Hiatus Ending Soon!

I just wanted to chime in and say that my hiatus from UtTG is coming to an end. I have been wanting to review games for some time now, and it does not help that I still have a stockpile of games sitting in my closet that I have been dying to play.

I will be reviewing my next game in a few weeks, and I should be posting a new entry this Wednesday addressing something that has been bringing a lot of Google searches my way.

I will be coming at this with a new game plan as well. I will be sticking with reviewing customizable and collectible games. More specifically I will be reviewing lesser known, indie, or just dead games.

Set 2 Unleashed!

Well, we can finally talk about the super secret set 2! Now known as The Final Battle, we have worked long and hard with James and Doug, as well as many of their fans to bring you a great product.

Go ahead and place your order now while the pre-sale is going on. If you do you will receive first edition cards and the Nerd and Critic cards from your decks will be in beautiful foil!

Geek Fight! Noticed in Japan

Well, I was checking our web traffic last night when we got a couple of hits from a site in Japan. I thought I would investigate, and of course because I do not have the proper character pack installed all I saw was a website of blocks. After running the page through a page translator (which did a horrible job BTW) I found out that we were getting hits from a game review blog. I thought this was very interesting.

I cannot properly tell if it was a good review or a bad review because of the horrid translation job that was done by Google, but there were a few parts of the review that give me hope that they reviewer liked some elements of our little game. The art went over well at least. Plus, the closing statement seemed nice from what Google was telling me.

Anyway, I find it refreshing to know that we are being noticed. I will provide a trackback URL for the blog, since I cannot place a comment on it without being a member of their blogger service (and translated pages pretty much disable the registration page, so I would be going blind). If the owner of that blog finds this one, this is Kalan "Charon" Vazquez and I would love for you to email me at charon@divingdragongames.com if you have any questions.

http://dante09.blog86.fc2.com/tb.php/316-5902ba71

Con Badges

I have been talking with a couple of cons about making not only custom hands for their cons, but their actual con badges. I might just have to come up with special discounted rates for cons. We will see where this little idea goes.

Still Chuggin'

Hey all. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still chugging along. Get ready for the 14th, because we should have something special for our fans.

Next Set Release Date

Okay, so I do not actually have a date set, but things are moving in that direction. The timetable is set, and if everything works out we will have our big reveal at the beginning of next month with the presale happening on the same day. Here's hoping!

Set 2, 3, and 4 (plus more services from DDG)

Okay, so things are really starting to speed up here. I got a tour of a new printing plant, and I made a good enough impression that the company is bending over backwards to help us out. I guess having a high charisma score is good for something.

Anyway, the cards for set 2 are done, and we are just waiting for our partners to get us the info for the ad boxes before we get everything together to make the announcement of who we are working with. Of course, feel free to email me and I will tell you who we are working with. Just don't leak it.

We are also going to re-release set 1 in the new card format. This means anyone that acts now and buys some set 1 cards will own limited first edition cards. It is actually pretty tempting to make 1st edition cards the norm, since it was a successful tactic for the PokeMon TCG back when I was a kid.

So we have officially come up with the theme for set 3. This one is not going to be any big secret. Since we are going to be starting our con-tour about the time this set is ready, we are making Artist Alley our next set.

I also have an idea for set 4. I have approached the designers of a pretty fun browser based game to see if they would be willing to work in conjunction with us to produce a new set. They are thinking it over right now, but I think I have them in my clutches. BWAHAHAHA!

I guess the final thing I can talk about is the fact that we are going to hopefully start offering a print service for other card games. We will act as a middleman between ourselves and our super awesome, super secret printing connection. We will also offer several payment methods (including upfront payment and presales), and have other benefits available for those that work with us.

Oh, and before I forget, I also started building up alliances with other indie TCG/CCG design companies, as well as other types of game producers. Sure there are other associations out there, but they don't give the card gamers any love,

Game Reviews and Other News

My semester is finally coming to an end later on tonight. I just have to pull a 9-12 page paper out of my bum tonight and it is over.

On the business side of things, I have arranged for a couple of game reviewers to tear Geek Fight! a new one. One is a podcast while another is a blogger like myself. I think it would be great to have others try out our game and give me a rundown. Everyone that plays it gets addicted, with the exception of people too young to be in our demographic anyway, which is fine since our next set is not very kid friendly.

Another great thing is that I have opened conversations with a couple of people that will be very helpful in the future. One is the president of Geekvolution.com, a new social network for geeks that is launching next year. The other is the marketing director for a ton of sites (and yes, I checked with the sites he said he reps, and they say he's legit). This is going to get very interesting.

