlbear will say "fuck that guy, he sucks" and then I'll lose my job and my apartment and we will be homeless but together and oh what fun love is.

Why do I find it super easy to pitch and facilitate pitch session when there are 10-20 people, but want to freeze and die at 100?

What is that, brain?

Also, let this serve as a PSA: Yes, I am get anxiety over pitching. And don't know why.

This is amazing.

This is amazing.

Originally shared by Dianne Harris

My favorite charity just got a lot cooler! http://www.vox.com/2016/4/14/11410904/givedirectly-basic-income
http://www.vox.com/2016/4/14/11410904/givedirectly-basic-income

I share to frustrate this effort.

Originally shared by Robert Bohl

I share to frustrate this effort.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article71659992.html

Things I learn: one reaction to men peeing in public is to build men-only urinals.

Things I learn: one reaction to men peeing in public is to build men-only urinals.

(Toilet, "Creating a Nonsexist Restroom: What Is Needed: Macro Citywide Level" , paragraph 3: "In many parts of the world, local authorities have been introducing street urinals for male drinkers, with no alternative solution for women.")

This is a thing I adore:

This is a thing I adore:
http://www.firecalc.com/

Why? Because it asks the question: if the great depression were to happen, would I have enough money to not need to work?

Which may not be the right question, but it is amazing that we have the data to ask it.
http://www.firecalc.com/

Its that time again: how should we structure society, and how do we determine these things?

Its that time again: how should we structure society, and how do we determine these things?

On this episode: taxes!

Or, in particular: How should we fill out those pesky 1040 forms?

My position: We shouldn't.

Instead, the following:
1. After every calendar year, the IRS does your taxes based on their best information.
2. The IRS sends you this form. If you do nothing, you accept it.
3. If there's a problem, then let the IRS know. You've got, as per now, until mid-April, and can extend for 6 months without any particular reason.

Common Q&A
Q: Where's the money go?
A: Wherever you want it to! Though, if I were doing this from scratch? We'd have government accounts that we put our tax dollars into, assigned at the same time we get social security numbers. That is, everybody gets a bank account.

Q: Wait, you trust the IRS?
A: More than Turbotax! Besides, with the relief valve built in, the IRS has an incentive to do it correctly. And, if you don't trust that they've done it right, then do it yourself! 

Q: Why don't we do this now?
A: H&R Block, Turbotax, and a few others petition congress each year to not allow this.

Q: So ... what would I need to do?
A: If the IRS gets it right? Absolutely nothing! The government made the tax system, why should you have to spend hours and anxiety and worry trying to figure it out?

I've got other ideas on this. I'll happily discuss those if requested, but this is mainly directed at the taxes.

Michel Kangro, who reminded me in another thread.

There's really great work here.

There's really great work here.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/180114/Feminism-A-NanoGame-Anthology?site=&manufacturers_id=9870#_=_
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/180114/Feminism-A-NanoGame-Anthology?site=&manufacturers_id=9870#_=_

I adore our larps.

I adore our larps.

Reading this makes me retrospectively consider the diversity in the games I play. Sure, most games I played at cons have at least one person who isn't white -- but, that is often the same person, repeated. And she's glorious and wonderful and in so many of the gaming communities I adore. And most of the games I play on Thursday nights have only white people. 

That open to the public Thursday night group is predominately white, male, and younger than me. There's a bunch of non-damning reasons for this: small groups tend to be more homogeneous across all domains, we don't advertise, and younger, whiter men have freer schedules.  There are also things we do that make this more likely: we meet in a (dirty, run down) comic book store, we meet at a time convenient for office workers, and we almost never kick out bad actors.

After Dreamation, I had concerns related to my abilities: scheduling, solving mazes, etc. I almost ditched a few games, and considered simply not going due to how problematic this was, but persevered. By virtue of showing up, my own problems are less relevant than issues that stop people from showing up. And, obviously, there's a lot of work at Dreamation to help diversity.

