Weekender XLBS: LARP Wizardry, Armouring + Finding Forums & Places On BoW 2.0
April 22, 2018 by dignity
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Happy Sunday everyone
Happy Sunday!!
Happy Sunday all,
Happy Sunday folks! 🙂
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday.
Happy Sunday,
Sorry to start with a negative but categorising GameFor as a Tinder or Grinder for gamers isn’t doing the service justice.
In Adam’s videos he has said that he didn’t want to create that at all.
He and his coworkers wanted to create safe ways for people to find other gamers and they determined at that would be at places (basically stores and clubs) and events.
That’s fine how would you categorise it? I’m certainly not dissing the service or product I’m just stating that (currently) I’m not sure about connections between individual gamers 🙂
Adam described that part of the app as being like the noticeboard at the back of the store that lets players find each other – someone leaves a message like “I’m looking for people to play DnD” and has a contact phone number. It allows for in app messaging.
Full disclosure: I haven’t used the GameFor app, hence my reliance on what Adam has said.
I’m not a big app user – and with the Cambridge Analytica scandal I’m not likely to become one anytime soon – so trying to categorise it would be hard.
Then hopefully you can understand why my attempt to categorise it placed it along side apps that while not be gaming related are in effect about connecting consenting individuals to one another for some shared purpose.
We actually explored this internally about 3 years ago but we opted out of the direct connections model. Instead we added a stores and clubs module to the warconsole platform to see if it might generate usage.
Based on watching the results of that ‘places’ carved a space out for itself in the next iteration of Bow 🙂
So my only reason for raising gamefor was as a response to the requests of a possible integration and to make clear it’s unlikely at this stage because of the complexity and just how embedded places will be in the next BoW 🙂
Just to keep everyone in the loop on the thought processes involved.
To me the connotation for the apps you mentioned, from mentions on TV/movies at least, is a bit sleazy(???)….. “consenting” …
I haven’t used them, so I don’t know if this is true, and I suppose different people can use them for different things.
I find the problem with classifying things it is quick, simple and hard to disassociate from once made…..
It’s interesting, I’m finding the world more and more complex every day.
And people are trying to describe it in fewer and fewer words.
The more I’m hearing about GameFor, the more I think are effectively competing with BoW in that places/events/clubs finding area.
There should have been a “nudge nudge wink wink” after “consenting” but the site removed it, probably because I used the greater than and less than signs.
I just went back and had a look at the comments in question. I have Adams app and subscribe too and enjoy his content. The comment was made about apps that connect people for different reasons. A simple comment made about a not very important comparison made complex for the sake of making a simple issue complex.
The world is not a complex place until you wish it to be.
@hobbyhub Complementing not competing directly, as @warzan says we dont have an interest in the inter person connecting, nor would we want to get into that for the foreseeable future, to many possibilities that lead to VERY dark places if misused/abused..
As for club and store finding its a way of dragging over what we already do on warconsole, which is good as it allows us to make clubs and stores and wider community stuff more integrated into the site, and possible to have members join the clubs and stores on the site, which paves the way for future developments like leagues or inter club challenges/duels, plus we have a lot of other location based good ideas on the roadmap to bring to the table in future updates 🙂
So its just like a WLTM section of a newspaper…
Happy Sunday!
Looking at your ‘account type’ field in the user profile you appear to be limiting it to one type per account. Does that mean that a store owner or club secretary might need 2 accounts, one for their place role and another for the gamer in them? It would be better if they could manage all aspects through the one account by allowing multiple types.
Good question
It’s currently ‘what best describes you?’ As we may make the browsing experience quite focused on those subsets access to additional tools or news etc
It’s still very work in progress though so we may change that. Thanks for raising that as it’s been on my mind recently as well 🙂
Think ‘role pattern’, where stuff is linked to a person’s role rather than direct to the person.
I’ve come across role based security discussions before in software in my perilous work life as a programmer/analyst.
In those chats it has basically come down to KISS.
If BoW did go down the role road then I think everyone would have their role displayed for all of their postings – otherwise it would single out those that have multiple roles.
There is also the case where someone posts under the wrong role, then wants the role changed.
