DaveGraham.org

Dungeons and Dragons: Who will inherit the legacy?

2009-11-06T15:52:00.001-07:00

I got an Email from Amazon asking if I wanted to sell any Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 material. I think it highlights the popularity of the d20 system and the failure of the fourth edition. Usually, about now, everyone is dumping their previous version to purchase the new one. The market for 3.5 materials should be flooded with players wanting to upgrade and prices should be depressed. Instead, now that the previous version is out of print, demand is higher than ever. A player’s handbook fetches about $90 new and $60 used. This while the free and remarketed Dungeons and Dragons Online is becoming wildly popular (to the point of server overload) and the entire online system is built on the 3.5 rule set.

Meanwhile, Green Ronin Publishing is pushing hard to replace the D20 system with their True20 system that is built on the 3.5 System Reference Documents that were released by Wizards and published under the Open Gaming License. I have seen their true20 on the shelves of two game stores I have visited in the last month. Clearly they are poised to strike at Wizards weakness and are looking to push True20 in as the real heir to the Dungeons and Dragons gaming legacy. They like to say, “True20 is the latest in generations of adventure roleplaying games that have been around since the 1970s.”

I have two 3.5 player handbooks at my disposal that are shared between two campaign groups. I want players to consider purchasing the books themselves. Should I place a $60-$90 burden on them? I think I could ask them to purchase the True20 players handbook at $30, or at least the PDF version for $9.99.

Hasbro’s downsizing last year saw Wizards of the Coast dump Jonathan Tweet (the main author of the 3.5 handbook). With this behavior you have to wonder what of interest will be coming out of Wizards in the future. Meanwhile a small upstart is attempting to co-opt a legacy.

Play Testing is Complete for this Year

2009-10-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

There will be no Battle Game play testing on October 24th, 2009 in Fort Collins. It has been cancelled because of conflicting activities. This pretty much finishes up this seasons play testing. I do not expect to host any more battle game activities until March 2010.

More Battle Play Testing October 17th

2009-10-10T08:52:00.000-06:00

Battle Day and Weapons Construction Workshop, October 17th, Fort Collins, CO

There will be another play test activity for the book "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport" on October 17th at Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins. Directions are below.

The schedule is as follows:

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Weapons construction in the basement of the River Rock Cohousing Community House located adjacent to Lee Martinez Park. (Directions below)
12:30PM - 1:00 PM Lunch and Feedback, I will provide sandwich bar
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Battling. We play test specific scenarios
3:00 PM - free fighting time

I hope that you will come and participate. You can help shape the book that is likely to shape the future of this sport.

What to bring:

Any and all Amtgard/Belegarth/Dagorhir weapons. The system in the book is inclusive to all these weapon technologies. You may also wish to bring armor as we will be doing some play testing with armor.

If you are attending the weapons construction workshop, please consider bringing some supplies. I have many supplies which I will happily donate, but my supply chest is not bottomless. Typical stuff such as foam camping pads, pool noodles, tape, cores (PVC pipe/kite spar/fiberglass rods) and cloth are always useful.

More Information:
Additional information can be found at www.OpenBattleGaming.org, or by calling Dave Graham at 970-484-4577.

Directions:
Google Maps: Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins

Fort Collins is located about 60 miles from Denver.

Take I25 to Exit 269B which is CO-14 also known as Mulberry Street.
Follow Mulberry Street approximate 3.5 miles and turn right onto Riverside Ave. This will be the intersection just after you pass the rail road tracks.
Riverside Ave will become Jefferson St.
Go across where it intersects with College Ave. You will now be on Maple St.
Go four blocks and turn right on to N. Sherwood St.
Follow N. Sherwood to the end (it ends in the park) and then turn right and go down the hill and park by the ball fields.
Walk directly south to a fire lane (gravel) and follow it up hill to the east and you will be at the back of the River Rock Community House. Look for signs.
Look forward to seeing you there.

Please note there will be no play testing on October 10th, instead more effort is being put into getting a larger crowd out for October 17th.

Book Play Testing on Sep. 5th in Fort Collins

2009-08-29T20:03:00.000-06:00

Battle Day and Weapons Construction Workshop, September 5th, Fort Collins, CO

The book is comming along nicely. It is still currently titled "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport." Crynolyn is working on photos for the book.

A certain amount of play testing and player feedback needed to complete this project. Therefore I am organizing a series of play test and weapons construction activities that you are invited to attend.

Each of these activities will take place at Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins. Directions are below.

The schedule is as follows:

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Weapons construction in the basement of the River Rock Cohousing Community House located adjacent to Lee Martinez Park. (Directions below)
12:30PM - 1:00 PM Lunch and Feedback, I will provide sandwich bar
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Battling. We play test specific scenarios
3:00 PM - free fighting time

I hope that you will come and participate. You can help shape the book that is likely to shape the future of this sport.

In addition to September 5th, additional play testing and weapon workshops with be held on September 12, October 10, 17, and 24. These events will occur rain or shine. In the event of rain, we will primarily focus on making weapons and armor.