From Amhest's article:
Baby Boomers (age 50 to 69, as of 2014) is 3.6% of the cohort population, with a gender break-down of 66.1% male to 33.9% female. 94.9% identify as white, 5.1% as people of color. Less than 2% identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Generation X (age 30 to 49, as of 2014) is 48.6% of the cohort population, with a gender break-down of 64.1% male to 35.9% female. 92.3% identify as white, 7.7% as people of color. 3.2% identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Millennials (age 10 to 29, as of 2014) is 47.8% of the cohort population, with a gender break-down of 57.3% male to 43.7% female. 91.6% identify as white, 8.4% as people of color. 4.9% identify as Hispanic or Latino.

That is (excuse the rounding, two significant digits)
Boomers: 3.6% of the population, 66% male, 95% white.
Gen X: 49% of the population, 64% male, 92% white
Millennials: 48% of the population, 57% male, 92% white.

That is, the most diverse generational age group is over 90% white and 57% male. Within the USA, 63% of the population is white, and less than 50% male.

Here's what I don't know: are women and people of color opting out as time goes on? That is, if we could look at the Boomers 40 years ago, would that population have more women and people of color? Does it even exist 40 years ago? 

Or, is this truly a generational shift? Or, some combination of factors that is even harder to tease out.

Do the responsibilities of age affect women and people of color more than white men (yes), to a sufficient degree such that they stop participating in games? 

Either way, 90% white is not a victory. The changing demographics by age cohort may not even be due to anything we do; it may be related to responsibilities. Much as compstat may not have had anything to do with decreasing crime rates -- the apparent change based upon age cohort may be an effect of increased responsibilities as women and people of color age, which does not affect white men as much. Or some other affect, such as only being able to take so much shit before leaving.

The question becomes: How do we improve this? How do we make our games more diverse?

I don't have good answers to that; at this point, I'm only able to point out that the data show that our games aren't nearly as diverse as I had thought.

I've only brought up the work related to diversity in Amherst's work; there's a later section on socioeconomic behavior that I may discuss later. The results are at least as problematic, but harder to grasp. Harder for me to understand, at least.

Chris Ahmerst is a scholar, thinking deeply about our games.  In comments on this thread, feel absolutely free to discussion problems in methodology, reasoning, or the sample. But, do not speak ill of him personally in public: such comments will be deleted with extreme prejudice. 

Feel absolutely free and welcome to discuss issues with my understanding of his work. I'm clever enough to know I'm not very clever.

http://nordiclarp.org/2016/04/07/representation-social-capital/
http://nordiclarp.org/2016/04/07/representation-social-capital

Dear lazy webs

Dear lazy webs,

Anyone have stats on throughput of bathroom usage, by gender and age group and by type of installation and maybe other variables?

That is: Are urinals really faster?

Let me stress: Non-gendered bathrooms matter for reasons that are more important than speed.

Right now, I'm curious if the installation of a urinal speeds things up. Or, if it washes out.

Hey, guess what?

Hey, guess what?

I just returned a signed contract to Ryan Macklin for 100 words. That is, my words set in the world of Katanas and Trenchcoats are accepted and worth money.

This is pretty great, and the first time I've sold words for money!

I've sold words for esteem and prestige and a salary, but not words as words for hire.

Will it appear in this? I don't actually know!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanmacklin/katanas-and-trenchcoats-retromodern-roleplaying
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanmacklin/katanas-and-trenchcoats-retromodern-roleplaying

Taken from a private share.

Taken from a private share.

A larger income, to ensure that no American fell into absolute abject poverty – say, $12,000 a year – would cost around $3.6tn. That is a big number, but one that once again seems far more reasonable when considered through the lens of the Panama Papers and the scandal of global tax evasion. Because the truth is that we have all been robbed, systematically, by the world’s wealthiest people, for decades. They have used those stolen dollars to build yet more wealth for themselves, and all the while we have been arguing with ourselves over what to do with the leftover pennies.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/07/panama-papers-taxes-universal-basic-income-public-services
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/07/panama-papers-taxes-universal-basic-income-public-services

Hi internet! Remind me how to do something?

Hi internet! Remind me how to do something?

I went to Australia! And that's super awesome. I had my phone on and pulling location services the whole time.

How can I pull up that data, and see where I've been?

On Super hero movies:

On Super hero movies:

There is an ideal super hero movie I want, and it looks a lot more like The Force Awakens than SvB.

And, for that matter, a whole lot more like Supergirl than SvB.