Finally, since my free time is going to increase very soon, I will be able to get back to reviewing games myself. I am still debating going audio for reviews or keeping things written. Only time will tell.

Geek Fight! on NPR!

So I heard from one of my customers that Geek Fight has been mentioned on an NRP show, and I honestly could not believe my ears. I had to find out for myself.

I heard that the show that decided to rock out loud is called Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, and I decided to look it up on Google. Sure enough the trail led me to the homepage for the show, and fortunately they archive all of their episodes. I gave it a listen, and not only was it funny, but they did actually mention Geek Fight!.

If you do not believe me, jump over to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me and hear for yourself. The segment we were mentioned in is called Not My Job, and we are mentioned at around the 9 minute mark.

'Casting Decisions

Well, I cannot figure out whether I want to do a plain audio podcast or if I want to do a video. There are a lot of factors involved in this decision actually.

I am ultimately more comfortable just doing an audio podcast, but unless I am doing one of my long and dry game reviews (which are not going to be dry anymore, I swear) I will not have enough content to feel comfortable posting it. i am so used to seeing podcasts that are about 20-30 minutes long, and I just don;t have that much to say. I doubt I will be doing any interviews in the near future, but that is the only way I think I could flesh the sucker out.

On the other hand, I have a decent video camera (good enough quality that I could post the video on youtube) and videos tend to be shorter than their audio only counterparts. There is also the added bonus of actually being able to show you the product I am talking about. I have no video editing skills however, and I can pretty much guarantee that the video will be lame beyond belief.

In the end, I really do not know which format I will choose. I think audio will win out, and in the end the decision is not one that is important at the moment. I lack readers and listeners, though I keep noticing some of my followers from so long ago popping up on my StatCounter.com account. You know who you are Greely, Colorado (or person from somewhere in that region).

Tpyos and Spell Check

I have been noticing that I need to start proof reading these posts more. I make the occasional spelling error, but the real problem is that I spell words correctly, but with the wrong letters (in other words, I use other words). This has popped up in my last two posts, and they have been fixed. It makes me sound like an idiot!

Game News

I just wanted to say that I have made a lot of progress on the printable game. I am going to use a game system that I scrapped some time back. It was originally going to be part of the core system for my big project, but it became overly complex. I am taking only a small part of the system and porting it over. We will see what happens.

That is all I will tell you for now. Off to find the stuff I need to make it a reality.

No Big Surprise

Needless to say, I did not get a podcast. I just started a new job repairing game systems. It is not even a part time job, it is just a way for me to get some pocket change while enjoying myself. I am pretty much just going to do this on the weekends, I just had to prove myself by fixing an XBOX 360 and a PS2. Sadly the PS2 laser burned out after a few hours (it was a shop model, not a customer's. We are getting a refund for the part) and the 360 should be fine, but we had to wait for it to stop overheating. I will check in on it Friday.

I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow, but that will not stop me from tinkering with a few programs to get a podcast ready. I can also look into a few songs that can be used in the podcast without having to worry about licensing. I have everything I want to say ready. Of course, it would be great if I had listeners. The audio will be hosted on www.geekfightbcg.com in case you are wondering.

I have made a little progress in the mini game that I am getting ready for download. Of course, I am going to be putting a bit of effort into it, so I guess I cannot call it a mini game. More of a very generous freebie. ;)

New Stuff Coming Soon.

Like I said in my last post, I have a lot of new material coming soon. I just thought I would tell some of you what is coming.

Recently there has been an explosion of people coming to the Diving Dragon Games website through the StumbleUpon.com service. They show up and check out the Geek Fight page for about five seconds and vanish into the aether. I plan on doing something about that (other than fixing our forums). I am a game designer, and I think it is about time I do more of it. It is not like work is getting in the way anymore.

I am a big supporter of free games and whatnot, so I think I will make a few small games that will be free to download on the site. I don't think I should make it that easy though. Maybe allow players to grab them through the shop? How about from the shop on the forums? I don't know right now, I will sleep on it. Don't expect any RPGs though, there are a ton of them available on the web.

I am about to start tinkering around with my recording stuff. I hope to have my introductory podcast ready by Wednesday, but don't hold me to that. I have three handheld recorders, but I could go retro and use another one that I used to play with as a kid. I also just bought a mic for my laptop, so I could use that. Decisions. Oh well, my first few will not be anything spectacular anyhow.

