So, the biggest thing to come out of the recent read-through was this:
Staking Your Name (SYN for short) was, in a word, broken. I was reading through the section on SYN and thinking, “Ugh! Even I don’t want to adjudicate this rule, and I wrote the thing!” So, I got rid of it. I tried to identify what I had been going for in the old rules, and how I could accomplish those goals with less complexity. I think I succeeded. The old rules suffered on a couple of points:
- The mechanic was practically the opposite of all the rest of the rules in Ultrablam. A bigger Pool made things worse instead of better.
- It was really complex – and by that, I mean that nothing you thought you knew about the ruleset was the same when SYN.
This last point violated what we in the software biz know as “the principle of least surprise,” which is a rule by which user interface design is guided. For example, if you’re writing a personal finance program and you have an icon with a printer on it, when the user click it, something about printing should happen. The software should not stab your user in the leg. That would be a surprise, violating the principle. SYN was a stab in the leg at best.
Now it’s gone, replaced by a mechanic that I think both accomplishes the goals I had with the last one AND makes sense within the context of the rest of the rules. So if you’ve ever been subject to playtest on the old SYN, thank your lucky stars that it’s gone. Good riddance.
If you are seeing this post, then you’re looking at the NEW home of ultrablamtacular.com. I hope that everyone starts seeing this in the very near future!
All the content seems to have made it over, but I’m afraid that members who signed up on the old site will have to register again on this one. In exchange for this inconvenience, I’ll try to have a openID plugin running here soon so you can use an already established identity to login.
Thanks for your patience!
Update: OK, both domains (ultrablamtacular.com and blog.ultrablamtacular.com) seem to have made it over here safely, and nearly everything is working (notably, the IPhone theme is not, yet). But if you notice anything wrong with the site, please feel free to let me know!
Hey, I know, get cracking on that edit. But while I’m here, I just wanted to say a few things:
- It felt good to post again. How are you out there, anyhow? I don’t expect anyone is still with me at this point and that’s good – there’s been nothing happening. That’s going to change RSN, I promise.
- My web host is making me very angry w/ downtime and increased expense. Expect some bumps in the upcoming transition.
- That goes for the wiki and other sites, too. I’m not thrilled with any wiki engine yet.
That’s it! More soon!
OK. So, I’m a cliché. I do a lot of work on this game at a Starbucks. Yes, yes, I’m a deluded john to a disease-ridden corporate whore. Whatever. I wrote a good chunk of Ultrablamtacular at this place and I’ve done a lot of editing there, too. It’s right near my workplace, but the reason I end up working here is that it is close to where my son takes Kung Fu, and I have time to work while waiting for him. Plus wifi, so, score. I call it The Worst Starbucks In The World (TM) and tonight’s blog is from its parking lot.
I took Lenny (my netbook) there to get the rest of the simple notes I made on my recently completed read-through into the electronic manuscript. But they just shouted “Five minutes til close!” and started booting us out. So, I’ve lost the chance for outlet power, but the wifi still seems to be working, and I’m here, in my car, FINISHING THIS DAMNED EDIT.
Do you want to know why? Google “August 5-8 2010″ and see if anything jumps out at you.
