matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Blogging)
So, after procrastinating for ages, I decided yesterday to get around to installing the most recent versions of Wordpress and play around. But life got in the way, good job I waited really, as they released version 2.6 today so I've been playing with that. It's good, it's so very very good. If you're currently using Google's Blogger service, now is very much the time to think about switching and getting set up on your own domain and server[1].

Specifically, I've updated Warlord TaKtiX[2]. What had previously stumped me was complete in 10 minutes, and done better than I thought possible )

The posting interface is clean and quick, they've done other cool stuff and really beaten LJ and Blogger down a peg or two )

I approve. I really do. I may dig out the old crossposting plan again. Maybe. Definitely play with the idea anyway—so looking forward to working on this for proper paying clients.


[1] I can assist/do the work for this, and while I haven't worked out a pricing structure yet, it'll be fairly cheap because, y'know, it's me...

[2] The revamped game is due for release any day now (Individual Starters and Demo Decks available for download on the official site). stuff for Laurence and players )

RIP Warlord CCG

2008-Jan-24, Thursday 19:58
matgb: (Gaming)
So, the inevitable has eventually happened, and Todd's announced the end of the game at the Temple.

I effectively stopped playing when I moved to London, just never got back into it. While it's not my favourite game, I definitely have to say that the community (not least the Temple itself which I invested a huge amount of effort in for awhile) is one of the best I'd encountered. I got my first adult passport to attend a tournament (and made a chunk of friends there *waves at Arne*). The Greek expedition was linked as well. My only trip to the US? With [livejournal.com profile] the_prince, to play Warlord. Sure, I stayed on for another three weeks and wandered around California, but still, wouldn't have gone over if that game hadn't existed. Travelling for events and cons and bracketing a holiday around it is a great way to travel. Sure, I missed the most recent KoHIT (as initially planned, that post now unlocked), but memories of the first will be with me, and I think the friends are keepers

In the CCG world, good games start, they build, they plateau and unless they're really lucky, they run out of steam and die. Some of them keep going for years (my default icon? From a dead CCG that I still love). That Warlord survived as long as it did surprised everyone that knew the industy. That it's finally dead doesn't surprise me at all, I thought it was going to die early last year.

Ah well. At least my choice for what CCG to buy into if I ever go back that way is easy now.

ETA: There are some comments from other players on the imported Facebook note as well, including Arne, the KoHIT organiser.
matgb: (Gaming)
So then. In 2002, I got an email from an obvious loon I'd never met. If he organised a [livejournal.com profile] warlord_ccg event in a climbing hall[4] in his home town, would I be interested in attending and bringing friends? Where's his hometown? Muenster, Westphalia (that would be as in 'Treaty of', possibly one of the most significant documents in, oh, world history?). I didn't even have a passport. Massive fuss getting a passport, but eventually [livejournal.com profile] paulatpingu, [livejournal.com profile] nadriel, [livejournal.com profile] malkavelli, Vince[livejournal.com profile] the_prince[8] and I managed to get there. My first trip abroad as a functioning adult[6].

Best weekend away[1] ever. Seriously great fun[7]. I've sinced travelled to similar events all over Europe (waking up in a Paris bed next to Malk was weird, watching the premiere of the BSG mini-series in an Anaheim hotel room with Vince was slightly weirder). But the original event remains the best.

Last year was the fifth and, we thought, the last. This morning I got an email. From the same loon.

[livejournal.com profile] shakalooloo[3]warlord_ccg: KoHIT 6
Temple of Lore » View topic - KoHIT 6: A Gathering of Friends. Nov. 9-11 in Münster, GER[2]

Didn't know how to react—for a start, I need to be saving up the pennies, second, it'd mean a weekend travelling that wasn't to go visit Jennie, and, well, I'm not 100% sure I can afford it anyway. Except when we chatted earlier, [livejournal.com profile] snapesbabe said she'd like to come.

So, um, [livejournal.com profile] granjero? That'd be two decks I'd like to borrow this time Mr Player Design Team member...

Footnotes o'doom )

Warlord players!

2007-Mar-28, Wednesday 22:48
matgb: (Gaming)
[livejournal.com profile] adamshadow is posting again, and has a question.

Good to see a dead LJ become active again, now all he needs is some readers. Oh, while you're at it, join [livejournal.com profile] warlord_ccg as well? It's not had a use for ages, but y'never know. [livejournal.com profile] shakalooloo? Can you kick [livejournal.com profile] granjero into posting something somewhere?

(no subject)

2007-Jan-25, Thursday 12:05
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Marvin-Life)
Right, a little swamped. Meeting [livejournal.com profile] faeriecween and [livejournal.com profile] freedrinkdave in about 2 hours for our planned ages ago wander around Camden, then off to Covent Garden to meet [livejournal.com profile] jantshira. This is good. Then, get back here, drive back to Torbay. Pack car full of stuff, sleep.