What to bring:

More Information:
Additional information can be found at www.OpenBattleGaming.org, or by calling Dave Graham at 970-484-4577.

Directions:
Google Maps: Lee Martinez Park in Downtown Fort Collins

Fort Collins is located about 60 miles from Denver.

Take I25 to Exit 269B which is CO-14 also known as Mulberry Street.
Follow Mulberry Street approximate 3.5 miles and turn right onto Riverside Ave. This will be the intersection just after you pass the rail road tracks.
Riverside Ave will become Jefferson St.
Go across where it intersects with College Ave. You will now be on Maple St.
Go four blocks and turn right on to N. Sherwood St.
Follow N. Sherwood to the end (it ends in the park) and then turn right and go down the hill and park by the ball fields.
Walk directly south to a fire lane (gravel) and follow it up hill to the east and you will be at the back of the River Rock Community House. Look for signs.
Look forward to seeing you there.

He's Barack Obama

2009-07-18T15:48:00.002-06:00

I thought this was pretty fun.

This I Believe

2009-07-05T09:06:00.003-06:00

Our friend Jenny asked my wife Margaret "What keeps you in your marriage?" And of course Margaret put the question to me. At the time I gave a short answer:

My relationship with Margaret not only allows for growth, it demands it.

Now I have had time to think and it really has to do with my outlook on life.

Comfort - I believe this value is far over rated. Comfort is the place of mediocrity and is a place where things are not so bad that you wish to change them, but not so good that you are enjoying anything.

Victimhood - This is just out. I believe here are no adult victims in life, absolutely none, we are all simply experiencing the consequences of our own choices.

Service - I believe the purpose of life is to live a life of service. I view serving others as a privilege and a joy. I seek meaning in serving the world. I never forget to server myself, so I will continue to have the energy to give to others.

Balance - I believe that life is a balance between "doing" activities and "being" present. Every "doing" should be balanced with a consciousness of "being" to give it meaning.

Choice - I believe I am always in choice. I may not be able to choose the "doing", but I can always choose the "being". So even when I am faced with an event that is force upon me, I can choose my emotional reaction to that event.

Happiness - I believe in authentic happiness that comes from optimism, human interaction, appreciation, working hard, learning new things, taking risks, and having new experiences. I am not much of a fan for short term pleasure and I rarely watch TV or read fiction.

Leadership - I believe although the purpose of life is service, to lead others in service is to help them find purpose. Waiting for someone else to take the lead is always a waste of time. This is true at home as well as at work.

Attention - I believe those things I wish to flourish must be given attention. Attending the family, health, work, and personal finances are my highest priorities. I am aware that attention is a limited resource and I must choose where I apply it. Some things, such as a clean house, often fall off the end of the list.

These are the things I believe. My relationship with Margaret is not one of idyllic easy-going pleasure, instead it is filled with challenge, growth, and meaning. This is what keeps me in my marriage.

Reorganizing my Web Presence

2009-06-18T18:12:00.002-06:00

I am in the process of reorganizing my web presence to create more of a flow of information leading up to the publication of the my new book Battle Gaming: The New American Sport which will happen some time this fall.

Yesterday I launched www.OpenBattleGaming.org as a blog where I will be posting updates about the Open Battle Gaming™ system and eventually this site will see the publication of the of this battle game rule system. I am in the process of attaching a Google group for discussion of this system.

Changes that are coming soon include the retirement of www.AdventuresForYouth.com and www.CreativeSwordPlay.com as that business has been over for more than a year. Also I am going to move www.ExtremeStandardization.org into an archive blog. I hope to get back to this project in a few years.

As we draw closer to the book publication I will be kicking off a number of new web sites. Check back later for more about that.

Good LARP/Battle Gaming Video

2009-06-17T21:07:00.000-06:00

Illinois LARPing from Aubyn Niemi on Vimeo.

Problems with Realm Crafter Mega Terrain Module

2009-06-14T09:13:00.002-06:00

I reciently purchased Realm Crafter for my son Will after he completed his 3D Game Design Camp which used the same software. I then purchased the MegaTerrain Module for the system, but are finding that it has a strange bug. The land area is tiny. Checking the Realm Crafter boards I have found that this may be related to the video card, but this is a very new computer with a new video card. If anyone has any information that might help, please post a comment.

Book Update "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport"

2009-04-11T23:25:00.003-06:00

People have been asking me about the state of the book. So I decided it is about time for an update.

As many of you know I am writing a book called "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport." Some of you have heard me say that it is a book about Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard and Darkon. This is not entirely true. It is a book about Battle Gaming which I believe is what is at the core of what Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard and Darkon do.

As for the schedule, the book is now officially running 5 months behind schedule. And I believe the schedule will continue to slip. The main drivers for schedule slippage are:

1) Reworking all the weapons construction stuff.

2) My day job just drains me.

3) Writing a book takes longer than I thought.

Here is what's going on.

