Alex's even longer post thread.

[Trevor]

Kristi suddenly lost her hearing in one ear over the holidays but waited until yesterday to make an appointment to get it looked at. She just has an infection in her ear (something a childhood accident left her prone to), and she can expect to get her hearing back in 8 to 12 weeks. Hopefully, she'll have it back in time for our Weird Al concert.

I trust she'll be better soon.

When I was about eight, I suddenly lost my hearing in my left ear and we were on holiday too: my folks took me to see a doctor who was going to send me to an ear specialist until he checked my ears with his light. Right ear, fine. Left ear:  He told me that he'd found the issue and said it might hurt: I told him to carry on. He then poked around in my ear and pulled out a huge ball of impacted wax and pus and it had a very bad smell too. I almost gagged when he showed me the lump and asked if I'd like to take it home with me. 

[chefzombie]

is she dealing with vertigo because of the ear infection?

[Alex]

Only to a minor degree Barri.

Wow, just realised I am getting close to having spent a decade on here. If you'd asked me I'd have said, 5 or 6 years tops.

Mind you it still feels weird that I've been a husband for nearly 10 years (anniversary next month, already bought the presents for it), or a dad for nearly 5. Hell, at my age (or even guys 10 years younger), other people I know are on their 3rd marriage and are grandparents.

Feeling happy with my one marriage though. I hate to think what those guys' pensions are like by the time they've split them amongst all those partners. Still, I like to think I work harder at being married than most people. I once had a co-worker to stop as it was making them look bad. My reply to that though was simply "Raise your game." Still, I am struggling to find something for Kristi's birthday. I have ordered a couple of things for her, but nothing that jumps out at me with any wow factor. Since she is into genealogy, I've suggested we take a couple of weeks and go around all the places in Scotland where she wants to go see where my ancestors used to live. One of the guys at work was stuck on his family line around the 3 generations back point. I gave him Kristi's email address and said he should ask her for help. In one high I think she managed to get back 6 generations (although she hates it when a family line goes to Ireland as apparently, they are somewhat lacking when it comes to old records). Anyway, the guy was amazed at how much more stuff Kristi has given him and he wants to drive her out to some office in Inverness where they can spend all day digging into family records. I've already bought her a big family tree chart that she can fill in. I am thinking when it gets finished, I should get a custom frame made for it and we can mount it somewhere.

None of which gets me any further on what to get for her birthday next week.

I looked at some hand-carved wooden plates that I could get an inscription done on. The initial price was £40 which I thought was nice, but by the time I'd gotten to the checkout, it had went up to £140, at which point I dropped out.

*sigh* Back to searching.

[chefzombie]

maybe take her to where HER family originated before coming to america, if you haven't already? 

[Alex]

We already have that planned out.

[Alex]

I see the whiny ginger is still whining. His security team must be banging their heads off the table with him releasing his kill count. I don't often meet soldiers who do that, either keeping track or mouthing off about it. Might make the Invictus Games more of a target too. Still, it isn't the first time he has rather carelessly put others lives at risk with his mouth and I won't be surprised if it isn't the last.

Boy, for someone who wants privacy, he sure does seem to want to remain in the limelight.

Of course, I am sure all his claims are true and that he isn't presenting a one-sided argument at all. Seen quite enough of them recently to not pay any attention to them.

Trying to have a modicum of enthusiasm for work. It is hiding well, but getting some stuff done. 177 days to go until I am officially out, but my last day in uniform is only a couple of months now. For the past 21 1/2 years the only item of clothing that I've owned while at work has been my underwear. I am looking forward to just something as simple as wearing my own clothes. Maybe me and Kristi will get back to taking long walks along the beach at midnight, go for a long one on the east beach and see the Northern Lights far from the lights of the town.

[Alex]

A severe lack of sleep for a few days, combined with the after-effects of my flu vaccine on Monday left me feeling very tired yesterday. When I was trying to prep a spreadsheet and all the numbers started swimming around the screen I figured I was too tired to work safely and signed myself off sick for the day, then went home and slept, followed by getting up midafternoon and going to bed early. I must have been asleep by 21:30 and didn't wake up until 5 this morning. For someone who normally sleeps 4 hours a night, this is a lot of sleep.

Feeling a lot better today though.

Trying to watch all of Deep Space 9. It was never something I watched more than casually, and I am trying to get it all done in order (which would make it the only Trek show I've watched from end to end in order. I keep thinking Babylon 5 did it better.