Tomorrow: finish packing car full of stuff, drive back up. [livejournal.com profile] matryx? There's no way I'll make lunch tomorrow, timing messed up, next week, right? Still, will see you in the evening.

Friday evening: [livejournal.com profile] dudeulike's band Pyrites are playing at the Fox and Firkin in Lewisham, so we're already promised to go there. Then back to Mike's for my last night on his sofa. Saturday: go to new place, meet landlady, collect keys, move in.

New place has wireless broadband included in the rental price, no idea how good that'll be, but hopefully I'll be online quickly. If not I'll simply walk to Mike's regularly. In the meantime, some linkspam before I go...

  • [livejournal.com profile] rhythmaning has another awesome photo set, this time of London. As in previous sets, it's the lighting that really sets them off well.

  • An article in the Huffington Post about how being vegetarian is the best way to save the world. A little hyperbolic perhaps, and the astroturfing comments are pure comedy gold, but the basic principle is sound, and it is one of my reasons for not eating meat (I've never been the "don't harm the cute fluffy bunnies" type of vegie, as previous links may attest to).

  • In addition, [livejournal.com profile] jonhodgson. Everyone has an LJ it seems. This is the artist who was at the Mancon Warlord tournaments, website is jonhodgson.net. [livejournal.com profile] granjero, was one of your prizes one of his prints? I don't recall if you did your usual clean sweep at ManCon. And I'm not sure if [livejournal.com profile] shakalooloo went to either, Laurence? I know you went to both Midlanders as at some point we need to settle the hotel bills, but I don't recall ManCon.

  • Last up, still not written my rant about with Ruth Kelly is shit and should resign, but [livejournal.com profile] frightened is covering the aspects [livejournal.com profile] tyrell and [livejournal.com profile] innerbrat haven't already. But, this link is really for todays [livejournal.com profile] jesus_and_mo, Blackmailing Asshats.

Right, gotta rush, may or may not be online between now and Sunday, so comment'sll come from Opera Mini if at all ;-)
matgb: (Life)
my stats Ah. Oops. See, I went to Exeter today, [livejournal.com profile] granjero organised a Warlord tournament at Steve's. Took my phone with me, with my email and the login page for Infection bookmarked. Unfortunately, could only check between each, hour long, round. But an infection round is, um, 35 minutes currently (it was an hour when I signed up). Oops. [livejournal.com profile] mapp noticed and texted me, but I got the text a bit too late (reception at Steve's is awful) and logged in just as I died. Bugger. Worst bit? team stats The team's dropping like flies as well. 13 members left out of 100? Ouch. Still, an interesting idea for an LJ based game, and it can work. I suspect when this game is over, the next one will have less players, but be more organised. Being able to set a sleep mode is essential, but an 'away' mode might be useful, and possible a weekdays only mode. Ah well.

The tournament? I borrowed a deck from Chris. New Merc Warlord, interesting idea, but as Chris said, not at all tuned and in need of some work. Huge turnout from the Barnstable lads, bugger all from Exeter, just 4 of us. Still, a good day. Went up to campus to see if there was anything worth doing at GeekSoc, but no, everyone playing bloody RPGs. Need to work on that a bit, never going to keep new members if there's no one available for pick-up games. Anyone up to doing something next week?

I'm in a bit of a 'meh' mood at the moment. Off to see the lawyers tomorrow morning, hopefully be able to talk about it openly tomorrow evening. Have no plans for Xmas, no plans for New Years. Am thinking family for Xmas, London for New Years; any Londoners got any specific plans made?

Best 404 ever?

2006-Nov-29, Wednesday 00:40
matgb: (Webstuff)
Well, I was inspired by [livejournal.com profile] shakalooloo's link earlier to the new L5R promo Khan's Defiance (worth a look even if you're not an L5R fan, some damn fine art in that animation. Some crappy stuff as well, but, y'know Todd's in charge now, we can't expect beet level quality...

Anyway, went back to my old links page and dug out some art to possibly make some icons with. I've done Yudoka already, natch, but I've used him before, so I'm thinking of Paneki or similar. Anyway, Mark Evans has redesigned his site since last I was there. My old link was to /index.html. Have a look at what it comes up with now:
File not found
Innit cute?
Look, it's the internet. As far as I can tell, the internet now exists mostly so that people can post pictures of cats. I don't own a cat. So I'm using someone else's picture. OK with you?
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (pic#)
Right, am back in the country, sat at [livejournal.com profile] nadriel's PC as he's at work. More than a little exhausted, so today may become a lazy day, haven't decided yet. Anyway...