I am simplifying weapons contraction instructions with a focus on accessibility of materials. My original plan of using many of my Action Armory instructions has not panned out well. The instructions I had created for specific kits where I provided the materials. Many of these materials I bulked ordered through Action Armory for the production of kits. The average reader of the book is not likely to have access to some of these materials (at least not easily). Therefore a new approach to a modular weapons construction instruction set is being created. This is a major undertaking and represents a rewrite of about 1/2 the book. This includes standardized methods for creating sharp points (thrusting points), hammer heads, punch protectors, pommels, sticks weapons, ax heads and pole arms. The new system is an ala-carte set of instructions. There is one worksheet for making a pommel, it is used on all weapons. A flail is simply a noodle sword (one worksheet) with a chain and ball (another worksheet). A arrow head is the same as a sharp spike you would find at the end of a small ax. Etc. I tested some of the instructions on the neighborhood kids with some success. Several people from Dagorhir Mordor have seen some of the samples I have been bringing out to practice and they want to know more. I will soon be inviting them to a weapons making workshop and see if we can shake out the instructions.

The book is targeted at a new player who is expected to be between 10-19 years of age. Test drives find that the book is written at a minimum 13 year old reading level. I will probably not try to fix that. There was some feedback that I need more information for parents working with kids. I had originally planned (2 years back) to have a chapter specific to this topic, but it did not exist in current work. I started building this chapter from all the work we did with Creative Sword Play, but then realized I would need to cut most of it. I will likely merge some material into Part I. It will talk about the 3 general groupings of kids: 6 and younger - they love the swords and have no concept of taking shots; 7-9 years - are ready for the simple stuff; 10-13 are ready to go, but need some safety guidance; with 14 and up are ready for the full deal.

The book teaches the Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules. This is simply a system that I created that is a merger of Dagorhir, Advanced Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard and Darkon. It plays on the common root of these clubs. It attempts to draw some of the most interesting concepts from each of these systems. There are light, mortal, and death wounds as found in Darkon. There are heavy weapons that can break shields like Dagorhir and Amtgard. There are throwing weapons like found in Amtgard. There is a core set of rules that play a very generic strike and tag game. There are lots of optional rules that effectively allow the rules to morph into Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard or Darkon like combat.

The Open Battle Gaming System separates the combat rules from the mock weapon technology used for play. These are covered by the Padded Weapon Technology Rules which basically are designed to grandfather in most existing Dagorhir, Amtgard, Belegarth, and Darkon weapons. So in some ways it is a slightly looser standard. In many ways it is more ridged. This standard specifies things like the minimum amount of closed cell foam or open cell foam that is needed for a particular construction. It specifies the density for open cell used in certain constructs. It specifies the use of punch protectors (blunts) at the ends of cores, as well as the use of rip resist parts. It also states that meeting the minimum padding may not be sufficient to get your weapon past the referee inspection. The entire Padded Weapon Technology Rules are demonstrated in the weapon construction portion of the book.

Since the combat rules and the technology rules are kept separate in the Open Battle Gaming System, there is a small portion of the book about applying the combat rules and battle game scenarios using SCA Rapier and SCA Heavy Weapons combat. I also hint at applying the combat system and games using latex style molded LARP weapons. All of this is at the edge of the scope of the book, so do not expect detailed instructions.

The Open Battle Gaming System also has the concept of player classes like found in Amtgard as well as creature class found as Amtgard monsters. But to keep it simple Core Rules has no concept of levels and only define the standard (Dagorhir/Belegarth) player classes: Warrior, Archer, and Healer. Players by default are limited the creature class: Human (as in Dagorhir/Belegarth). The main purpose for allowing the concept of a player and creature classes was to make it more ease to describe the battle games. A zombie tag game includes the creature class Zombie which then defines the actions a player who is playing this creature class can take.

There is no concept of a simulated magic in the Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules.

The system is specifically designed to be morphed by players, organizers, and game designers. The Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules in the Appendix of the book are being published under the Wizards of the Coast Open Game License v1.0a. I have specifically have no intention for there to ever be an Open Battle Gaming national organization. I would rather the rules be used like D&D or GURPs are today. Many clubs, running their own variation of the games with their own variation of the rules.

The book is suffering from overcrowding at this point. From a usability and price point it needs to be limited to 300 pages. It is clear that the contents have exceeded this limit. As a result there will be a major cut of content. Feel free to leave feedback about my suggested cuts shown in the outline below.

The plan for marketing the book is to sell it in two forms. There will be a black and white soft cover addition as well as a color E-book addition. Printing in color is not cost effective, so I decided that if an individual wishes to print a color version, they can purchase the E-book and print it themselves. I have not decided on the print house yet, but it will be self published under the name of my new company (more about that in a later post).

Here is my latest outline. Some things to note: A Worksheet is an item with very specific instructions to create a very specific item. A How To is a more general instruction set that requires some skill on the part of the reader to figure out how to make the project work. These are primarily armor projects where materials, tools, and patterns will vary from one reader to the next. The order for the Worksheets within chapters is still yet to be determined.

I have marked items that I am considering cutting from the book due to content overflow. The book looks like it will go from three parts to two parts. The remaining part which mostly contains "Part III: Running the Games" will be repackaged into a second book. This book will be published about six months after the initial book. It will likely be something of a game masters guide.

