4500 hits: things I've learned

Blogging is not a job, even if it feels sometimes like that. Its labour of love and dedication, or at least it should be. Despite the fact that my blog was abandoned for quite a long time, the visitors kept on coming and big gaming world kept buzzing with new shiny things like Destiny, Witcher: the Wild Hunt, Shadowrun and countless other names.

After looking at my visitors statistics I came to some boring conclusions.

1) Triss Merigold is awesome.
In less than a week her sexy pictures had more hits than both my fan-made codexes had in a year. No surprise here, but still. One of the ways to get high number of visitations is to join the global hype. Can't say I like the idea, but maths shows that it gets more attention than my half-witted blubbering or videos from someones youtube channel.

2) Less is more.
Continuing on half-naked Triss. My main tool here is writing but there is a risk of flooding blog with just another post on just another hype, for just another number of hits. I'm not looking for this blog to pay my bills, so why should I join the crowd? Instead, I shall continue to use this blog as place to show my creations and sort of virtual notebook on ideas and dreams. I would have to concentrate on certain topics, such as how to overcome writer's block, ideas behind game design and personalities, that simply expands my own understanding of craft, and hopefully someone else's. If there is a need for off-topic article I probably should write it for other online blog to save me from going astray.

3) More Triss.
More ladies will come, game related or not, they are an eye candy after all. Some say they even bring visitors and even readers :)

Sincerely yours,
Mark-Paul Severn.

You have been logged out from another location. Do you want to log in again?

Well its Friday 13th. 
For more than a week I had a problem with logging on my beloved blog. For some unknown reason after logging in and trying to access the options panel I got this message on pretty white screen "You have been logged out from another location. Do you want to log in again?". 

In my case this problem have appeared only with Chrome browser and apparently was cased by not accepted cookies. After digging on google group dedicated to this problem i found a workable solution posted by  

Victor Novorski

My problem was resolved by following these steps
1. sign out of blogger.
2. for chrome, go to settings, privacy and then clear browsing data.
3. re-login to blogger https://www.blogger.com/home

I hope this will help you too :)

Rejoice? Problem solved? Fuck no. In order to add a picture to this post Blogger is asking me to log in again. 
Right... Hey Google? Are you taking a piss? Or for some reason you need to double check my identity so you could sell that piece of information to somebody else? 

I will try to find an extra workable solution and if all fails and probably move my megalomaniac blog to Wordpress. If may not be the end of the world, but at least it will work. 

Sincerely yours,
 Mark.

P.S. After a couple of weeks Google made an update to Chrome and it seem to fix problem. Fingers crossed. 

Dice Tower's 10 tip to a game designer.

These guys are really funny, but surprise surprise they are correct in their tips. :))

1000 views of my blog. Ironic achievement

Today 01 May 2013 my blog statistic told me that it has been seen for 1000 times.
Hurraay! Yuppi! Or whatever you say on such great occasion. To celebrate it, I'm going to put here a speech:

Thank you! Thank you all! Thanks to all of my unknown visitors for popping in and having a quick look at what is posted here. I do understand that thanks to excessive amount of letters and broken English i use to express my thoughts it is a strange source to read from. Thank you all for looking at my harem of femme fatales, I do hope their real equivalents are at least as stunning as pictures. Thank you all for downloading my Elysian Drop Troopers Codex. It might not be a big achievement but it is important for me. Thank you for NOT posting any feedback on Elysian Codex, that means its either absolute crap or I'm genius (insane megalomaniac laughter) and my ideas will conquer the world to make me its ruler, owner and pimp. Muhahaha! (insane megalomaniac laughter even louder). 

Well and since 1000 vies is such a great occasion We are going to open a can of Fosters to celebrate it. May be even two... or three. Cheers!

Dream job description

Innogames, company behind the the Best Strategy Browser MMO of 2013 -  Forge of Empires has a job offer. Dream job for someone I guess. I read that and and Dostoevsky question goes through my head.

Am I good enough or...

Game Designer (m/f)

InnoGames, based in Hamburg, is one of the leading developers and operators of online games with more than 100 million registered players around the world. We have been characterized by dynamic growth ever since the company was founded in 2007. In order to further expand our success and to realize new projects, we are constantly looking for young talents, experienced professionals, and creative thinkers.

Your Tasks

• Development of game processes
• Drafting new game features and game events
• Drafting the menu navigation
• Balancing game contents
• Drafting game texts
• Documentation for developers and graphic artists
• Actively monitoring the market and analyzing the competition

Requirements

• A degree (e.g. in media informatics or business informatics), or comparable training
• Comprehensive knowledge of and demonstrable experience (through work experience or projects) in the field of game design
• A good understanding of mathematics, and a distinct ability to thing logically
• Basic knowledge in graphics software and programming
• A passion for online games (browser, mobile)
• Profound experience in playing browser games, and knowledge about the games market
• Knowledge of good menu promt and user guidance
• Very good knowledge of English
• A high degree of individual initiative and commitment
• Good communication skills, and the ability to work in a team

We Offer

• Constantly new challenges and projects in a sound and constantly growing company with flat hierarchies
• Responsibility and creative tasks, including a high degree of professional freedom for your own ideas
• A very good atmosphere in an intercultural environment, focused on teamwork
• Flexible working hours (core time 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and many team events
• Supporting and contributing to the company retirement arrangement
• Further training on a regular basis, and a flat rate for reference books
• Supporting your move to Hamburg (e.g. through temporarily staying at our company apartment, and allround support if moving here from abroad)
• Funding your parking spot on the premises, or your ticket for local public transport
• Preventive health care
• Creative breaks, e.g. during table soccer, at the PlayStation, or in a beach chair outside
• Complementary soft drinks and fresh fruit for all employees

Taken from here: http://corporate.innogames.com/en/jobs/offer/job/show/Job/game_designer_mf.html

D30? D24? One dice for all rolls?

 Mr. Zochii continues to amuse me. One dice for all your gaming rolls? Is it a bit overkill?

The right dice for the job

I roll my d6 and d10 and d20 with very uneven luck. It either critical hit or critical fail. Very few results are in between. My mates have noticed that, and on some occasions asked if my dice were loaded. Nice, friendly question indeed.

The other thing is range of possibilities and understating of this. Until some point in gaming addiction life you hope for the best roll, and don't really care whether your dice is capable of delivering it. You may even have some lucky dice which would roll more 6 or 20 than any other dice.

Why? Because they are "lucky"? Really? May be they are made with flaw, which makes certain rolls more probable than other? Well, i have to say thanks to Anatoli's blog for link on those two videos. Louis  Zochii (i've probably spelled that wrong :)), one of the pioneers of dice production speaks and compares quality dice and cheap dice of his competitors. Even if that is just an advert, his marketing skills and competence is astonishing. He also compares casino dice, and their standard with mass marketed gaming dice, and explains why dice should be quality made and give equal chance of rolling any number on the side. In the end Mr. Zochii shows a quirky dice trick.