Stores will be used to having multiple logins if they use Facebook.
Clubs are interesting as a committee can change on a regular basis.
I certainly don’t envy the BoW crew in the task they have set themselves.
Eventually, post 1.5/2.0 what ever we are calling it, Oauth and claims based AAA are on the roadmap too, not just for the conveince of facebook/google/twitter login to the site but also for a much better role mechanism than currently we have, its doable though, although i doubt it would be done as suggested for a variety of reasons
There would be no reason to post role levels for the same reason we dont add backstager to peoples postings.
As for clubs organisational heirachy that wont be moddelled just some basic contact data and it would be up to the club to maintain it not BoW.
Not all suggesting that BoW model a club hierarchy (shiver).
Nope just thinking of the case were something happens to the person that is in charge of the club login and the committee now wants the password changed so someone else can take over.
It is a simple password change, but could involve BoW staff in some uncomfortable stuff outside of the site management aspects.
@hobbyhub that would mostly likely be resolved by a simple support request to change the owner, not expecting that to be a regular occurance though.
And on a positive note, great minds think alike.
I’ve been watching with interest the Dice Tower History YouTube vids that Tom Vasel has been putting out recently.
The series isn’t finished yet – he’s up to the year 2012 in episode 9 – and he has a similar philosophy to Warren. Tom wanted to build a place for people to create content so that The Dice Tower wasn’t just about him.
It’s interesting to see how a number of different groups have similar goals but quite different approaches in achieving them; what different parts of the internet they use.
“Always be nice to elderly NPCs you encounter on lonely roads” is a principle I try to play to. You’ll often get something if you just kill them -often a curse – but more often than not you end up with a boost or an epic item. Don’t know if that holds for Gloomhaven?
He can sing.
He can lol
He didn’t warm up his voice and is now cringing as he hears this.
Just out of interest what episode of GoT were you in on the show. @dracs
Season 5, attack on hardhome
Thanks will be looking for you the next time its on.
All that choir practice and karaoke while over in Japan paid off. 🙂
Oh gods. I can SEE Sam & Justin as Ed & Al from FMA and now can’t unsee it >_<
(And on a related note, I highly recommend this seasons Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory, Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These, and the latest season of the superb My Hero Acadamia)
I’m really excited for BoW 2.0. Can’t wait for it to launch. I’m gonna get you sooo many lizards!
@warzan wow…how long did it take you for that penny to drop…
2.0 is looking great! I think limiting data creation to backstagers (at least initially) is a great move. Whilst I don’t really have the time (at present) to be a Curator, I do feel heavily invested in ensuring the integrity of the community, and I think the success of the new platform is going to heavily rely on the accuracy of the initial data population, and the spirit in which it is established. So I will certainly commit to doing my bit to make that happen.
The name change is also a good thought. I love BoW and the BoW community but this platform is going to be (and v1.0 really is already) bigger and wider than just wargames so I did wonder whether the “war” word might put a cap on the platforms ability to become THE industry resource (which I think it has the potential to be).
It’s looking like all the hard work and planning is paying off – this is looking really good and well thought through.
@warzan just watch those stress levels. It’s probably natural right on the cusp of launch but just make sure there’s and end to it soon!!
I agree with you on the use of the word “war”.
Some people will not go near a wargame though they will happily play a board game.
Some people will only play a wargame if it is in a non-historical setting.
Happy Sunday,
Is it me or did @warzan just describe the start of the Umbrella Corperation?
Or Starnet? The begining of the end……….i hope not lol.
All the best and i hope the stress is worth it.
Love hearing about BoW 2.0 and glad that you guys are really looking to the future rather than standing still.
And no worries about the launch having hiccups etc., the backstagers are here to stay 😉
Happy Sunday! Another nice update on 2.0 and good to hear you guys take privacy seriously.