Please write comments and send me feedback.

Dave

PART I: Playing the Games

1) Chapter 1: A New Kind of Sport

2) Chapter 2: Safety First

a) Referees
b) Outdoor Cautions
c) Ensuring Safety
d) Safety Equipment

3) Chapter 3: Quick Start Guide

4) Chapter 4: Let the Games Begin!

a) Game Types, Sizes, Configurations
b) 20 Game Descriptions (I have limited it to 20, I could have more)

5) Chapter 5: Combat in Detail (mostly OBGS Core Rules with interpretation)

a) Target Zones
b) Weapon Classes
c) Shield Classes
d) Armor Classes
e) Actions - Sports Actions, Attacker Actions, Defender Actions
f) Optional Combat Rules

6) Chapter 6: From Sport to Game

a) Athletics vs. Strategy Game
b) Player Classes
c) Creature Classes
d) Common Game Creatures
e) Creating Your Own Player or Creature Class (Considered for Dropping)

7) Chapter 7: On The Battle Field

a) Forming a Team
b) Taking Shots
c) Movement and Strategy

i) Individual Techniques (a lot on how to sword fight)

ii) Unit Strategy (strategy at the team level) (Considered for Dropping Some Items)

Part II: Equipment

8) Chapter 8: What You Will Need

a) General info about Weapons
b) General info about Costuming
c) General info about Camping at Events

9) Chapter 9: Technology

a) History of the Mock Padded Weapon
b) Flat blades vs. Round blades
c) Internal Parts of a Padded Weapons
d) Design Guidelines (OBGS Padded Weapon Technology Rules)
e) Constructing Your Own Weapons (background)
f) Construction Materials Catalog
g) Construction Tools Catalog

10) Chapter 10: Swords

a) About the Worksheets
b) From Dagger to Great Sword
c) Worksheet: Make a Pommel
d) Worksheet: Make a Pool Noodle Sword
e) Worksheet: Make a Tubular Weapon Cover
f) Worksheet: Make a Box Style Puncture and Rip Resist
g) Worksheet: Make a Flat Blade Sword
h) Worksheet: Make a Simple Guard
i) Worksheet: Make a Rope Handle Grip

11) Chapter 11: Pokies and Bludgeons

a) Worksheet: Make a Sharp Point
b) Worksheet: Make a Pick
c) Worksheet: Make a Spear
d) Worksheet: Make a Hammer Head
e) Worksheet: Make a Hammer
f) Worksheet: Make a Stick or Staff
g) Worksheet: Make a Circular Mace
h) Worksheet: Make a Flanged Mace
i) Worksheet: Make a Horseman's Flail
j) Worksheet: Make a Footman's Flail (Considered for Dropping)
k) Worksheet: Make Numchakus

12) Chapter 12: Axes and Pole Arms

a) Types of Pole Arms
b) Worksheet: Make an Ax Head
c) Worksheet: Make an Ax
d) Worksheet: Make a Pole Arm
e) Worksheet: Make a Pommel Spike

13) Chapter 13: Thrown Weapons

a) Worksheet: Make a Throwing Dagger
b) Worksheet: Make a Bandelier (Considered for Dropping)
c) Worksheet: Make a Throwing Hammer
d) Worksheet: Make a Javelin
e) Worksheet: Make a Cool Rock
f) Worksheet: Make a Pot or Kettle
g) Worksheet: Make a Brick

14) Chapter 14: Archery and Arrows

a) Selecting a Bow
b) Selecting a Crossbow (Considered for Dropping)
c) Selecting Arrows
d) Worksheet: Make a Padded Arrow
e) Worksheet: Make a Crossbow Bolt (Considered for Dropping)
f) Worksheet: Make a Standard Quiver
g) Worksheet: Make a Large Quiver (Considered for Dropping)

15) Chapter 15: Shields

a) Shield Size, Weight, and Cores
b) Shield Shapes
c) Worksheet: Make a Plywood Backed Shield
d) Worksheet: Make a Saucer Sled Shield (Considered for Dropping)
e) Worksheet: Make a Solid Foam Shield
f) Worksheet: Make a Curved Shield (Considered for Dropping)

16) Chapter 16: Armor

a) General thoughts on Armor Construction
b) How To: Make a Gambeson
c) How To: Make Light Leather Armor

i) Adding Studs

ii) Adding Rings (Considered for Dropping)

iii) Adding Scales

d) How To: Make a Heavy Leather Breast Plate
e) How To: Make Heavy Leather Vambraces
f) How To: Make Heavy Leather Greaves
g) How To: Make a Leather Gorget
h) How To: Make Heavy Leather Pauldrons
i) How To: Make Chainmail
j) How To: Make Brigantine (Considered for Dropping)

17) Chapter 17: Helmets

a) Battle Game Safety Standards
b) Worksheet: Make a Banded Helmet
c) Worksheet: Make a Dark Age Helmet (Considered for Dropping)
d) Worksheet: Make a Psudo-Roman Safety Helmet
e) Worksheet: Attach a Hockey Grill to a Helmet

