tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post6211426073202618071..comments2024-02-16T22:05:32.773+02:00Comments on LotFP: RPG: The Definitive Explanation of Alignments - Almost... Plus: About Blogs!JimLotFPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02992397707040836366noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-29480031998066447242008-06-10T23:12:00.000+03:002008-06-10T23:12:00.000+03:00The fundamental difference between paper and a blo...The fundamental difference between paper and a blog is that paper, by and large, incorporates an EDITOR. Someone who can say, "This is shit, I'm not publishing it." Thus encouraging greater effort. A sense of, oh I don't know, let's call it "quality."<BR/><BR/>I recognize your frustration, Jim. Two years I've been blogging; I can't find even remotely a dozen D&D blogs to read. I only found you last week.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the link to Grognardia; since it is wrapped around a fair bit of text, I can't fault you for merely linking to other blogs.<BR/><BR/>As far as alignment goes, dump it entirely. You'll feel better.<BR/><BR/>As far as publishing goes, I do so professionally, elsewhere, and on subjects not about D&D. I would consider publishing in D&D, but 2 cents a word (the upper end of the scale) is somewhat less than minimum wage.Alexis Smolenskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10539170107563075967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-4210265078313315142008-06-10T21:27:00.000+03:002008-06-10T21:27:00.000+03:00Actually, I changed the article because I thought ...Actually, I changed the article because I thought that you were right. Thanks for your input! <BR/><BR/>I have been online for many, many years. Back when a nick use to mean something. I am still of the opinion that one should never use their real name, because it is just dangerous. I've had my share of stalkers, death threats, and complications with spooky people whom I don't want to be able to find me by simply picking up a telephone book.<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't write my name on a bathroom wall, nor would I do so on the internet. Ripper X works for me, it always has. I'm also part of a writers guild which meets up from time to time, even then it is just Rip.<BR/><BR/>In regards to blogging, I was kind of press-ganged into it. I am still experimenting with content, and am getting to the point were I'm trying to eliminate filler, but as far as reading, I think that Trollsmyth is just a godsend. His site quickly tells the reader what they need to know about what is happening in the web.<BR/><BR/>I've seen the Internet do a ton of evolving, 1 year translates into 10 in real-time. Usenet turned to Chatrooms, then to BBS, and finally to the blog. We are still experimenting with how far we can push this thing before we need to create something new, something better. Trust me, it will come. I'm still surprised that the BBS is out of vogue, I really liked them! Granted, it takes a lot of work from lots of people, which I suppose is the reason why they have been replaced, but I have many fond memories of them.RipperXhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03506064393275174920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-34022498602953790392008-06-10T21:05:00.000+03:002008-06-10T21:05:00.000+03:00Jim I agree with your points in regard to blogs. I...Jim I agree with your points in regard to blogs. I do find that many blogs, including my own, are often littered with filler material. There have been more than a few posts I've made simply because I felt it was time to blog!<BR/><BR/>Also, I do agree that for the most part, blogs are about recent posts. I spend hours bouncing around reading blogs, but I rarely, if ever, read the older posts in most of the blogs I frequent.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes I visit a blog and wonder why there hasn't been a post in four days. It's a silly notion, really. I recently had a nearly week long hiatus without any real posts. I was actually concerned abot it, until I realized it's better to post real meat than just throw up an article to let readers know you are still there. <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I do apprecciate the grass roots feel of blogging, where readers are your best critics. I recently took the advice of some of my critics and submitted one of my articles to Fight On!. If it takes me another three months of drivel to put together one more article worthy of submission, I apologize to my readers beforehand (but will happily continue plunking keys until then, knowing there is perhaps a reason for this blogging business).<BR/><BR/>Keep up the great blog, James.<BR/><BR/>~Sham aka DaveSham aka Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14329116400656617173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-2157379493925785552008-06-10T18:42:00.000+03:002008-06-10T18:42:00.000+03:00If you really believe paper inherently carries mor...<I>If you really believe paper inherently carries more weight than a blog, pdf or conversation, you're so far off from my frame of reference it's not even funny.</I><BR/><BR/>There is nothing inherent about paper that makes it superior, but generally the effort and investment needed to physically publish generally means it's weightier. I would have thought places like lulu.com would have started making print products complete crap more often as well, but I've not seen that happening. Not with things I've bought, anyway.JimLotFPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992397707040836366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-82436364137149945152008-06-10T18:40:00.000+03:002008-06-10T18:40:00.000+03:00And don't forget that Footprints is a PDF, which m...<I>And don't forget that Footprints is a PDF, which means it's "virtual reality" unless you print it out, which can be done with a web page, too...</I><BR/><BR/>See the part of the post where I note that blogs are not rigorously written. :P Although your explanation does explain why I had the brain fart about that.JimLotFPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02992397707040836366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-43904193829784933432008-06-10T17:58:00.000+03:002008-06-10T17:58:00.000+03:00Well, I don't agree that communicating ideas on th...Well, I don't agree that communicating ideas on the web is less real than communicating those ideas on paper. (And don't forget that <I>Footprints</I> is a PDF, which means it's "virtual reality" unless you print it out, which can be done with a web page, too...)<BR/><BR/>Nevertheless, I think the points about ease of "publishing" and its effect on quality are valid. I don't think the dichotomy is really print vs. electronic, although that affects the overall ease. Again, I cite <I>Footprints</I>; what makes publishing an article in <I>Footprints</I> "weightier" than publishing a blog post is the fact that <I>Footprints</I> has an editor that vets the submissions, and a reader base that expects a higher degree of quality than is allowed for blog posts. You could also argue that <I>Footprints</I> is designed to have a limited amount of space, which makes a difference.<BR/><BR/>Jim, I thought your comment about real names was interesting, too. That's something I've been thinking about. My "musings" site started as a lark, without much thought given to it. I sometimes regret that I started off using the name "Philotomy," for a couple of reasons. (Oddly enough, my real name is on the bylines of material in both <I>Fight On!</I> and <I>Footprints</I>. I'm also working on a project for TLG which will -- assuming it makes it all the way to publication -- have my real name on it. At some point I'll probably want to start associating my real name and my online name.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6670029344758253148.post-54789507994758501582008-06-10T16:34:00.000+03:002008-06-10T16:34:00.000+03:00Oh my. This ended on a phenomenally stupid note.If...Oh my. This ended on a phenomenally stupid note.<BR/><BR/>If you really believe paper inherently carries more weight than a blog, pdf or conversation, you're so far off from my frame of reference it's not even funny.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com