Well, it's definitely been a while since I wrote anything in this specific community. And by that, I mean actually had things set up to be modernized, unlocked, and ready to rock and roll.
Maybe I should do something about that.
Let's go with a bit of an introduction, or reintroduction as the case may be.
My name is Lex. I am a professional writer and journalist. I have been consulting on and writing for tabletop role-playing games since the early 1990s, with a number of titles under my belt. I've also been a games journalist, writing about games and the design thereof at various times along the way.
I'm a long-time connoisseur of GM-less gaming, in part because I got tired of being the Omni-GM that would run anything anybody would put in front of me for any group. That has eventually led to being fairly conversant in the indie gaming scene and the growing subsection of solo and small group co-op game design.
It's really enjoyable to watch what used to be the wargaming side of the hobby, which had nothing but revulsion for the RPG side (and vice versa), discover that there are great elements to be had on both, and more hybrid games are showing up on a regular basis.
I run a digital garden that is specifically devoted to tabletop RPGs and their design and pleasure called Grim Tokens. I try to update it fairly regularly, but you can always see if there is a new thought or article posted by following either my social media platforms or, more recently, Snaps on the Hive.
(Look, I just figured out that you can associate a Snap group with a community today, and it took me a good ten minutes to find my posting keys for the community itself. It's been a while; forgive me.)
I think it's safe to say that you're probably not going to see me doing a whole lot of investigative journalism that requires data delving into the Hive ecosystem from me this year, which is great from my perspective. I had enough of doing that with Steem.
Let's talk about role playing games, about fascinating experiences you've had, and maybe share some things other people have never seen in their lives.
Quick tip: If you want to get on my good side, talk about Starforged. I'm a cheap date.
I loved your deep technical dives on Steemit! But I can see why it’s exciting to not do that for Hive 😂
Well, for one, I've already done it. There doesn't seem to be any more challenge to be milked out of that particular approach to the data space.
But perhaps worse, on the other hand, is that the same people who were doing the worst blocking of other people from receiving a reward, and doing it in a tactical way in order to minimize competition with them getting a larger cut of the rewards, they're still at it. They're still playing the same games. Nothing changed.
Yep, i often see Hive as imperfect, much like the world we live in. I recognize there will always be bad actors. I aim myself toward the things i like and believe will bring thrive to hive. At the end, i personally want a world where i have more ownership over and can micro earn from any time and energy i give to a social media. I know facebook,insta,tictok,X,Snapchat or whatever new ‘free to use’ corporate media platform that comes along will have zero interest in letting me on the team or helping me to earn from the time spent on their platform.
So while Hive fails in so many ways, i am happy to participate in the experiment of a social media where i am part CEO.
It will completely fail or not, it will morph, or a better crypto social media will swoop in, but im willing to go along for the ride and have my little Butt corner.
P.s. @diabolika has been doing some reviews of table top solo player board games lately. Perhaps it’s in your wheelhouse.
P.S.s.
If by any chance you ever do another deep dive into the technicals, or point out some of the abuses you are witnessing currently… please do tag me… i would like to read!
I've never really been looking for perfection. Really, all I've ever wanted was a nice solid blogging platform with a decent layout and relatively high ease of use when it comes to editing. That's it. That's my only requirement.
For a while there, back in the day, the obsession on SteemIt (at the time) was with circlejerk voting and obsessive downvoting by whales doing their best to keep anybody else from breaking into the earning category.
So much ridiculous talk about deciding what other people deserve without actually considering if they were doing anything themselves that people wanted to reward. This is the problem with a fixed pot mechanism. You don't have to be the best. You just have to push everybody else down far enough that you get a significant cut.
I was doing some fairly significant writing and data research, actually mining the database to create visual depictions of the relationships between accounts and that was okay but not what I want to do with my life certainly not what I wanted to do with my life while I may be a journalist somewhere deep down inside what I really want to write about is tabletop role playing games wargames and narrative design because those things make me happy and everything I'm good at in journalism just pisses me off. Hooray.
I ended up migrating over to LBRY for a while and eventually became the producer/head panelist of the LBRY community podcast for about three years, and that was interesting enough, I suppose.
It's fun being a crypto skeptic effectively running a podcast for a crypto community. They managed to set themselves on fire and become much less interesting over the years, unfortunately. Could have been worse.
Now I'm just back to do a little writing about RPGs and war games, share it around, and let people decide what they think things are worth. Just one more platform.
Ask me about how to instantiate a particular narrative genre within the framework of a solo or co-op RPG, or ask me to consult on the mechanics of a war game, or ask me for guidance when it comes to worldbuilding, and I'm your guy.
Dealing with hive technicals? Not going to do it. Wouldn't be prudent. Too much irritation.
(Danke for the reference to another gamer; I've accumulated quite a few over the years.)