18) Chapter 18: Uniforms and Costuming

a) Making First Impressions
b) Basic Costuming
c) Winter Costuming
d) Worksheet: Make a T-tunic
e) How To: Make a Belt Pouch (Considered for Dropping)
f) Worksheet: Make a Weapon Clip

19) Chapter 19: Game Props (Considered for Dropping, Entire Chapter)

a) Getting the Setup
b) Worksheet: How to Make Raised Hoops
c) Making Your Portable Keep
d) Worksheet: The Portable Wall
e) Worksheet: The Portable Entryway

Part III: Running the Games

20) Chapter 20: The Organizations

a) History of the Battle Gaming Movement
b) Dagorhir and Belegarth
c) Amtgard
d) Darkon
e) The SCA and Battle Gaming
f) The Crossover Player

21) Chapter 21: Starting Your Own Club (Considered for Dropping, Entire Chapter)

a) Setting Goals
b) Types of Battle Gaming Clubs
c) The Evolution of a Battle Gaming Club
d) The Demographics of Battle Gaming
e) Controlling Your Liability

i) Using Property

ii) Hosting Minors

iii) Non-Profits

f) Creating Your Legal Entity

i) 501(c)3 vs. 501(c)7

ii) Filing for Incorporation

iii) Applying for an EIN Number

iv) By Laws - Your Operational Methods

v) Involuntary Dissolution

vi) Trademarks

g) Promoting Your Club

i) Newspapers

ii) Radio and TV

iii) Internet

22) Chapter 22: The Successful Game Day (Considered for Dropping, Entire Chapter)

a) Choosing the Games
b) Finding a Site
c) Organizing Players
d) Ensuring Safety
e) Game Oversight
f) Dealing with Problem Players
g) The After Game

23) Chapter 23: Working with Kids

a) Matching Abilities
b) Equipment for Young People (Considered for Dropping)
c) After School Programs (Considered for Dropping)
d) Summer Camp Programs (Considered for Dropping)

24) Chapter 24: Build on Success

a) Using Positive Reinforcement (Considered for Dropping)
b) Write Your Own Game Scenarios (Considered for Dropping)
c) Creatively Extend Battle Gaming (Considered for Dropping)
d) A Shared Vision of Fun

Appendices

Organizational Rules Comparison Tables

o Weapon Classes Across Organizations

o Shield Classes Across Organizations

o Armor Classes Across Organizations

o Player Classes Across Organizations

Open Gaming License v1.0a
Open Battle Gaming System Core Rules v1.0
Open Battle Gaming Rules Variant Definition Document v1.0 (Considered for Dropping - post online)
Open Battle Gaming Game Definition Document v1.0 (Considered for Dropping - post online)
OBGS Amt Rules Variant - A rules variation that plays similarly to Amtgard
OBGS Dag Rules Variant - A rules variation that plays similarly to Dagorhir (Considered for Dropping - too similar to the Belegarth Variant, post online)
OBGS Dark Rules Variant - A rules variation that plays similarly to Darkon
OBGS Belegarth Rules Variant - A rules variation based on the Belegarth rules published under the GNU Open Document License.

SharePoint Developer Tip of the Day

2009-03-06T13:30:00.002-07:00

I have started a new blog called SharePoint Developer Tip of the Day. It is basically very short entries designed to give SharePoint developers a small amount of information that they can digest in a single quick read. It is also to help spread my knowlege of SharePoint to my coworkers and the broader community.

Microsoft docx - Macintosh File System resource forks return

2009-01-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Do you have Word 2007? Have you ever renamed a .docx file to a .zip file and opened it to see what was inside. I have known that the docx file was a zip file for a while, but lately work has been forcing me to read up on Microsoft’s Open Packaging Conventions and it has been very insightful. What I noticed is that in 2007 Microsoft introduced the same technology that Apple had introduced in its 1984 Macintosh File System. Wikipedia: “MFS was notable both for introducing resource forks to allow storage of structured data, and for storing metadata needed to support the graphical user interface of Mac OS.” Wow! 23 years later Microsoft has created the OPC with content forks to allow storage of structured data, and for the storing the metadata needed to support the GUI of its applications. Apple was always ahead of its time.

One Day Left to push for commuter rail

2008-12-29T11:16:00.001-07:00

PUT THE NORTH FRONT RANGE ON TRACK!

http://www.cdot.info/northI25eis/index.cfm

One day left to help bring commuter rail to the North Front Range.

In connection with Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) North I-25 Draft Environmental Impact Statement (NI25 DEIS) and to provide viable transportation choices for the movement of people and goods in the Northern Front Range (NFR), we support: necessary safety upgrades on I-25, mass transit components of Package A, and most specifically commuter rail connecting city centers on existing track from Fort Collins to Longmont, there connecting with Denver Metro FasTracks and RTD bus routes.

Please submit comments supporting the components of Package A above directly to CDOT before the public comment period ends December 30, 2008:

http://www.cdot.info/northI25eis/contact.cfm

Phone for comments and/or questions:

(970) 352-5455 or (303) 779-3384.