What I get from TFA: Camaraderie, fairly clear morality, family drama. While I don't dig that Han tried to talk down his son, I get it. This is the end of his arc from han who shot first, to han who drops his guard because love. Still, love is the overwhelming force in Star Wars, and i adore that.

What I get from supergirl: powers I understand, but the plot is never about the powers. Its about the people.

Also, camaraderie, morality, and family drama. Also, freaks of the week. And, of course, a lot of the episodes are cut from the expected cloth -- there's a lose your powers episode, a learn about krytonite episode, etc. As time went on (I've through episode 14 or so), I identified with the bad guys more and more. That was fantastic -- villains with understandable motives.

So, what would I want from, say, a Superman movie?
Intro: 10 minutes. We don't need much of a backstory. He's the man of steel! He can fly, he's got laser eyes, and bullets bounce right off. Check! Show Supes fighting crime -- better yet, show Supes taking out corrupt slum lords and other ashsoles. Make him a warrior for the poor, for the masses.

Plot Thickens: 20 minutes: Lex Luthor! He's got a brain, and maybe he knows supes. His big brain means he's a real threat. But, again, he's got to have sympathetic motives. Building a kryptonite continent? Nah.

Slaving every phone on earth, so that he can control them and monitor people? Sure, that's kind of interesting.

Being at the top of a pyramid scheme, with millions of people following him? Becoming a threat to US security, but not quite breaking laws? Hey, that might be cool.

So, we've got Superman as the defender of the meek and Lex Luthor as the head of a cult of personality that threatens the livelihoods of the meek. And their freedom.

Reporting! Clark Kent and Lois Lane investigate a Lexcorp merger with ... WayneCo? Maybe! Lois knows Clark is supes, make them dating. Because dating is much cooler than being married -- it isn't stable.

Fight, Act 1: Supes and Lex do some fighting. Supes winds up running away, because he cannot take out Lex without also harming thousands or maybe millions of people. He goes to the Fortress of Solitude to think about it.

That's the first half hour to 45 minutes! Then, Supes and Lois discover how to defeat Lex. Whatever it is take a combination of his power and hers -- his raw brute strength is only so useful, bu you need her sluething ability. Focus on this, and on their chemistry, for at least 15 minutes.

Fight! 20 minutes. We're up to 80 minutes. Maybe tear down some buildings, but, honestly? Meh. I don't need reminders of 911.

Show us some resolution. Show me how the world is a better place because of Superman's actions. Show me how Lex either gets put in prison, or how he doesn't. Show me a change in Supermans relationship to Lois -- maybe they get engaged?

I'd watch the heck out of that. Does this appeal to anyone else?

Charles King, Cinnamon Bunny

Charles King, Cinnamon Bunny

Hey!

Chuck has volunteered to run A Grandiose Disaster at Camp Nerdly!

My understanding is there some information he should have, maybe stuff needed to run it.

Feel free to use this space to figure that out, or just to get each others contact information. If you'd like me to bring anything, let me know!

This is a pev peeve, which I'm sure I get wrong all the time: capitalism versus corporatism.

This is a pev peeve, which I'm sure I get wrong all the time: capitalism versus corporatism.

Getting up at 6 AM to go work for the man? That's corporatism.
Leveraging your wealth (ie, capital) to create more wealth? That's capitalism.

You can have capitalism without corporatism (see american pre-20th century, more or less), and you can absolutely have corporatism without capitalism (see the military)

Neither of these necessitates a free market, either.

What you hate is probably corporatism. Heiarchies and structures.

Supergirl: WHAT DID I MISS IN EPISODE 13?

Supergirl: WHAT DID I MISS IN EPISODE 13?

I watched 12 on the plane, now I am watching 14 and WTF!

This is public, and the comments WILL contains spoilers.

Hey, in Australia?

Hey, in Australia?

I got: a simcard, 8 gigs of data, unlimited in-country calling and texting, and a crapload of international calling and texting for ... $25. For a month.

twenty five dollars!

And that's Australia dollars. That's under $20 USD!

Hey, the thing I wrote? Where I had thought it wasn't bought, and that I got to own it?

Hey, the thing I wrote? Where I had thought it wasn't bought, and that I got to own it?

Nope. I don't own it. It got bought!