What I do know about the podcast version of Under the Table Gaming is that I know my limits now. I will not try to make three game reviews a week. Hell, I won't even try to make one game review a week. What I will do is release one podcast a week where I talk about table top gaming in general, maybe let you in on some of the latest developments in Geek Fight, and then at either the beginning or the end of the month I will review a game. I have made contact with quite a few indie game developers like myself, so this will be much easier. I already have three games I can review (yes, Geek Fight is included in this).

If you are wondering what the hell Geek Fight is and why I keep mentioning it, it is the main reason I stopped posting here for so long. It was also inspired by some of the things I was doing here. It is my card game (the one I used to call Operation Publicity Stunt). I guess that will be my first game review. That means the game reviews come at the end of the month now.

Until Wednesday!

Hiatus #2 Ending Soon

Well, I have been away for over half a year this time, but I have a very good reason. I have recently released my own card game. I have been wanting to return to doing this, and I really think the time is coming. It is quite here yet, but I will keep you posted.

One thing I know I will be changing is the format. In the past I have been posting very dry written reviews, and I am going to change that. In the past I have talked about making a video based blog, and that did not quite work out (I still want to though). I could get some advice from a few gents I have met... Anyway, I think just making it an audio podcast would work. For the time being I do not know if I will do it solo or if I will be bringing in someone to banter with.

I am also turning this into my development blog, so that I can keep people up to date about what I am doing. The developments will be written and the reviews will be audio. Whoopty freakin' do.

Anyway, I would like to leave you with the link to my business site Diving Dragon Games and let you know that this little project has never really been far from my heart. You want proof? Well then here it is:

New Stuff and More News

Well, the Diving Dragon Games site is about to get a big face lift. You should not expect me back here for a little while, but I will definitely be back. I will announce my return to Under the Table Gaming on the DDG site http://www.divingdragongames.org

As for the awesomeness that has come my way, the part that I can actually share with you is this. Wizards of the Coast has cleared me to show you this: Sangral City. This is the lost Hecatomb expansion! It was ready for beta testing when the plug was pulled.

That is all for now (and a little longer). See you when the new site is ready!

What's new with UtTG.

Well, I am not dead. I have been working in the background trying to get my gaming company off of the ground and the video feed ready for future reviews. I am also trying to get a new site up for UtTG. This site is still going to exist as an archive, but I would rather not deal with this service in the future.

I have finally figured out how I am going to set up the video. I am going to get about five webcams with built in lights (solves one problem). I also downloaded demos for a few programs that will let me monitor multiple cams at once and some screen capture software. I am going to set the screen cap software to record the main screen on the monitoring software, and then I can change camera mid game without having to editing together multiple videos.

Well, those are the big updates for now. More in the future, and game reviews this summer.

A Little Short on Content

I know, I am a little late, but there is also the fact that I am going to be a little slack for content. That comes from the fact that I am working my tail off to get this game ready.

I would like to tell you that my game has a name, but I am not going to tell anyone outside of the fold until the first promo is ready.

Also, one of my connections decided that he would like a promo for his magazine. Heck yeah!!! This is turning out to be a great idea.

OMG, an Actual Post!

Well it has been some time since my last real post, and in that time many things have happened. I know I had a few things flub up, but those were personal projects not anything related to this blog or my game.

Like I said last time, the art for my first promo card has come in, and apparently my graphical designer is some kind of wizard since the layout he said would take a week or so was done in less than 24 hours. We are finishing the tweaking, but it is practically perfect.

Another thing that I have done in the time I was away was get a site up for the game. The site is . Bookmark it and keep checking back to see how things are going.

I also think that I have figured out the solution to the video problem. Of course it does mean I have to part with a few bucks to solve it. Thankfully DIving Dragon Games is going to be covering the cost. For all of you who think that means I am selling out, I must tell you the Diving Dragon Games is my company (I don't know why I felt the need to say that, since Diving Dragon Games is plastered everywhere like my email and the hyperlink above).

Finally, in celebration of my new found luck, I will be moving the site to a new address. This ios not going to happen for a couple of months, but I feel it would be a great symbolic gesture. This site will stay up, since I do not feel like moving the archives, and Blogger still has my ancient personal blog that I abandoned years ago up so this site will be cluttering up cyberspace for years to come. I just need to get a domain name now.

Sorry for the Late Post

Well, again I have been too busy to do my usual update. I have had a few good things happen since yesterday to warrant my post right now though.

I just got two more artists for my game, and the first illustration is finished. I am meeting with my graphical designer Tuesday to knock out the layout. Maybe I can get a name for this game and some back art too so I can get the first card printed.

Also, I am about to start work on another game, since I am in the sit and wait stage of this game. The game will be up for open beta on the Diving Dragon Games website (which does not exist yet) when it is done.

Until next time.