@warzan If you have open questions regarding GDPR, I’d be happy to help. I’ve had to deal with it at work a lot and I’m just about to finish my CIPP/E certification, so I should know a thing or two 🙂
@gillotine Welcome to my world… 😀
I have been living a breathing GDPR for the last few years, and dealing with Data Protection for about 15 years before that… I have only met a couple of people who are in the field that are also gamers I do wonder how many others are out there…:-)
@guillotine even bloody phone…lol
@commodorerob i suspect the ability to conduct that query would fall foul of DPA/GDPR quite a hefty overlap of personal vs professional data 😉
@nakchak it all depends who is asking and in what capacity and why:-)
@commodorerob “i want an effing game, because my friends are dicks who dont want to play 😉 :P” would be a career highlight to read on a risk assessment/permissions request
Happy Sunday!
Thanks for that great show guys.
On the painting level I would agree with Justin a tiny bit. There are some projects that are really dear to me since years. The problem being that I’d never start them because I would be too nervous to stuff it. But a fact is, that if you don’t do anything. Nothing gets done. And it’s not by not painting that you will be better. So all in all I think that a project that you want to do at a certain level is a bit like a running race. You do have to prepare for it, so maybe rather than jumping into THAT project you really want. Have a bit of a side project first to give you confidence and show you that you can attain a level that ain’t so bad after all.
Excited about 2.0 I just hope that it will still be manageable and that BoW will still be the place we love.
Omnia mutantur, nihil interit 🙂
IMHO, the location markers should all be on the map and use different icons for the different categories. For example, a store icon for game shops (or dice). A monument for historical places (we have a WWII vehicle museum here in CT). The unverified locations should be marked grey and verified ones as green. You should also have the ability for members to mark when a location gets closed or goes out of business. When entering information there should be option to enter a URL and picture.
All good ideas for sure. Icons are tricky as a location can be more than one thing. And photos we are having a good think about. 🙂
@warzan I feel your GDPR pain, I have an entire team focused on this for the past 6 months representing a huge amount of global e-commerce, hopefully, you guys don’t get to much with PCI as well.
Great weekender as always, have a great week everyone.
Happy Sunday fellow backstagers.
BoW 2.0 is sounding better every week. I’m really looking forward to it, and proud to be supporting it in my small way, because I think it has huge potential.
Thanks for keeping us updated.
Another great show. I like the new ideas for the forum posts, the new options for text formatting look great. Also, I’m very happy to hear that karma scores will be migrating over, and very excited to hear about additional ways to earn “xp” and different metrics to reflect member participation (projects, articles, etc).
Small question, will we be able to upload .pdfs, or just the usual jpeg, etc. I realize .pdfs miiiight bring a slight problem with copyright issues (people posting materials they don’t own etc). But it would be great for extended battle reports, desktop publishers like myself, people who write fan fiction / illustrated fiction, people who have built their own games, etc.
Pdfs are a definitely able to be put into projects I believe
Well have a look into forum posts when we can mate 🙂
I would probably post a link to a scribd hosted copy of the pdf, its their DCMA notice then 😉
Great show guys on the BOW II what about a gamers app for Google maps showing all the clubs/shops that have regestured within the bow site
In the area your checking/stay in. was the rest of the post.
Happy Sunday..I am looking forward to 2.0 sounds exciting time for this site can’t wait.
@warzan haha and of course I don’t mind being used and thanks for noticing 😀
Really like what I’m seeing for 2.0. I left you a PM @warzan offering my support.
I’m very tempted to start making my own content as well. Think this platform could be just what I’m looking for.
It’s an ambitious platform. Looking forward to playing with it, as it were.
BoW 2.0 is looking fantastic. The resizing is great (i’ve been working on some web stuff at work for research outreach, and so resizing for mobile etc is something baked in).
Hi, over the weekend I’ve caught up on the last three Weekender. I just wanted to say I think the work on the new website and the features being built into it look absolutely fantastic. I think your design choices are spot on. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
Getting the right name will be tough.
The fundamental thing should probably be something that out lines the site within a word or two, but more and more one of the biggest things that you need to watch for is whether it is easy to find on a search engine.
e.g. If you try to find something on “Infinity” you have to type in extra words like ‘war game’, ‘Ariadna’, etc. to avoid getting a load of Disney computer game content and other irrelevant content you’re not interested in.
Beasts of war clashes occasionally with a film title, but is very often the first result and nice and distinctive.
The new site mechanics and layout sounds cool.