My latest D&D (well WFRP) adventure is turning into something of an epic. I am expecting the intro and then the ground floor of the building they are exploring to top out at 30 pages, then I have the upper floors of the building (which was originally going to be another two or three stories, but I might cap it at one), and a basement to design.

Kristi's birthday presents have been shipped. Here is hoping they all arrive in time, although I do have stuff for her. Need to pick up a cake tomorrow, but also without her seeing it.

[Alex]

One of Kristi's friends is over visiting for a week. She's been travelling around Europe and is off to London at the end of next week for a few days before returning home to San Diego. She is an ex (US) marine, so of course at the moment I have to keep tormenting her about how we keep beating the marines in various contests and operations.

Hasbro / Wizards of the Coast (WotC) have retreated from their attempt to put a very restrictive version of the Open Gaming License (OGL) over D&D, where they could just take control of anyone one else's material, stop them using it and then release it for themselves without compensating the original author and so forth. There was other (fairly draconian) stuff involved, but this was the part that bothered me. Anyway, the community rose up against it, and people started cancelling their D&D Beyond subscriptions (hitting the company's bottom line). Rumour has it that WotC is more profitable at this point than its parent company (Wizards of the Coast bought out TSR who originally brought out D&D but in turn were bought out by Hasbro. WotC made their money via a game called Magic: The Gathering).

Evidently, they hadn't considered that a hobby where its members will spend many hours looking up the details of obscure rules and arguing over them to a degree that would put any lawyer to shame might look at their new rules with equal passion and rip into them. Anyway, they've put out a retraction with a rather humorous tone rather than a contrite one and few are impressed. I have been expecting the hobby to have a crash for a while now, after all, it has become fashionable and any fashion only last so long. Many people have been looking up alternative options to play and some will not return to D&D regardless of what they now do. While since I haven't (yet) tried to monetize any of my games and the changes wouldn't directly affect me, I am also feeling like supporting those who it would affect and am seriously considering no longer running D&D games. I do a lot to bring new people into the game and each year I maybe bring a dozen new people into it. Not exactly enough to make or break a company, but it is enough to contribute something to their bottom line. If all the people like me who do this, turn away from D&D and promote other systems though, that means WotC will see a significant drop in its turnover. We are the gatekeepers of our hobby and if we direct new players down other paths, well that is a long-term hit to the money though otherwise could have brought in.

The last time I saw the gaming community turn against a company like this, it was when White Wolf (Vampire: The Masquerade) decided to sue their fan organisation (The Camarilla). Overnight they went from selling tens of thousands of books when they released a new title to selling a few thousand. White Wolf changed from being the biggest player on the planet to existing only on the fringes and then disappeared completely.

[Alex]

This is what I posted on FB to my players concerning what has been happening with D&D recently.

Ok, so just looking at things since Covid hit, I have introduced dozens of new players to D&D. About 80% of them have decided to keep on playing, with 20% deciding that either I wasn't the DM for them or that they just didn't like roleplaying.
Fair enough. It isn't for everyone.
In a vaguely similar (but more serious) version of the oil companies were aware of the environmental damage their actions would cause, but ignored and buried the science in favour of protecting their profits (and if you've ever said 'I don't hate Greta Thunberg. It is the people behind her', you've been fooled by this or maybe even willingly engaged because you just didn't care about the world enough), Hasbro (the parent company for Wizards of the Coast, who produce D&D) I have seen the company set out to drain as much money as possible out of people without regard to its wider effects.
Well, Hasbro has been feeling the effects as many people have been cancelling their online subscriptions to their services and looking at alternative companies. Over the past many years, I have introduced a lot of new people to the roleplaying hobby. These people have gone on to buy books, figures and so on, all feeding back to the profits of the parent company.
Right now, even though Hasbro have cancelled the new version of the Open Gaming License (OGL), and has written a retraction attempting to make the whole thing humorous, I don't feel like supporting them anymore. In fact, I feel more like supporting their rivals and posting people towards systems created by other companies. I think they should have tried being a bit more apologetic rather than trying to just laugh the reaction off.
While I do not expect my own reaction to this situation to make a huge difference to the gaming industry, I do hope that many people who bring newcomers into gaming will direct newcomers to other companies and in the long term, this will make a huge difference to WotC/Hasbro's bottom line. Ultimately, much like the oil companies covering up that they knew what damage they would do to the environment and discrediting climate scientists, I hope that gamers will turn to alternatives that offer freer systems. I just hope that in this case, changing what businesses you support will happen quickly enough to make a difference.

