Not Quite Dead

[Scribbly]

I think it has been about six months since my last spurt of activity here?

Amsterdam made a spirited attempt at killing me. I managed to make it home, and when I did, found out that I lost my job. Two days later, the entire editorial team at the website I was working at was fired, and sales put onto a fully commission-based payment structure. Given that what they were selling before was editorial time, I have no idea what they actually sold or what the existing clients made of it. The website still seems to exist though.

Did a brief internship where I thought I was going to get more editorial experience but actually they shifted me onto telesales and at that point I quit.

Money ran out, unsurprisingly, and I've had to move back in with parents. Mostly I'm thankful that this is actually an option. I've got a few corporate grad scheme apps out (god these things take so long - one failed yesterday that I'd been enrolled in for I think four months?). Managed to get christmas work at a supermarket over the holidays. I'm hoping that'll translate into something full time as I seem to be getting tons more hours than everyone else. It is a little depressing that I'm doing something I could have done straight out of high school, only if I'd started straight out of high school I'd probably be further up the chain by now. That's life, though.

I've also started writing again. Got the beginnings of a roleplaying system thrown together, though it still needs tons more work before I start seriously ramping up to try and get it Kickstarted. I have vague dreams that if I can catch the internet RPG flavor-of-the-month wagon, I can translate that into a kickstarter for a physical product and then roll that forward into a game line. The trouble with that notion being that you generally need proven experience in the field already to be seen as a credible investment. Which is fairly understandable; I'm not credible, at the moment, it is a pipedream. Getting to credible is a big challenge. Still, the system has bought a lot of fun during playtesting thus far so it isn't as though I've gotten nothing out of it.

My grandmother has rekindled my love of poetry. My father reminds me on a daily basis why I despise politics. My friends are all working every hour there is and about half have moved away. The past few months have been insane for that. Oh! And my best friend is going to have a kid. Which is still sinking in.

At the start of the year my goal was to move out of my parent's place and get a better job. I managed the first, briefly, but now I'm back at square one and feel like I'm treading water career-wise. My parents have offered to fund me in obtaining journalism qualifications if I can find out which ones would be worthwhile. I kind of hate the thought of spending another year-eighteen months leeching off them, but if it seemed like it would actually get me a decent job I might have to go for it and pay them back later.

I've been lurking around for a while. Fact is, I was embarrassed when I realized just how long it'd been since I was posting here.

And in ten minutes I have to run for my next shift. I just thought it was about time I popped up and confirmed that the trams didn't get me. Yet.

I still think I catch glimpses of them out the corner of my eye every now and then, though...

[Patron Saint]

Sounds like a run of shit luck mate.  Condolences.

Good luck with your project.  If it lifts off let me know, I'll pass it around at my usual RPG haunts.

[Scribbly]

Sounds like a run of shit luck mate.  Condolences.

Good luck with your project.  If it lifts off let me know, I'll pass it around at my usual RPG haunts.

If there's one thing I've learned this year it is that life could be a hell of a lot worse.

I met a lot of interesting characters in my stay in Amsterdam. I've also seen a lot of people at the Jobcentre (where you have to go to justify your existence for jobseeker's allowance) who are in situations I couldn't even begin to imagine.

I've got my health, my friends, and my family. I'm not in a great place, but in a strange kind of way, I feel a lot better as a person these days than I did at the start of the year. I've got no idea where I'll be by the end of 2013. This might actually be the first time in my life that I don't feel like I've got a plan!

[Patron Saint]

Sounds like a run of shit luck mate.  Condolences.

Good luck with your project.  If it lifts off let me know, I'll pass it around at my usual RPG haunts.

If there's one thing I've learned this year it is that life could be a hell of a lot worse.

I met a lot of interesting characters in my stay in Amsterdam. I've also seen a lot of people at the Jobcentre (where you have to go to justify your existence for jobseeker's allowance) who are in situations I couldn't even begin to imagine.

I've got my health, my friends, and my family. I'm not in a great place, but in a strange kind of way, I feel a lot better as a person these days than I did at the start of the year. I've got no idea where I'll be by the end of 2013. This might actually be the first time in my life that I don't feel like I've got a plan!

Sometimes that's OK, not having a plan.  Just make it a point to be a little bit better than yesterday and chances you'll be shooting par.  You make a good point about all the things you have to be grateful for and that's a kick ass attitude to walk away from a shitty situation with, which means you've gained in a silver lining sort of way and that's a small victory of sorts.

Cheers!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Welcome back, DS. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hey Demo Squid! I think about you every time I walk past Jefferson High School, Home of the Demos.

[Scribbly]

Hey Demo Squid! I think about you every time I walk past Jefferson High School, Home of the Demos.

Go Squids!

[Don Coyote]

FUCK YES!!!! Weren't we just about wondering where you had gone off to? I was wondering that about a week ago. And then BAM Demosquid is back.
Also, you got me interested in your idea of having ideas about a RPG and then being put on ks.

Coyote, trapped in a polarbear for his hubris.

[Scribbly]

FUCK YES!!!! Weren't we just about wondering where you had gone off to? I was wondering that about a week ago. And then BAM Demosquid is back.
Also, you got me interested in your idea of having ideas about a RPG and then being put on ks.

Coyote, trapped in a polarbear for his hubris.

