The 100th Blog

Hi all.  This is a milestone in that it is my 100th blog.  I wanted to make this one special which is largely why I stopped putting up all my games for L.U.G.Con on the weekend.  I will link separate posts to them after I have written this one.  So I was driving to work this morning thinking about what I would write about that would be mind blowing and get a huge amount of hits to make up for my absence of blogging over the weekend.  When I thought that I knew I was on the wrong track so I pulled my head in and started thinking again.  This post is special and it is special to me, but really there is no need to blow minds with it, but there is a need for some recognition.

I want to use this post to thank those people that may not receive the recognition they deserve.  I have built an excellent bunch of friends since finding Google+ and the gaming hangouts, not to mention the communities, so I am going to use this post to thank those that deserve it.  I write a lot about my experiences in games and out.  I talk about what to do in this respect or when faced with this situation but really without all of these other people those experiences would not happen.  They also all help me to form my ideas and support me in what I do.  I will also forget some people that are just as important. Realise that if I have sat at your table, you at mine or even just conversed over a topic in Google+, Twitter or FB (I rarely use FB) I want to thank you for the thoughts and ideas you have shared.

So, initially I must thank +Christopher Hardy and crew for introducing me to the wonderful world of roll20 earlier this year.  There were a bunch of us Superheroes saving the amusement park from the evil jet plane that found us tracking it back to the villains hideout (Gotta love supers and Barebones).  It was the very first game I played on G+ and started an addiction that is totally fantastic.

This would not be a thank you without mentioning the wonderful +Jonathan Henry whose enthusiasm for gaming is infectious.  In life I am a relatively quiet guy but Jonathan has this infectiousness about him.  To me he is the atypical American from an Australian’s perspective.  Loud, brash and extremely patriotic which are virtues I never really understood until I met them in the context that Jonathan puts them into.  He is enthusiastic about gaming and every gaming suggestion he has given me I have listened to and purchased the product for without disappointment.

Connected with +Jonathan Henry I have to say a huge thank you to +Cameron Corniuk for introducing me to FATE alongside the likes of +Gordon Woodruff, +Jennifer Corniuk, +T.J. King and +Robert Hanz, +Daniel Malone .  All of you have opened my eyes to a different way of gaming and I have to say thanks for that.  On a more personal note Cameron and I chat a fair bit on this thing called the interwebs and he is a very clever guy.  he claims to be surrounded by far smarter people than him but he is very astute and a great guy to talk things over with.  If you ever come across him, do not let his gruff exterior put you off.  He is hiding a lot of smarts in that russian head (warning may sound like an American but loves the homeland).

Thanks!

The next person may find herself a little surprised but it is well deserved.  +Desiree Kaleopaa was a name that came up one day as having circled me and I looked at her page and found nothing at the time that was really game related so did not circle her.  but then after a few +1’s of my public comments and comments on my blog I saw she was indeed a gamer and added her.  I am so glad I did.  I have said it in another post but will say it again, Desiree is relatively new to the hobby and is the young “blood” that it needs.  She is hungry for information on how to run better games and is active in her local community by running games for others at the Library.  Desiree reminds me of how enthusiastic I was for gaming when I first came to it and I love some of the challenges she sets for me when she asks me to write about a particular comment.

To the core players of my online games (and offline but this is a post about thanking those that helped me find this wonderful place on hangouts) who regularly keep showing up for my games.  Especially to +Matt Guyder who claims I am quickly making his wife a gaming widow but tries to make as many games as I run and runs one that I have become involved in. +Cam Mcloughlin for keeping me on the straight and narrow.  +libby furr and +James Austin who have both challenged my notion about New Zealanders :), +Dave Morris who is a long time friend that I have brought back to gaming using Google.  +Martin M and +Angie M who always make me smile when I get a big “Aloha” from them in Hawaii as they get up at around 1 a.m. to play.  +Justin Aquino in the Phillipines for his views and his character.  +Scott Cadoo, +Tom Tyson part of the Traveller crew who make me have such an awesome Wednesday night each fortnight.

To those I play with, +Tren C, +Kristin Milton, +James Wallace my runner chummers who I will miss on Wednesday night but I need some sleep!  Also to +Johnn Four and +Jeffrey Tadlock who have asked me to write entries for their blogs and are helping to make me a better writer.

Finally, to all of those people involved in helping me with my game Detritus.  Some of you I have already mentioned but people like +Morgan Weeks not just for his comments but his awesome advice and conversations (not to mention his blog), +scott desmond, Ann Jones and the growing community on the site.  +Mark Neumayer, +duncan mcphedran and +Dan Hall for taking on an interactive history role for me which is a challenging thing to do.

Others like +Brianna Sheldon, +Kyrinn S. Eis, +Moe Tousignant, +Jesse Butler, +Steve Russell, +Michael Tumey, +Georg Mir, the guys at +Let Us Game – RPG Convention  and others whose posts in my stream are the first that I read and they are the ones making or enabling
the games I love.

There are just too many to put down here so I will close and say thank you to all who make writing this blog and playing games online one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done!   The biggest thanks of course goes to my Wife, Nikki, who puts up with my schedule week in week out so I can do what I love 🙂