[Q&A] Trey Causey (Weird Adventures)

[19:02] <+trey> Great. Hi, I'm Trey.  I'm the author of Weird Adventures, which is a "pulp fantasy" setting
[19:02] <+trey> usuable with any game, but sort of geared toward D&D-ish OGL systems

[Q&A] Christian Conkle (Swords of Cydoria)

[19:11] <+Evilschemer> Okay. I'm Christian Conkle. I'm the author of Swords of Cydoria, Lightspeed, and two Dragonball Z sourcebooks. Swords of Cydoria is a monograph for Basic Roleplaying. It's a setting that takes inspiration from swords-and-sorcery, pulp, and science fiction.
[19:11] <+Evilschemer> I've described it as Swords and Blasters, Monsters and Aliens.

[Q&A] Matt Forbeck (Brave New World, Magic: the Gathering comic)

[19:03] <+Forbeck> Hi! I'm a longtime freelance game designer and novelist. I used to run Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and I've written games for most of the games in the industry.

About #rpgnet

Now that the #rpgnet IRC chatroom is getting a lot of new attention, I should probably explain its relationship (or lack thereof) to RPGnet.

Back in the day, #rpgnet was the official chat for RPGnet. In fact, there's still a "legacy" page on RPGnet linking you there. The fact that the applet requires "using Netscape Navigator 4.0 or Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or greater" should give you some idea of how long ago we're talking, here.

When Skotos Tech purchased RPGnet in 2001, they wanted their own browser-based chat room to be the official chat, and the relationship to the IRC room effectively ended. The fact that said browser-based chat is no longer with us, and hasn't been for a very long time, comes as no surprise to me, as in my experience, it was a browser-crashing monstrosity.

In any case, #rpgnet continued to exist, vanishing only temporarily one day when the previous channel owner had been gone long enough for the channel's registration to expire. I happened to sign in that day, found the place unregistered, registered it myself, and the rest is history.

As things stand now, there is no official relationship with RPGnet. We do have at least one regular who has since become a Mod on the RPGnet forums, but that gives him no authority in the chat; likewise, the #rpgnet Ops have no pull on the forums.

In terms of moderation, I would say that #rpgnet is modded at once more and less heavily than are the forums: more, because we lay down fairly strict (but simple) rules on the front end, and less, because we seldom find the need to discipline anyone. The rules are designed to prevent flamewars before they start, and I would say that they've been hugely successful in that regard. They are as follows:

• No pro/con statements about real-world religion. Factual statements are fine, as are discussions of gameworld religions.
• No pro/con statements about real-world politics. Again, factual statements are fine, as are discussions of gameworld politics.
• No flaming. Debate is fine, but if things start getting heated, cool it down, or we'll cool it down for you.
• Keep the language kid-friendly. Anything that would pass muster on U.S. network TV is acceptable.
• If someone is uncomfortable with a topic and asks for it to be dropped, please respect that request. This right should not be abused, however.

That's basically it, other than "have fun," which we do. I describe the place as a bit like a virtual "Cheers".

The easiest way to join the chat if you don't have an IRC program is to go to http://tinyurl.com/rpgnetchat. Select your nick, log in, and enjoy!

Related chats include #rpgnet2, which is mostly used for general chat while Q&As are in progress, #rpgnet-politics, in which the aforementioned rules do not apply, and #rpgnet-therapy, wherein chatters can related their real-world problems away from the "noise" of the main chat.

See you there!

[Q&A] Andy Kitkowski (Tenra Bansho Zero)

[19:04] <+Andy_K> Alrighty! Hey all, I'm Andy K. I'm a longtime RPGNetter (1999!), and I finally published my white whale of a Japanese RPG, Tenra Bansho Zero, into English.

[Q&A] Chris Birch (Achtung! Cthulhu)

10:02       Modiphius      Well I'm chris from Modiphius, we just published the first episode of Achtung! Cthulhu for Call of Cthulhu and Savage Worlds

[Q&A] Jamie Chambers (Metamorphosis Alpha, When Shadows Rise)

[19:59] <+Jamie> Hey folks! I'm Jamie Chambers — full-time in the game industry for almost twelve years.[20:00] <+Jamie> Most of my work has been on the RPG side, from self-directed stuff to licensed material in the fantasy, scifi, and horror side of the equation.[20:00] <+Jamie> I've also developed and published board and card games.
[20:01] <+Jamie> I also service as Vice President on the board of directors of GAMA — the Game Manufacturers Association — which is the trade association that supports the hobby games industry. It's an elected, volunteer position and I've been serving for five years.

[Q&A] Clash Bowley (Flying Mice Games)

[20:10] <+flyingmice> Hi all! I'm clash bowley, dasigner, writer, illustrator, publisher and chief cool and bottle washer for Flying Mice Games.

