What Sets Off Your “Just One More Turn / Level / Match” Reflex?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 17, 2013

I’ve decided it’s not the same for everybody. Maybe it doesn’t exist for some people. But for the rest of us (maybe just those of us with low willpower – like the ones who keep buying games from the Steam Sale even though we have more games than we could play in a year of […]

Filed Under: Design, Geek Life, Strategy Games - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

Dungeon’s Got Depth!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 10, 2013

I like big dungeons, and I cannot lie. You adventurers can’t deny When the party walks in through those elf-runed doors And find out its got ten floors… You’re no longer bored. You want to pull out your sword. You know that dungeon is deep and mean With lots of treasure for you to glean. […]

Filed Under: Geek Life, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Indie Day!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 4, 2013

So here in the U.S., it’s Independence Day – the day we celebrate the birth of our country, and the decisions and sacrifices of those who came before us over two hundred years ago. And, in spite of quite a number of well-documented challenges, I feel we’ve done pretty well. As a result, we’re a […]

Filed Under: Biz, Geek Life - Comments: Read the First Comment

The Airborne Chronology Hypothesis

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 3, 2013

I’m working on a new hypothesis for “fun” as it applies to gaming. It goes something like this: Sort of like the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the determination of how much fun you are having playing a game is impossible to determine while you are playing it. Or, more correctly, that elevated “fun” levels prevent accurate […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

A Milestone of Sorts…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 4, 2013

Today (well, tomorrow as I write this), my eldest daughter graduates from high school. This boggles my mind. But then, when we decided to have her, I wasn’t yet out of college. Yeah, I know, shock. These days the tendency is to wait until both parents are well-established in their careers before having kids. We […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Not So Jaded After All

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 3, 2013

Sometimes I think I’ve been wrecked for life. When I was younger – especially in my high school and college years – I would sometimes be up most or all the night playing games. Hours would go by barely noticed as I’d be absorbed in some game. Then I’d feel guilty when I finally quit […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 12 Comments to Read

Free to Play (You … for a sucker!)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 22, 2013

I have recently entered the land of the mobile-deviced. Or something.  Got a Nexus 10 (though I still have a plain ol’ “dumb” phone for the foreseeable future). It really is for game development, but I wanted to get some use out of it. A friend told me that he really had to hunt for […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Techno-Culturally Faking It

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 2, 2013

I don’t know if everybody is this way, but it seems that in many ways I still expect the world to be pretty much the same as it was when I was a teenager. It’s always a little surprising to me to see how my favorite actors and rock stars have aged. I mean, especially […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

Turn Off “Always On” DRM

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 16, 2013

Last night, I was cleaning up some some things around the office, and I stumbled across my box for City of Heroes. City of Heroes was an awesome MMORPG I played for a couple of years. While I hadn’t played it in a while, I was sad to see the game shut down completely not […]

Filed Under: Biz, Geek Life - Comments: 14 Comments to Read

The SimCity Deception

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 14, 2013

I’m a developer. I recognize the impact of software piracy all too well. Stating it as simply as possible: Software piracy remains a serious problem for game developers, which also makes it indirectly a serious problem for gamers, too. Now that is out of the way. But I want it noted that I sympathize with […]

Filed Under: Biz, Geek Life - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

The Paradox Virus

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 11, 2013

Every once in a while I find that my subconscious is still every bit as creative and clever as I wish my conscious mind would be. From thermal-sensor-resistant cowboy zombies to this, I occasionally get these very clever dreams that I wish I could do something with. In this case, it was a Doctor Who […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Four Joys of Dice & Paper Gaming

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 8, 2013

Back in the old days, when we stone computers and stuff,  computer RPGs were really not much more than an attempt to provide a pale imitation of the tabletop gaming experience for existing Dungeons & Dragons fans to get their “fix” when a real game session wasn’t convenient. With game names like “DnD” and so […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Confessions of an Out-of-Phase Indie

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 31, 2013

In spite of having been “indie” for quite some time, even before it was much of a thing, some days I look at what’s happening in indie-dom and really feel like an outsider. I think a good deal of it stems from background and culture. I have been a PC gamer – a computer gamer […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 21 Comments to Read

Why Female Fantasy Armor is (Usually) Stupid

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 24, 2013

Once upon a time, when we were playing Fantasy Hero on a regular basis, the women in our gaming group started referring to the “companion” supplement as the “Stupid Armor Chick Book.” It was funny, and soon we were all calling it by that name. The cover art was from a Larry Elmore painting, “Journey […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

Lady Has Bustle!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 21, 2013

The world is happier with more steampunk stuff.  Just my opinion. So with that in mind… a parody of Sir Mix-a-Lot’s notorious classic, “Baby Got Back”, “Lady Has Bustle!” Some words that can apply to RPGs as well (I should take this advice myself): Steampunk is most sublime A lot of punks won’t like this […]

Filed Under: Geek Life - Comments: 13 Comments to Read

Games And Guns

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 15, 2013

A friend of mine emailed me with the subject “Has the world has gone crazy?” It linked to an article about a good ol’ fashioned book-burning that included video games, and how violent arcade games were getting removed from public rest stops.  The latter one I could kind of understand (I have never seen an […]

Filed Under: Geek Life, Politics - Comments: 8 Comments to Read



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