I have always assumed that some of the sites I use share my data. (Not assisting in fraud / sharing bank details, but click traffic / subjects searched / products looked at etc.) If I want to use their site or service I have to decide whether this is something I want to risk. With that in mind I try to limit what I share. It’s nice to hear that Beasts of War are taking privacy more seriously than some. I understand that a lot of people take their privacy far more seriously than I do and it’s good to set those people at ease to keep them coming back when 2.0 comes out.
Happy Sunday to all. Really looking forward to 2.0.
I getting really excited for the BoW 2.0.
So much potential there for the community and BoW to grow.
I’ve been tweaking my camera setups in my “Unofficial BoW US Studio III”, and playing with the audio recordings as well. Lav, twin-boom mic, or dixie cup on a string. Just not such which way to go. I have all three ready to go!
Can I ask, does BoW do much color grading in Post Production?
Will there be a resource of written info or videos for “Back Stage Members” to learn the necessary technics to produce videos of a high enough caliber to reach the vaulted status of “Good Enough” to be included on the site?
So many questions……..
I forgot to ask……….can I rent Ben to be on my TV behind me in my studio?
Of course, the usually BoW standard issue contract of $100.00 an hour would be tough to pay but I’m sure I can get pretty close to that to ensure landing a high-quality talent such as Ben. 🙂
2.0 looks to be heading down the right path. I think that most people will use less than half the functionality, which could be true now, and maybe it will allow them to expand and grow as part of the community. This is probably the only site I go to nearly everyday just to catch up, can’t wait for more interaction.
GDPR is a massive pain in the ass to implement – most of the duties of a data controller are fairly straight forward but there is a real challenge in implementing the “Right to be forgotten” with a platform that relies on persistent data. If I were to say “Hey Beasts of War, I’ve cancelled my account, please forget me.” how can that work, realistically? Do forums function like linked lists such that a reply of mine in the middle of a conversation can be neatly cut out? But how about forum topics I have started where other people have replied? Maybe it is enough to ice the profile so that said forum posts and threads can continue to exist but they are now ‘owned’ by User Deleted? But what if the posts themselves contain personal information? How about articles submitted and posted on the site?
GDPR is forcing our very large company to introduce a mind-boggling number of changes to our internal tools and I get a headache just thinking about how I’m going to continue to do my job once these changes go live.. so having to figure out how to implement these changes company wide? Yeah, I don’t envy you at all, @warzan
i’m with you on gloomhaven, really feels like its become a must play. when the reprint happens i’m all over it. given the sea of miniatures we are all drowning in it really seems to have hit a sweet spot. no doubt we will see a host of titles following in its wake. not sure how much room there is though given the gameplay commitment and scale of epic titles like gloomhaven and KD:M. looking forward to seeing the titles that do reach such lofty heights mind.
given that the above mentioned narrative boardgames both were good enough for second prints i’m seriously considering changing my tactics with regards to boardgames on kickstarter.
giving the community room to breath and grow organically and naturally is the key. having the infrastructure in place for that to happen is absolutely the way to go. love the fact you haven’t put a cap on things that could hamper the no doubt unforeseen direction and pattern of that growth.
giving a platform to talented members of the community is the perfect way to get the ball rolling. Darker Days radio, @gorillawithabrush and Mel are all good shouts. would also love to see what @oriskany would do given free reign with historical. .
WOW – idea flash – you need to get a bunch of Thomas the Tank Engine toys and get them repainted and weathered up to use in a post-apocalyptic game!! 😀 Some part of back story – they were powered by an AI back in the day but are now faded and dying. Run with it!
Question about BoW 2.0:
I’m planning a project log or forum thread (as of BoW right now) late May or early June about my process of going through the miniatures for Fallout: Wasteland Warfare. I’m not sure how to make a project log right now on the site so it would be a forum thread. How easy is it going to be to port a forum thread on old BoW to a project log on BoW 2.0 or is there a way to make a project log on how BoW is now that is easily convertible or should I just wait before posting anything until BoW 2.0 launches?
Question about curators:
I’m not entirely sure what the task of a curator would be and thus I have not put my name forward, could anyone elaborate and can I still put my name forward if I’d like to perform that task?
