OLD News

I want to take a moment to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all of this year’s Nebular Award winners… But most especially to my dear friend (and the fabulous designer of this very site) Eugie Foster. Her “Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast,” won the award for Best Novelette.

Kudos to you, Eugie, and to everyone else who won. Wonderful job. 😀

For the first time in a long time–a couple of years, honestly–I’m getting a strong urge to run a D&D game.

The problem is, when I get caught up in a large project–be it an RPG assignment or a novel–my energy and impetus for running games often drains away dramatically. I’ve canceled more than one campaign in the past half-decade or so for precisely that reason.  😳 I don’t feel like I’d do that this time, but then, I didn’t feel like I’d do it those other times, either. But that’s the way it turned out.

So I’m torn. Even if I could put together a regular group (and "regular" is the keyword, here; I hate running a "whenever we can get around to it" game), I really don’t want to start another campaign that I’m not likely to finish.

Blargh. 😐

Hey, D&Ders. My latest ENWorld column is up, wherein I discuss (and lament) the reasons why I no longer houserule as frequently or as readily as I once did.

(For those unfamiliar with the internet language of gaming, RAW stands for "rules as written.")

Wow. And I thought the cover for The Conqueror’s Shadow was impressive. This one’s absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t be more thrilled. 😀

Cover art by the incomparable Larry Rostant.

I hate season-finale cliffhangers on TV.

No, you don’t understand. I hate them. Not in the "Oh, the producers are such geniuses, I hate them in a good way," like you feel when a writer pulls a particularly clever, devious trick. I mean I really hate them. They piss me off, and the fact that they’re becoming standard fare pisses me off even more.

They irritate the crap out of me. Occasionally there’s a good reason for them, like in a series that’s one long continuing story (i.e. Babylon 5). But most of the time? They’re cheap gimmicks. There’s rarely any good reason why you can’t complete a full, satisfying arc over the course of a full season. And that includes the ending.

I’m not saying that every last plot thread has to be tied up; a TV series is ongoing, and there should be ongoing plot points and character developments. But that’s a far cry from a three-month-long "to be continued."

I have never dropped a show I liked just because there wasn’t a cliffhanger to draw me back next season. And I have never continued watching a show I dislike just because there was a cliffhanger. But I have, on occasion, dropped a show I was liking because a season-ending cliffhanger rubbed me the wrong way. (Not often, I admit, but it has happened.) And slightly more often, a lingering cliffhanger has pushed me over the edge into dropping a show that was on my personal "bubble."

They used to be only occasional. I remember how shocking it was when Star Trek: the Next Generation did it with the Best of Both Worlds two-parter. (If you don’t remember what that was, get off my lawn, you dang young-uns!) But then, as I said, it became more and more standard. Now? Now, based on what I’ve seen for myself and what I’ve heard, I think every single show I watch is ending on a cliffhanger this season, with the possible exception of Mythbusters. (And at this rate, I wouldn’t put it past them to find some way to do it there, too. :-P)

And it’s freaking annoying!

I’m already either coming back next season or I’m not! Quit annoying me like this, or I’m going to start leaning a lot more often toward "Not." 👿