[Rev. Powell]

This is what I posted on FB to my players concerning what has been happening with D&D recently.

Ok, so just looking at things since Covid hit, I have introduced dozens of new players to D&D. About 80% of them have decided to keep on playing, with 20% deciding that either I wasn't the DM for them or that they just didn't like roleplaying.
Fair enough. It isn't for everyone.
In a vaguely similar (but more serious) version of the oil companies were aware of the environmental damage their actions would cause, but ignored and buried the science in favour of protecting their profits (and if you've ever said 'I don't hate Greta Thunberg. It is the people behind her', you've been fooled by this or maybe even willingly engaged because you just didn't care about the world enough), Hasbro (the parent company for Wizards of the Coast, who produce D&D) I have seen the company set out to drain as much money as possible out of people without regard to its wider effects.
Well, Hasbro has been feeling the effects as many people have been cancelling their online subscriptions to their services and looking at alternative companies. Over the past many years, I have introduced a lot of new people to the roleplaying hobby. These people have gone on to buy books, figures and so on, all feeding back to the profits of the parent company.
Right now, even though Hasbro have cancelled the new version of the Open Gaming License (OGL), and has written a retraction attempting to make the whole thing humorous, I don't feel like supporting them anymore. In fact, I feel more like supporting their rivals and posting people towards systems created by other companies. I think they should have tried being a bit more apologetic rather than trying to just laugh the reaction off.
While I do not expect my own reaction to this situation to make a huge difference to the gaming industry, I do hope that many people who bring newcomers into gaming will direct newcomers to other companies and in the long term, this will make a huge difference to WotC/Hasbro's bottom line. Ultimately, much like the oil companies covering up that they knew what damage they would do to the environment and discrediting climate scientists, I hope that gamers will turn to alternatives that offer freer systems. I just hope that in this case, changing what businesses you support will happen quickly enough to make a difference.

You might be interested in this guy's analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZQJQYqhAgY

In short, it might not be as bad as you think. The original "open license," while a good idea from a marketing prospective, may not have been as generous as you thought.

Weird that I don't play D&D (since I was a kid) but I have seen a ton of articles on this license.

[Alex]

Oh I know if you sign up for the old OGL, you actually gave away some of your rights. I just really don't like the one thing about the (now aborted) new one.

[Rev. Powell]

Oh I know if you sign up for the old OGL, you actually gave away some of your rights. I just really don't like the one thing about the (now aborted) new one.

Apparently the original OGL granted you a lot of rights that you would have had without it anyway. The only legally substantive part of it was explicit permission to reference the SRD (I think that's the acronym). People don't realize it (it didn't even click with me before watching the video), but the rules themselves can't be copyrighted.

[Alex]

A lot of the talk was about the new OGL was that it was basically unenforceable and in some parts illegal. Someone said that the new head of Hasbro used to run Microsoft which would explain a few things.

[Alex]

I picked up some nazi zombie figures for use in a game called Konflict 47, where WW2 still rumbles on a couple of years past its original end date. Weird science caused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on Dresden has led to all sorts of new weapons (most of which work better against heavy armour and would doubtless have reversed the trend of more weighty tanks, rather than the even bigger ones featured in the game but never mind, it is just a game).

I am thinking about running a one-shot scenario, based on the Shock Wave movie. Since I've spent the pandemic drumming into players that they need to not split up the party, I have come up with a giving each character his own mission that they'll want to sneak off and do without the others around.

169 days left to go until I retire. I've found when I was being sent anywhere, it always felt like it was ages away from happening, and then suddenly it would be like the next week. Yesterday I suddenly felt very close to my end date (ok, so it is just my last day in uniform rather than my exit date but still. It is neither a good or a bad feeling, just one that is there staring at me in the face, a big ugly fact, like a badly planned invasion of Ukraine. A few months of sitting on my butt, on full wages and then off I go into the world of civilians.

Kristi's friend is leaving tomorrow. While her visit has been welcome, it has also left Kristi feeling emotionally drained and that her friend is very needy. Bit ironic there really, given how exhausting I found the first year of our marriage. Still, in a couple of weeks, we'll have managed 10 years together so we must be doing something right.

Quite frankly I am looking forward to the idea of a weekend just to ourselves, no one round visiting. More and more I am getting tired, and fed up of people constantly wanting us to do stuff for them rather than just getting it themselves.

[ER]

Well done! Ten years is no small accomplishment. Congratulations to you both.