Just About the Worst Thing I Could Do…

…is neglect my blog right now; and yet that’s what I’ve been doing. Sorry.

The REASON I shouldn’t be neglecting it is I’ve got a new book that’s going to the printer (hope-hope) THIS week (yay!) AND (wait for it) I’m hoping to have the PDF of my B/X Companion available for download as well.

Yes, yes…the latter is not due to me suddenly become any kind of techno-genius. A very kind soul has generously offered to help me out in putting the PDF into a downloadable format so that the thing can be offered on-line. Which I know will be thrilling for a lot o folks (like everyone who’s been asking me about it for two years!)…and ESPECIALLY as the B/X Companion is referenced several times within the new book.

So, yeah…lots of good stuff coming out from Ye Old Blackrazor which I should be pumping up and advertising…except I’m not really a marketing genius. My BEST form of marketing is to simply make my blog relevant (so that people keep coming back to read it) and that, I’m afraid, has been sadly neglected.

Now long-time readers will know that the purpose of this blog was never to hawk my wares on-line. In fact, when I first started this thing, writing ANY book (especially a game book) was pretty far and away from my mind. And now that I’m doing so (I’ve even got a couple more “in the works”), I’m still not very interested in using this blog as a marketing pulpit.

On the other hand, I’ve been too busy to write much of anything else on the blog.

Over the next few days, I am going to try to get back on track. I’m sure I’ve lost some people over the last few months talking about the other games I’ve been play-testing: CDF, DMI, D&D Mine, etc. A couple days ago I received a helpful email from Brian Wood of awesomedice.com regarding “edition war statistics” and how Pathfinder seems to be the most popular version of D&D floating around. Well it just so happens that I conducted a poll back in February in an attempt to gather demographic info on RPG gamers throughout the internet (I advertised on a bunch of different forums, not limited to Old School D&D sites), and thought I’d do a quick check to see if I had the same results.

[yes, I know there are people still waiting for the compilation of this data…hell, there are still people waiting for the rest of the LAND OF ICE posts…sorry, folks, life is busy!]

After downloading and perusing the first 10% or so of surveys submitted, what I found instead was the majority of folks seem to prefer B/X or Labyrinth Lord as their favorite form of D&D…like 7 out of 10. Now perhaps that’s just the luck of the draw (i.e. once I compile the other more than 116 or so surveys, I might get different results), or it might be due to ME being the one asking for surevey submissions, but the preliminary results would seem to indicate something different from these “edition wars” stats.

I should also note that the preliminary surveys I looked at were ALL for older (over age 30) gents, who cut their teeth on versions of D&D other than 3rd Edition, and that might make a difference. On the other hand, there was one 30+ year old who started with AD&D and listed Pathfinder as his “preferred edition of D&D;” I know they are out there. And hell, I’M pushing 40 and I’ve played 3rd (and 3.5) edition in the past, too, so being old doesn’t mean one lacks “exposure” to later editions. Maybe it ain't an age thang.

Well, whatever…it would appear (at least for the people that cared enough to answer my survey) that B/X is kind of a big deal (or, at least, a "preferred edition") for at least a few people…and I should probably get back to blogging about B/X (cue sighs of relief from around the blog-o-sphere). FINE. I will do so. Hopefully, I will be announcing some B/X related materials in the next couple-few days. That might well include previews of the new book (which will for sure include a summary of its contents) and possibly some compare-and-contrast regarding B/X-vs.-D&D Mine play-testing AND some book reviews (finally) discussing a nice, little B/X-compatible setting.

Stay tuned, folks.
: )

Gaming Survey Coming to a Close

For those who haven't had a chance to complete the gaming survey I put together earlier this month...well, if you want to take part, you've only got a couple days left to complete the thing and get it emailed to me. I've managed to get quite a few responses, despite the craziness of the thing (lots of gripes about the format, submission guidelines, and wording of questions I'm afraid), but, hey...live and learn, right? Um...yeah, I think so. I hope so.

Anyway, I'm sure it will take me several moons to correlate all the data (and I've got a bunch of other stuff to do, too), but again a BIG "thank you" to all the folks who took the time to respond. Really...I appreciate it.

: )

[deadline: March 1st - just in case that wasn't clear]

Dipping My Toe

It's my Monday off, which means I'm with my boy (currently napping). Just thought I'd throw up a quick "here's what's going on" type post.

The gaming survey seems to be going well. So far, I've had over 400 hundred downloads and more than 100 responses (thanks to everyone participating). I've also received quite a bit of feedback, nearly all of it constructive, and most of which is making me beat myself up for not thinking this through a bit better. As I sometimes do, I've jumped off the deep end with this one (I said it was ambitious) and with only a bare minimum of forethought. Hey, I'm whimsical, what can I say?

People seem to hate the astrological implications in the demographic questions (time and place of birth). I'm not exactly sure why it makes folks irritable.

Finished up he football season for another year. Congrats to both teams in the Super Bowl. People shouldn't have to hear me wax on about sports again until at least September.