I have decided James Shore knows Agile

2008-12-22T12:40:00.004-07:00

I have been reading through James Shore's Top ten articles about Agile software development and I have decided the man knows what he is talking about. I started with The Decline and Fall of Agile which only served to back up what Mary Poppendieck said in her presentation "Is Agile a Fad?" at the October 27th Agile Denver meeting. I have since been reading other articles and have been impressed with knowledge. Here is his top ten list:

The Decline and Fall of Agile - 14 Nov, 2008
It's human nature to only do the stuff that's familiar and fun, and that's what has happened with Agile.
Quality With a Name - 5 Apr, 2006
What is good design?
An Approximate Measure of Technical Debt - 19 Nov, 2008
Introducing: The Spag.
Kanban Systems - 15 Oct, 2008
How, when, and why to use Kanban systems to eliminate iterations.
Use Risk Management to Make Solid Commitments - 8 Oct, 2008
How to use risk multipliers and risk-adjusted burn-up charts to make solid commitments to your executives.
Continuous Integration is an Attitude, Not a Tool - 18 Aug, 2005
CI tools make it easy to do the wrong thing.
Beyond Story Cards: Agile Requirements Collaboration - 21 Mar, 2005
Agile requirements, in-depth.
Design Debt - 1 Feb, 2004
Why we trash seven-figure software investments.
Continuous Integration on a Dollar a Day - 27 Feb, 2006
An easier, cheaper (and better) way to do continuous integration.
Change Your Organization: A Diary - 10 Mar, 2006
Six months of changing an organization from within.

Book Update: Can Wizards4Word help?

2008-12-21T15:56:00.004-07:00

I was just feeling overwhelmed with the management of my book project, Battle Gaming: The New American Sport. I recently decided that chapters 7,8,9, and 10 had to be scrapped and replaced with whole new reorganized set of chapters. The current content looks something like

Part I - Playing the Games
1 - A New Kind of Sport
2 - Safety First
3 - Quick Start Guide
4 - The Games
5 - Combat in Detail
6 - On the Battle Field

Part II - Equipment
7 - What You'll Need
8 - Technology of Foam Padded Weapons
9 - Swords and Long Blade Weapons
10 - Handheld Weapons
11 - Tips and Tricks of Weapon Construction
12 - Thrown Weapons
13 - Archery and Arrows
14 - Shields
15 - Armor
16 - Uniforms and Costuming
17 - Game Props

Part III - Running the Games
18 - The Organizations (Dagorhir, Belegarth, Amtgard, Darkon)
19 - Doing it Your Way - Starting a Club
20 - The Successful Game Day
21 - Building on Success

Each of the chapters are split into multiple section files in word. This has made writing much easier since a section is on a very specific topic and covers only a few pages. The problem is that I now have 37 folders containing 348 files. Even though some are just images and diagrams or research items, I am still having a some difficulty keeping it all organized.

I was checking out the Book Master system (http://www.wizards4word.com/bookmaster.html) that is provided by Wizards4Word to see if that might help. I found a few good reviews, but if anyone has some more information about this product, I welcome hearing from you. Feel free to post a comment. Thanks - Dave

Writing the Battle Gaming Book Update

2008-11-03T06:21:00.002-07:00

Here are were things are at with the new book.

Currently the title is "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport." I am not sure if this is the title that will exist for the release. Margaret had suggested "Battle Gaming Made Fun." The problem I had with this title is that it implied that Battle Gaming was not fun to begin with (on the contrary it is quite fun).

Overall the book is coming together well. I still wish to have a draft out by the end of the year. I have now been printing each section I work on so as to have a binder that represents the entire book. Still do not know how many pages I have. I am trying to keep it under 300 pages in an effort to keep the price of the book down.

Last week activities included:

I was working on the Open Battle Gaming System Dagorhir Variance Document. This is a document that allows players who read the book to convert the books Open Battle Gaming System rules into a set that matches the Dagorhir rule set. As always this force me to loop through yet another revision of the Open Battle Gaming System.

I also spent a good bit of time working on developing a chart categorizing various real weapons to Open Battle Gaming System weapons. This was a nightmare because historical weapon taxonomy is an art more than a science. I ended up writing a few paragraphs about the whole tangled mess of categorizing historic weapons and then went on to just start a table that made sense for most people who are familiar with the common names of weapons used in role playing games. The table is not finished and likely will continue to get updates until the time of publishing.

This weekend was spent attacking the games in Chapter 3. I created my game information rendering template and ran my first mail merge against the Excel spreadsheet I have been loading with games. It was gratifying to see pages and pages of battle game descriptions come out in a good readable form. Of course the spread sheet is still incomplete. I have also taken a hard look at consolidating and reducing the number of games. I am working on how to describe the unique qualities of each game and then reference combining them with other games. I am working on removing redundancy (after all how many versions of zombie can one read about). I think the result will be more concise, with an objective of reduced volume (to keep the price down) along with maximum useful information content.