I suspect that the Kickstarter gravy train is going to start to collapse next year. There's a lot of projects which have managed to secure impulsive funding and then fallen through, and people are already starting to become a lot more risk-averse.

It still represents an amazing avenue for this kind of project, though. There's no way I would get (or want) a bank loan to start a games company. On the other hand, if you can convince the internet that they want what you can offer, you can get the startup capital you need just by promising to give people what you want to give them. I really have no idea how much it actually costs to get these things printed and out there, though, and a lot of big Kickstarters (like the Giant in the Playground one) seem to swallow vast amounts of their profit in postage, packaging and impulsive extras. All stuff that needs to be weighed up and balanced.

Also, thanks guys! Its good to be back.

[Don Coyote]

FUCK YES!!!! Weren't we just about wondering where you had gone off to? I was wondering that about a week ago. And then BAM Demosquid is back.
Also, you got me interested in your idea of having ideas about a RPG and then being put on ks.

Coyote, trapped in a polarbear for his hubris.

I suspect that the Kickstarter gravy train is going to start to collapse next year. There's a lot of projects which have managed to secure impulsive funding and then fallen through, and people are already starting to become a lot more risk-averse.

It still represents an amazing avenue for this kind of project, though. There's no way I would get (or want) a bank loan to start a games company. On the other hand, if you can convince the internet that they want what you can offer, you can get the startup capital you need just by promising to give people what you want to give them. I really have no idea how much it actually costs to get these things printed and out there, though, and a lot of big Kickstarters (like the Giant in the Playground one) seem to swallow vast amounts of their profit in postage, packaging and impulsive extras. All stuff that needs to be weighed up and balanced.

Also, thanks guys! Its good to be back.

Well of the 5 projects I've backed 3 of them set goals of less than $10k. Two of which were around $3k.

[Scribbly]

FUCK YES!!!! Weren't we just about wondering where you had gone off to? I was wondering that about a week ago. And then BAM Demosquid is back.
Also, you got me interested in your idea of having ideas about a RPG and then being put on ks.

Coyote, trapped in a polarbear for his hubris.

I suspect that the Kickstarter gravy train is going to start to collapse next year. There's a lot of projects which have managed to secure impulsive funding and then fallen through, and people are already starting to become a lot more risk-averse.

It still represents an amazing avenue for this kind of project, though. There's no way I would get (or want) a bank loan to start a games company. On the other hand, if you can convince the internet that they want what you can offer, you can get the startup capital you need just by promising to give people what you want to give them. I really have no idea how much it actually costs to get these things printed and out there, though, and a lot of big Kickstarters (like the Giant in the Playground one) seem to swallow vast amounts of their profit in postage, packaging and impulsive extras. All stuff that needs to be weighed up and balanced.

Also, thanks guys! Its good to be back.

Well of the 5 projects I've backed 3 of them set goals of less than $10k. Two of which were around $3k.

It seems very easy to become a victim of your own success. Giant in the Playground Guy raised over a million dollars and immediately had to spend so much time signing things and packing them that he is nowhere near his more interesting stretch goals (and has injured himself in the meantime), there's a few big CRPG projects where the stretch goals, postage and time involved in sending things to the thousands of backers have jeopardized the success of the basic project.

I've backed Numenara (really need to fix my printer so I can actually get the playtest documents) and one other project. Monte seems to be handling his very well; lots of consistent updates and most of his stretch goals were for e-products which cost little-to-nothing to send out and which can be automated. If my little project ever gets to that stage I will probably follow his lead and offer various supplements as high level stretch goals... in PDF format only.

[Don Coyote]

FUCK YES!!!! Weren't we just about wondering where you had gone off to? I was wondering that about a week ago. And then BAM Demosquid is back.
Also, you got me interested in your idea of having ideas about a RPG and then being put on ks.

Coyote, trapped in a polarbear for his hubris.

I suspect that the Kickstarter gravy train is going to start to collapse next year. There's a lot of projects which have managed to secure impulsive funding and then fallen through, and people are already starting to become a lot more risk-averse.

It still represents an amazing avenue for this kind of project, though. There's no way I would get (or want) a bank loan to start a games company. On the other hand, if you can convince the internet that they want what you can offer, you can get the startup capital you need just by promising to give people what you want to give them. I really have no idea how much it actually costs to get these things printed and out there, though, and a lot of big Kickstarters (like the Giant in the Playground one) seem to swallow vast amounts of their profit in postage, packaging and impulsive extras. All stuff that needs to be weighed up and balanced.

Also, thanks guys! Its good to be back.

Well of the 5 projects I've backed 3 of them set goals of less than $10k. Two of which were around $3k.

It seems very easy to become a victim of your own success. Giant in the Playground Guy raised over a million dollars and immediately had to spend so much time signing things and packing them that he is nowhere near his more interesting stretch goals (and has injured himself in the meantime), there's a few big CRPG projects where the stretch goals, postage and time involved in sending things to the thousands of backers have jeopardized the success of the basic project.

I've backed Numenara (really need to fix my printer so I can actually get the playtest documents) and one other project. Monte seems to be handling his very well; lots of consistent updates and most of his stretch goals were for e-products which cost little-to-nothing to send out and which can be automated. If my little project ever gets to that stage I will probably follow his lead and offer various supplements as high level stretch goals... in PDF format only.

I wouldn't even bother with stretch goals or massive lofty backer bonuses.