* (0:57) Fear the Con 4 dates have been set! The convention will be on March 18th and 19th of 2011. Wing Night will be the night before on March 17th. Both will be held at the same location as last year: Memorial Hall for the con and Syberg’s for the Wing Night.
* (4:04) The Gamer Image Game. Does your geek self-image line up with how you actually spend your time and money? And if not, why not?
* (18:07) Why Pat and Dan have no sympathy for people with hard to pronounce names.
* (19:10) Puzzles and riddles in roleplaying games. How to design, integrate, and present them to the players while avoiding the common sources of frustration.
* (0:19) The role of online communities in finding, building, and sustaining an audience. If you’re interested in Dragonlance, be sure to check out the Dragonlance Nexus.
* (3:44) The value of art, entertainment, and ideas on the internet. Why free may not always be the best price. Tracy’s plan for nurturing new authors in this environment. As a side note, Wayne’s serial fiction is being released weekly on the Skies of Glass website.
* (14:34) Tracy’s experience of co-authoring with his wife. The importance of a continual feedback loop in the creative process. The struggles of writing and the joys of having written.
* (19:43) The Dragonlance movie. Watching other people take over your creative properties, and the “original bad deal” that gets you published.
* (25:17) Whether Tracy ever plans to do anything more that’s directly in the RPG market. His new book series, starting with Song of the Dragon.
* (29:20) What’s up with the dragons? That question leads into a discussion on the monomyth, cognitive dissonance, and the human penchant for narrative.
Two bits of news I wanted to draw your attention to…
First, I want to thank Cape Rust for the very generous review of our show posted over on Geek Life! Check out that article and his other stuff when you get a chance. Among topics he’s tackled is a great series on gaming life in the military (part 1 and part 2).
Second, the dates for Fear the Con 4 have been locked in. Wing Night is on Thursday, March 17th, 2011. The con itself will be on Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th. Much more follow, and I look forward to seeing you there!
* (27:41) Raising his son in the hobby, and the experience of co-writing X-treme Dungeon Mastery with him.
* (30:56) The strangest places he’s seen his own material, and the unique relationship between an author and reader.
* (36:52) The impact of social networking and new media on the publishing industry. Be sure to check out Dragon’s Bard, and if you want the discount he’s offering our listeners, you’ll need to take the coupon code from here and place your order right here. The revised deadline for orders is September 15th, so be sure to get yours in soon!
Hosts: Chad, Dan, Pat, Wayne
Guest: Tracy Hickman
We hope you’ll join us for the second half of the interview next week in which we talk more about new media, Dragonlance (including the movie), community building, Tracy’s upcoming projects, and more!
* (0:30) Johann gets a new, rating-friendly nickname, and Chris learns about numbers.
* (1:48) Gen Con coverage is available on our blog. Quite a few videos are already out, and more are still being prepped for release over the coming days.
* (2:29) Dealing with unexpected player actions that aren’t covered by the rules. Designing a meaningful outcome that’s fair to the player without breaking the game.
* (18:00) Handling travel in a roleplaying game. Taking advantage of time and distance to keep the game interesting without bogging down the pace. Whether to use random encounter charts, and if so, how to get the most out of them. We’d like to thank Josheva for sending this one in!