My objective is to by the end of the year have a draft that I can send out to reviewers. Things are coming together so well I think I may make this deadline.

Reading Update

2008-11-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

I noticed that Amazon has rearranged there Pictures on there server so my Blog site looks like a partly built web site or one that is dieing. They always say, copy the pictures locally for your links, but who has time to do that! I will try to get back in the next few days to update things when I can.

Made me realize how far behind I am on updating what I am reading. Things I have read in the past few months include:

Will and I completed the second Warrior series. Felt the first, second, and fifth books were good, while the third and fourth were pretty much filler that stretched out the plot line too long.

Got going on finances listening and re listening to "Your Broke Because You Want to Be" and "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind"

Currently finishing up the Eragon trilogy with Will. Found the books to be derivative works. Really liked the details he puts in, that boy has an eye for detail. Have difficulty with the rate of advancement of the characters. I think this may be the difference between the video game generation where video games players are used to quick advancement and the old rpg generation where we play a campaign for 5 years before our characters have any reasonable amount of power.

With Audrey I have been through most of the Rainbow Fairy and related books. We are now reading works by Gail Carson Levine. I have also picked up a new book "How to Ditch Your Fairy" which we have not started. I hope that this book will give a different view of the whole fairy genre that Audrey is infatuated with.

As for myself, I am mostly rereading titles to find material for the book. This includes going back to Bruce Lee, Miyamoto Musashi, and John Clements among others.

Most People Don't Get It!

2008-09-14T23:01:00.001-06:00

I finally put my speech Most People Don't Get It into a movie. Check it out.

Quiet Summer on the Blog

2008-09-13T22:54:00.000-06:00

Things have been very quiet this summer on the blog. I have been mostly working long hours at PTC where we are a bit under the gun to get things out. I also took 2 1/2 week vacation where we drove from Colorado to Rhode Island, Mass, and Maine. It was fun to show the kids the North West.

Mostly the reason the blog will continue to be quiet is that I am focusing most of my additional energy on my new book "Battle Gaming: The New American Sport" which I was hoping to have out this year. The book really is not new. The first 97 pages were written in 1997 back when it was a book about Dagorhir. It has had two major rewrites since them and should fall out at somewhere between 250 and 300 pages. It features Amtgard, Belgarth, Dagorhir, and Darkon. With rules and instructions for new people just starting into Battle Gaming. I will share more as the time is right.

Audrey performs in 2008 Lab School Talent Show

2008-05-16T08:06:00.003-06:00

Here is my daughter Audrey at the 2008 Lab School for Creative Learning talent show.

Fantasy Festival Collection still looking for new home

2008-04-28T07:51:00.000-06:00

The Fantasy Festival Collection is still looking for a new home. Perhaps at a Renaissance Festival or other Medieval Festival. The collection contains 52 different plywood set pieces with lots of cool pictures. Call me at 970-484-4577 if you are interested in aquiring it. Pictures are availabe on my Flickr account

Extreme Leadership Model Explained: LEAP

2008-04-18T23:59:00.000-06:00

In Steven Farber’s book the "The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership", he lays out the principles for the Extreme Leadership model. He uses the acronym LEAP to express this model. It stands for Love, Energy, Audacity, and Proof.

Love – For an individual coming to the Extreme Leadership model from the business community you will likely look at this first principle as awful “foo-foo”. It is likely that you are taking it in the wrong context. What Steven Farber is talking about is love of work, love of community, or love of vision. What he is really talking about here is passion and flow. It is evident that individuals will work harder at things they are passionate about. That this will lead to flow. The Extreme Leadership model is about leading people into that place of passion and flow.

Energy – The Extreme Leadership model emphasizes the need for energy. Although this is often a natural consequence of the passion and flow described by the Love principle, it is a necessary ingredient for the success of any endeavor. The lack of energy is often an indication that the Love component has been lost. In the Extreme Leadership model the goal is to lead a group into a positive feedback loop around energy. It is to create a space where energy always spiraling upward.

Audacity – This principle of Extreme Leadership is about the unexpected. Audacity can be defined:

Fearless daring; intrepidity.

Bold or insolent heedlessness of restraints, as of those imposed by prudence, propriety, or convention.

An act or instance of intrepidity or insolent heedlessness

It shows its self in several ways within the leadership process.

First, people are inspired by audacious acts. They gravitate to the daring individual. It is quite a bit tied to the hero myths. The character Indiana Jones is an excellent portrayal of audaciousness that our culture embraces. Everyone wants to be the hero. When an extreme leader acts in a way that is perceived to be heroic, he earns credibility.

Second, ideas stick when they are simple unexpected concrete credible emotional stories. Audacious actions and ideas often lead to these types of stories. The audaciousness particularly feeds the unexpected part of the story.

Third, there is a fine but very clear line between audacious and obnoxious when it comes to actions. Both audacious and obnoxious actions are often bold, insolent and run counter to convention. Despite this people do clearly see the difference. The reason for this is that obnoxious actions are always self serving. Audacious actions are always in service of other. As long as people can clearly see that your actions are in service of another person or a bigger cause, they will perceive your action as audacious and not obnoxious.