[speaking of sports and metaphorical warfare, I know some folks were intrigued by this EN World post about the differences in edition preference (and design) has a little to do with a difference in perspective of whether "combat" in D&D should be more like "sport" or more like "warfare" (i.e. more of a game or more "true-to-life"). I know people have interest in this because there's, like, fourteen pages of response and I've seen mention of it around the OS blog-o-sphere. Personally, I think the whole discussion is a silly one. But then, I feel the whole idea of "combat" being "the first of three legs that comprise the foundation of D&D" is pretty f'ing ridiculous. I might have to publish some (more composed) thoughts on the matter later]

Since football and the bulk of the winter holidays are over, I should really begin to crack down on the writing projects. Ha...I "should be" but we all know that's easier said than done. Well, hopefully I'll be able to get my office workload under control (still trying to dig out of the hole caused by snow and illness), and then I'll have more breathing room at that end.

Also, my family is considering dropping our cable TV entirely and I hope we do...my experience has been that I don't miss television when I don't have it, and in addition to cutting the household costs it will give us more time to concentrate on other things (*ahem*). Lent is coming up in a couple weeks, and perhaps that would make a good starting point for a cable-free household. We'll just have to see, I guess.

I have a shit-ton of ideas that I've been knocking around in my brain lately, and I really need to get some of 'em down on paper. Sometimes it feels like there is too many games and too little time...that I can purchase or think up half a dozen great adventure ideas or campaign settings or completely new games every month, and yet my playing time is limited to a few hours weekly. It's a little depressing when I think about it: while some people prefer their gaming to be an occasional hobby, I would be most satisfied having it as a full-time gig. And yet, there's just no way to get it to pay the bills.

But that's a dead-end road of speculation. I've got more to write, but right now I'm going to grab a quick siesta myself.

; )

RPG Gaming Survey - YOUR Help Needed!

All right here it is: the “secret” project I was talking about earlier.

I don’t think there’s enough good hard data on RPG gamers, nor D&D players specifically. There are a lot of assumptions out there that get tossed around the forums and the blogs and the over-the-table discussions, but there just isn’t a lot of true, hard data.

I want to rectify that.

[da-da-DUM]

So, I’ve put together a little survey. Well, actually, not that little…it’s 125 questions, though most of them are “yes/no” or “mark ‘X’ in the box.” It’s a ton of information, including demographics (age, gender, race, nationality, current residence) and information about when and how one got into the game…not to mention preferred editions and feelings about a lot of game related “stuff.”

This is NOT a marketing survey…there aren’t any questions about whether you are going to buy 5th edition or the AD&D reprints. In fact, it doesn’t ask about games purchased at all…it asks about games played. There are a couple-three (yes/no) questions about technology appearing at the game table and print books versus PDFs, but I think that’s pretty useful, generic info. It’s one thing to THINK people prefer to “own a print book,” but let’s get some actual numbers and percentages on it.

Anyway, I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a capital-I Important survey (as in “important” to the industry), but I DO think the information will be incredibly helpful and interesting to look at.

So here’s how it’s going to work:

Go to the download page at the link listed below, and download the GAMING SURVEY. The document is an MS Excel sheet. Read the instructions at the top; then enter the information in the open cells (the “colored boxes”). Except for the answer boxes, the cells on the document are all locked, so you can’t accidentally type over a question or anything. Once you’ve finished, save the document and then email it to the following email address:

gamingsurveyresults AT gmail.com

[this email address is also located at the bottom of the document]

The more information you can provide, and the more honesty you can provide, the more useful the survey will be. However, you do not have to answer all the questions…if you feel some are too personal or you don’t really have an answer, just leave it blank. The information you DO provide will still be useful. The idea here is to get a SNAPSHOT OF THE GAMING HOBBY AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME…that is, at the beginning of the 2012 year. This is going to show a bit of the “state of the hobby” BEFORE a 5th Edition is release, BEFORE the re-release of the AD&D books. Who knows how those things (and other developments) might change the state of table-top gaming?

So Here's The Help I Need: I need YOU, readers, to download the document, complete it, and email it back. If you have a BLOG, I would ask that you post a link to the download site (you don’t have to link to my blog…I’m not doing this for publicity). If you have friends or associates who play table-top RPGs, especially Dungeons & Dragons, or WHO HAVE PLAYED THE GAME IN THE PAST BUT DON’T ANYMORE, please email them a copy of the survey to fill out, or direct them to the download.

I want to get as many responses as possible. This isn’t just “old school” stuff. It’s not just “current D&D players.” You can be a White Wolf LARPer or a Forge-ite Indie game designer or a 4E power gamer or the spouse of a gamer who’s just happened to have play the game a couple times (regardless of whether or not you’d do so again). Even though it’s a lot of questions, none of the questions are asking for comments or essays or a huge ton of brain power…they’re just data points to get some hard statistics on real RPG gamers, not just assumptions.

I will be collecting data for at least the month of February, and maybe early March. I am hoping for at least a couple hundred responses, but ideally I'd like to get into the 500-1000 range. I don’t have that kind of blog readership, so to any of you “big boys” that do: PLEASE promote the survey, even if you don’t especially promote ME. The information will be interesting (and perhaps useful) to EVERYone in the hobby.

Thank you very much for your time and attention.
: )

The survey can be downloaded right here.