[Q&A] Jason Durall (Basic Roleplaying, Interplanetary)

[19:01] <+JasonDurall> I'm a 40ish game designer originally from the Pacific Northwest now living in the middle of Texas

[Q&A] Lawrence Whitaker (RuneQuest 6e)

[19:14] <~Dan> Okay, guys! I'll now be turning the floor over to
Lawrence "Loz" Whitaker, co-author of RuneQuest 6e.

[Q&A] Toph Marshall and Brad Murray (VSCA -- Diaspora, Deluge, Hollowpoint)

[19:59] <+VSCA-Brad> Well I'll set us up, I guess! Toph and I are the authors of Hollowpoint, a triple-ENnie nominee this year. It's a one-shot action game based on _100 Bullets_. We also worked with our close friends, Bryon Kerr and Tim Dyke on Diaspora, which is probably already pretty well known.

[Q&A] Eloy Lasanta (Third Eye Games)

[21:02] <+Eloy-3EG> I'm Eloy, from Third Eye Games[21:02] <+Eloy-3EG> we make Apocalypse Prevention, Inc., Wu Xing: The
Ninja Crusade, Part-Time Gods and Mermaid Adventures

[Q&A] Chris Griesinger (Reclamation)

[19:02] <+CGriesinger> my name is Chris Griesinger. Reclamation is an RPG that I have been working on for (how embarrassing) about 7 years.

[Q&A] Simon J. Berman (Unhallowed Metropolis Revised)

[20:03] <+SimonJBerman> I'm Simon Berman and I'm one of the core writers and project managers of Unhallowed Metropolis, Revised.

[Q&A] Tim Kirk (Hearts & Souls, High Valor, etc.)

[19:00] <+Tim_Kirk> I'm Tim Kirk, of Silverlion Studious, who works in cooperation with Better Mousetrap Games. I write and produce the games myself. They help me sell them. I've designed two games so far completely my own
[19:00] *** technoshaman has joined #rpgnet
[19:00] *** ChanServ sets mode +v technoshaman
[19:01] <+Tim_Kirk> Hearts & Souls, a rather unique superhero game, and High Valor, a dark ages fantasy rpg.  I also have written bits for Cartoon Action Hour, and the setting of Tribes of Mother Knight.
[19:01] <+Tim_Kirk> Night..not Knight..,.weee.

[Q&A] James Edward Raggi IV (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)

[20:08] <+JimLotFP> I'm Jim, an American living in Finland, and I run Lamentations of the Flame Princess which is all about taking traditional old school gaming and twisting it into new and wonderful and terrible things.

[Q&A] John Berry (Hulks & Horrors)

[18:01] <+John_Berry> I'm John_Berry and I'm the author/designer of Hulks and Horrors.
[18:01] <+John_Berry> It's a pulp/gonzo SF/space opera game of space exploration and dungeon crawling, inspired by classic D&D.

Q&A formatting (or lack thereof)...

Just a quick note: I've been asked to format and clean up the Q&A chatlogs when I post them. While I agree that this would make them much more legibile, the fact is that between reading games, reviewing games, playing games, and holding Q&A sessions, I simply don't have the time to add yet another task related to this hobby.

If someone would like to volunteer to do the formatting for me, however, that would be great! :)

[Q&A] Nathaniel Torson (Dr. Who RPG)

[18:59] <~Dan> This is Nathaniel Torson, one of the authors of the Dr. Who RPG.
[19:00] <~Dan> He's here to talk a bit about that game, and, more
specifically, about the forthcoming supplement.
[19:00] <~Dan> Nathaniel, the floor is yours!
[19:01] <+Pertwee> As Dan said, I'm mainly here to answer questions
about the forthcoming Time Traveller's Companion, but if you have
questions about the core game, we can talk some about that as well.

Birth of a GMshoe

Based on popular demand, I am, indeed, starting my very own blog, if for no other reason than that I've been asked to post the logs from my #rpgnet Q&A series. I figure I'll also re-post my reviews here, and maybe just some random thoughts.

For now, I should probably explain where the whole "Hardboiled GMshoe" thing came from.

It's not a very elaborate or entertaining story, really. I'd been reviewing at RPGnet for quite a while when I was asked to review Mean Streets by Deep7 Games. Since it's a film noir game, just for a goof, I decided to write it with a film noir intro. I had so much fun doing it that I used the same schtick for my Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG review. From there, it was pretty much off to the races.

I'm not sure when I came up with the name "Hardboiled GMshoe" to refer to my reviewing persona.

I can, however, say that one of my proudest moments was being at GenCon and, while in the process of introducing myself, having someone rush up and say excitedly, "You're name's Davenport! You review games!!"