K, thanks for the comments on my previous few posts, [livejournal.com profile] sms_to_lj is a nice way to let off steam when frustrated, and I read the comments using Opera Mini on my phone, the reply interface is a bit crappy though so didn't until now. Easyjet let me rebook the ticket to a later flight, for only £35. Given that the total cost, including taxes, of the return ticket, had been about £33, I'm not sure that was a good deal, but it was cheaper than buying a new ticket, and it wasn't their fault, so not too bad. So, I'm on the plane, on the way, the rest is easy, right? Oh no...

Travelling in Germany, a comedy of errors )

KoHIT day one: a tournament with free beer! )

[livejournal.com profile] mapp! Doesn't that image look familiar to you? Why did no-one tell me the EVE MMORPG was using the Whately symbol for one of their factions? New shiny CCGs, Eve and World of Warcraft )

KoHIT day two: Doubles and death )

Read more... )

Getting home & the Flying Rhinos of Dortmund? )

Got here (Mike's) last night at about 9ish, and essentially collapsed. Did decide that if I travel via Luton again, I drive to his, park up, and take the train, there's a direct train from Wimbledon FFS.

Now, to plot the rest of the week..
matgb: (Cool)
Firstly, I did this a few days back but never posted, and I like the result:
Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.
I'm Joshua Abraham Norton, the first and only Emperor of the United States of America!

Next, I heartily recommend [livejournal.com profile] linkfrenzy to everyone, always a few worth a read in there. Today? A site called 23 Apples of Eris, and article called Habeas Corpus Remembrance Day:
On this day, Bureaucracy 66, 3025 (12 October 1859), His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, ordered the Congress of the United States to dissolve.
Weirdly fortuitous coincidence n'est ce pas? All this fuss the USians are making over the loss of Habeas Corpus, I'm wondering if Blair did it over here just as a trial run for Bush; make it work on a small scale. Is that what these isles have become, a testbed for El Presidenté Bush's authoritarian disrespect for the rule of law?

Anyway, time to leave the office and get to Exeter; going to play in [livejournal.com profile] granjero's Warlord tournament (using one of his decks, natch), which should be good. I could sort of use the practice for KoHIT, as, y'know, travelling to Germany to take part in a major event, it's sort of a good plan to know what you're playing before you get there, right? Heh, this'll be my 5th KoHIT, and despite my rep as a "top" player, I've only ever played with a deck I built once...

Oh, [livejournal.com profile] mapp et al? 23 Apples of Eris is [livejournal.com profile] 23ae_rss. If I keep doing discordian references I may have to switch my stated religion...
matgb: (Life)
Well, I'm back in the country and sat at [livejournal.com profile] nadriel's computer, I'll be staying here for a day or so before heading on to Reading to see others (and that silly film...).

So, a report from the weekend. There are a lot of LJ2ME posts up on [livejournal.com profile] warlord_ccg, and one that made it to my journal by mistake, interface wouldn't let me change the default journal, ah well. After travelling overnight, I caught the plane on time, got to Dortmund, took a bus to the station and got to Muesnter easily. I then realised I hadn;t brought any directions for the venue from the station.

Getting there )
The main event )
Side events, Americans that talk and talk and talk... )
Pizza, friends and travel )
Aside, all the US players refer to themselves by surname or nickname, there are just too many witht he same first name; "Rich", "Chris", etc. Considering the huge wealth of cultural heritage they've got, couldn't "all-American" names have a slightly bigger pool to choose from?

Getting home, broken bottles )
So, back in London, bummed around and slept. Oh, I broke the display on my mobile Sunday night, I can receive calls, and dial out if I know the number, but I can't look things up, nor send/receive texts, nor use any of the software I've got installed. So if'n you need me, a direct call is the only way to get hold of me.

In completely other news...



All to do with this traitor, the 'editor' of the Scum. Pass that link on, with the exact coding, we're google bombing again.
matgb: (Gaming)
Warlord players (or even simply potential players) should check out [livejournal.com profile] zechnophobe; Jeremy is a member of the Player design Team for the game (ie he outranks me in the hierarchy if we cared in any way) and is using his journal as a metagame blog in the run up to the world championships in a few weeks time. [livejournal.com profile] granjero reminded me to get the tickets booked this morning, payday is Friday...

I'd suggest an ubergeek contest where we compete for most rulebook credits, but there are those who can beat me easily. I am so looking forward to KoHIT this year, not just all the Euro players I've got to know over the last 3 years, but also many of the better US players as well, Mr Black was great company at SoCal when I went a few years back.
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Default)
Well, I'm about half way through my annual hell, and it seems to be going so well, so much so that I managed to leave work early Friday (after an 11 hour day Thursday to get the work done) in order to drive to London for [livejournal.com profile] synth_culture.