Proof – In the Extreme Leadership model proof is the difference between a leader and a poser. The former being the individual who can deliver the goods, the latter being the individual who pretends to be part of the crowd. Proof is about linking your words and your actions and creating a sense of integrity around your leadership. It delivers the credibility you need to make your message stick and draw people to your activity.

Leadership Learning:

In this article I have explained the LEAP concept of the Extreme Leadership model. In a future article I will explain the OS!M and the edge. I highly recommend that anyone who wishes to be fully indoctrinated in to the Extreme Leadership model to read Steve Farber’s "The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership."

OS!M alone may not be enough!

2008-04-17T23:59:00.002-06:00

When talking about Extreme Leadership, Steve Farber, as late has been emphasizing the OS!M moment. It is the at the core focus of his new Audio set "Extreme: Leadership: In Pursuit of the OS!M" I must admit that pursuit of OS!M will get you to places you never thought you could go. I know that from firsthand experience. But it is only a means, and I have discovered more recently it is not always a means that gets you to your ends.

The floundering leadership project:

My "leadership project" as it would be called in the CTI world is the www.ExtremeStandardization.org initiative. Now I have been working on this idea in some form or another since 2005. I also know that I have taken a break from it for February and March of 2008. I was cranking up some great OS!M in January 2008 and things looked promising. Then work stopped. Why?

It became apparent to me that I was OS!Ming without the desired results. A typical OS!M activity to support Extreme Standardization was intended to build a network of allies. I would then make my sales pitch encouraging them to join the project. The concrete goal was to establishing a board of directors. I would try to get some commitment of support as an ally to make the project vision come to life. My response almost always was "that’s great Dave", "neat idea", or "let me know how it works out."

A relationship between Proof and Credible:

I recently read “MADE to STICK” by Chip and Dan Heath. I specifically chose this book because I knew my message was not going through. In the book they outlined the six criteria for a sticky idea. They are:

Simple

Unexpected

Concrete

Credible

Emotional

Stories

When I examined this list it became apparent to me that the one criterion that I was completely missing was Credible. I was using my OS!M to get to meet people that could really make this project effective. I was getting polite reception of the idea. Yet it is apparent, that I am not a seen as a credible individual to pull off such a project. I lacked one of the key ingredients in the Extreme Leadership model – Proof.

I have no credibility because there is no proof that my idea will ever catch on and work. Since I realized that I was missing one of the key pieces to the LEAP model (Proof), I decided to re-examine where I was with relationship to the entire LEAP model. What I found was since my January sprint I had lost Energy in the entire project. Why?

Moving your stake and the Energy drain:

In the CTI world we talk a lot about establishing a stake that you or your project stands for and sticking to that stake. As I was networking in January of 2008 I was getting a lot of great practical advice. I was not getting much in the way of Audacious advice. I was starting to apply more of this practical advice to the project. In many ways the project was becoming more appealing as a sale to an investor. That was great! The only problem was, I was not as interested in the project in its new slick form. For me the project was always about working from the grass roots up. I recently realized that the stake had moved. The movement was sight, but just enough to move it out of the center of my Energy field.

Leadership leanings:

That acting on OS!M is not enough. You must embrace the entire Extreme Leadership model and stay true to the LEAP principles. Without the Proof, you will not achieve your goals.

Chip and Dan Heath discuss that it is possible to create your own credibility. In future article I will discuss how I intend to create credibility and proof to support the Extreme Standardization Project.

The We Can Solve it Campaign Jumps to over 1 Million People

2008-04-04T16:30:00.005-06:00

Al Gore has been spearheading a campaign to make Climate Change mitigation the top priority for government, industry, and individuals. He has been pushing his "We Can Solve It" campaign all last month trying to drive the number of people over 1,000,000 signed up to support and participate in this process. It is an amazing achievement and I was privy to the amount of work that went into driving this campaign. I say good work to all those involved!

Please join the campaign and add your voice to the choir at www.WeCanSolveIt.org

If only Virgle was a real project

2008-04-01T18:57:00.002-06:00

Something happened when I was a child. I was an environmentalist and loved the woods and outdoors. Then Regan began a campaign against the environment while I was in high school. I lost my faith that we humans were going to save our environment. I gave up on the earth.

I was a high school kid and very interested in science and technology. I grew up on Star Trek and Star Wars in the post Apollo era. As a result I decided that Space was where our future lies. I did not pursue becoming the environmental scientists in college. Instead I turned to Space and earned a Bachelors of Science in the Space Sciences.

I remember the time leading up to my decision for the Space Sciences. I was a geeky high schooler sitting on my bed reading non-fiction books about the planets and stars. The most interesting books I had were the ones on colonizing other planets and in particular mars.

So even though I can appreciate the humor of the Virgle April Fools Project, I am also saddened by the lack of progress humanity has made in this area. Frankly, I would find a good joke on the world to be if Google and Virgin actually turned around and did the project. Ah, I am back in my fantasies again.