Another great glimpse into the future of BoW and I am liking it a lot. Can wait to see it go live.
But, but, butt….. Who doesn’t want to tell dick jokes? 😉
Finally got round to commenting on this. Great show as always guys,thanks for pushing it out.
I really do lile the sound of BoW 2.0, the past few XLBS shows have got me excited. It all sounds good to me. I’m sure there are bound to be teathing issues, there always are, don’t worry though the community are behind you.
@warzan I’d be very interested if you still need curators, I didnt come forward previously because I had a fair bit on in the real world. No worries if you’ve got enough people though. I’m am up for helping you guys out and being involved though if you want me.
I’m quite excited to hear a possible announcement at the UK games expo too, Im hoping to make it this year as well so will hopefully see you all there.
GDPR is a real pain to implement for everyone. Given the huge connectivity within IT systems and the data, removing items or introducing new security features takes a lot of time. But, GDPR is a valuable piece of legislation and I support a lot of its content.
On a different topic, with the new Terms and Conditions, I’m not sure that ‘Don’t be an arse’ is a legally defined term and will likely not stand up to any test in a court of law. 🙂
Happy Sunday All! Ok, a little belated it’s been a busy week. GDPR has certainly been finding it’s way into all walks of life of late. It’s a nasty mess to deal with when it comes to tech, but it comes from good intentions.
Great show as ever, always fascinating. I do look forward to BoW 2.0, I do also feel some fear about certain aspects. But I think I just have to brave in this bold new world and find a way forward through it. I’ve grown comfortable, and full of love for this site, the community and it’s content. I visit the site pretty much every day and interact with the community in some form or other multiple times a week. It’s certainly an escape from the stresses of my day job. So with all things where one has grown comfortable, there is fear of change, and of if I’ll still be able to do all the things I can do now.
My biggest fear right now is that where Forums are kind of a catch-all for all different kinds of projects, I’ll want to start something and I’ll not know what section of the site I should use for it. Then be hit with analysis paralysis as I try and work out if the thing I want to post about should be a project, or a forum post, or something else, and then I’ll just end up not doing it. Or worse I’ll put it in the wrong place! But I will just have to give it a try and I suspect it will work out fine once I find my feet again.
Great show. I’m not naturally someone who cares much about technological advances, but I sometimes appreciate them when they happen. And even I’m a bit excited about BoW 2.0.
Some thoughts / questions @warzan… For under 13s, perhaps you could offer a way for parents / guardians to consent to their children accessing the site? It wouldn’t work for everyone, but I suspect a lot of parents can think of worse places on the internet for their children to be spending time…
On locations, if would be good to be able to set yourself as being at multiple locations for upcoming events. e.g. I live in Chichester in the south of England, but am willing to travel to Portsmouth, Brighton and London for gaming events. But perhaps – with the lack of train routes – the same distance in other directions. So I’d like to follow events in several places besides a certain radius around my home. I’d also like to receive notifications about events in Barcelona as I have friends there (and regularly time my holidays to coincide with Alpha Ares wargames shows).
On the subject of making BoW 2.0 bigger than BoW, it sounds like you’re already pretty much made up your minds. I think it’s exciting, and a great opportunity to grow the hobby even further. But a question I have is once you open up to more content creators, you risk diluting the BoW culture. Perhaps when you’re inviting / vetting others to use the platform you will bear this in mind anyway, but it would be a shame to invite someone who was a brilliant addition themselves but who brought with them a lot of followers who aren’t as friendly and welcoming as the current BoW ‘ecosystem’.
I agree with all of the above @angelicdespot especially the bit about trying to ensure the culture within the community remains friendly as we potentially expand the number of creators on the platform.
I suppose my first line of defence is to try and take our time and build it out incrementally
The channels bit is still some way off as the platform provides a ton of tools and functions for existing members and well be taking some time to ensure they are right and explored properly.
Well invite content creators to start getting in touch with us either at launch or sometime afterwards and begin having discussions with them on how we can make it work for them.
But we are not in a rush on this as like you the core respect within the community is paramount 🙂
@warzan.. I can’t breathe only one who seen the profile pic!? XD
lol