The journey and Synthetic Culture )

Great night, despite the heat )

Camden, omelettes and misprints )

Famous stations, great bookstores, city life )

Got back home at approx 2am and collapsed into bed. Spent today watching DVDs and reading webcomics. The usual Sunday really. Still, an update was due.

One last cut, especially for Miss Eve (she did ask nicely) )

Well, I'll likely be offline again until next weekend, when I think I'm supposed to be in Birmingham anyway, so don't expect to hear much from me anytime soon. Hope everyone else out there in LJ land is OK; to Exeter peeps, I hope to see those of you not going to Brum sometime in August...
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Default)
Well, Italy was well worth the journey and the money. Apart from the heat.

Now, I'm known for not being a fan of hot weather; I've never quite got the point of it, why is it supposed to be nice again? Anyway. When the Italians you're with are complaining that it's too hot, then you know it's too hot. Ah well.

Travel and the beauty of Schengen )

EL:ITE report, you may want to skip if CCG tournament reports aren't your thing... )

A Monday in a civilised city )

Tuesday, the saga of the lost keys )

Journey back was ok, read a lot, never can sleep, then collapsed in bed. The rest of the free time when not at work this week has been watching Battlestar Galactica episodes; the original series. I had forgotten how godawful it truly was. Still, fun.

So, to today; I'd planned to travel to Exeter this afternoon, but, well, I came online while eating lunch and haven't managed to get off again, let alone leave the flat. Ah well; [livejournal.com profile] paulatpingu? I guess I'll need to specifically come up for an arranged game at a set time; now have all Battlestar Galactica to lend out as well, stupid really, am now low on things to watch so B5 would be cool.

Still, overall, a relaxing holiday has put me in a good mood for the absolute hell the next 6 weeks at work is going to be; spent the last year planning for it, now I find out how good I really am.
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Default)
Picked Chris, Alica and Laurence up (almost ontime) outside the Great Western, then drove to Barnstable, we only got lost once despite me forgetting to look at the directions before leaving...

Good to see Sy down here from London, the Barnstable guys were their normal friendly selves. The "great" chippy they "always" goto on Sundays when in the vllage is, um, closed every Sunday, so junk food diets R us, but who cares.

I won an Ironhall challenge, Chris beat a Morrigan giving him two of each DL, he came first in the tournament, and as he was the only undefeated player and he was the only person that beat me, I came second! I seem to be doing better in tournaments recently, I guess having the best player in Europe as a pretty good friend helps. Using his decks definately helps.

Beyond that, very lazy weekend, and when I got back to the flat, the lounge and hallway lightbulbs went when I turned them on. Must talk tot he landlord about the electrics (again). That means cleaning the flat so he can get in though. I'll leave it for a bit...

So, I used my last spare bulb, and dug out the weird 'red' one I inherited fromt he previous occupant. It's got to be all of 20watts, if that, completely pointless. Ah well, I'll have to stumble around a bit tonight and buy some more ont he way home tomorrow.

Colleagues over from Germany again, this time the Head of the German office, a regular conatact I've never met, so should be an interesting day. she's bring one of our most important agents along, so I have to be nice and presentable. Oops, maybe should have done some laundry. Ah well.

Grotty cold is back, but that's usual. Spent some time trawliung around LJ communities again, I find a few of interest somehow, and people I know are already members. Figures. New people found though, including Dr Ben of Spin (really must have that argument properly again sometime Ben) and a crazy American over here that almost might be as left wing in some areas as me...

I'll stop rambling now. Night all. Mark? drink some hot chocolate. IT probably won't help, but that's what normally gets me to sleep.
matgb: Artwork of 19th century upper class anarchist, text: MatGB (Default)
12 days of Christmas )
And before anyone starts, it asked which of my friends I wanted for gifts. Hmm, attractive women, or my ugly male friends? I ran out of attractive women, only been doing this a month...

Another silly meme, from Sinju )
Some of them were, well, a bit vague, I guess I don't do favourite things that well.

Legend of the 5 Rings clan )
How did I get to be Phoenix? ah well, it's about as daft as Simon getting Scorpion.

Work a bit shit today, the boss asked when the mailing of the newsletter will be done, she wants it finished Monday. Um, that would be the newsletter I gave her to work on while I was on holiday? That she never gave back to me?

Gah! If she talked to me rather than assuming and then shouting, we might actually be a good team.

Never mind. Exeter tomorrow for silly games at Steve's shop, then Barnstable sunday for even more silly games, Sy#s down from London for that though, that'll be weird...

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