Okay. Veronica and I have decided we would definitely like to return to The Game's the Thing. We miss talking to our game indurstry friends and making new ones. So we're in the process of finding our way back. We have a couple obstacles to our return, and they're strongly related: time and money. Let me explain.

Veronica is very busy with our new son. He'll be 8 months old soon, and she's nursing him; so hopefully you can imagine the time sink when you add in Vern's full time job and our other child, Catherine, who's 9 going on 16.

On top of my father/husband duties and my full-time job, I have to freelance to make ends meet. One of the reasons I ended The Game's the Thing was that I had three activities outside the aforementiond father/husband/job: podcasting, freelancing, and gaming. Bottom line was the difference between podcasting and freelancing was much-needed money. And I wasn't going to give up gaming so I could talk about games and work on games. It just seemed counter-intuitive.

So here's the impasse. If we were to come back to TGTT, the podcast would have to replace at least some of the money I'd lose by reducing my freelancing workload. Unfortunately there's no consistent way to monetize a podcast. RPG companies don't tend to have much money to advertise on podcasts (even ones that can get 22,000 downloads in a year without new content). Click-through advertising is both ugly and annoying. A "donate" button doesn't provide much incentive. There's no good way to charge per episode that I can think of.

Enter Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is huge, and I know of at least one podcast that made a comeback using Kickstarter. So I'm going to put it to you, the listener (and reader, apparently). What do you really think of a Kickstarter for TGTT? I'd like some real discussion here.

Hey folks!

We have been talking about this privately for awhile, and now we think it's time to just do it. We have made the decision to end The Game's the Thing at Episode 100. We think 100 is a great place to end it, and after over 5 1/2 years, we're ready to move on to new things.

We will be announcing our next steps as soon as we know what they are. In the meantime you have two shows to look forward to, and we truly hope you enjoy them.

Until next episode, do good, avoid evil, and PLAY MORE GAMES!

Due to a scheduling mishap on my part, our week four show, scheduled for Tuesday, January 25, is being pushed back to Tuesday, February 1. I sincerely apologize for being late.

This will not negatively impact the current scheduling for February. Here's the breakdown of what our listeners can expect in February:

February 1: Sean Preston will kick off a two-part treatment called East Meets West, which is about injecting Eastern (specifically Asian) flavors and philosophies into Western roleplaying. In the show we will be discussing the Reality Blurs setting, Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin.

February 8: Eloy Lasanta will help us conclude our East Meets West duology, with Third Eye Games' excellent Wu-Xing: The Ninja Crusade.

February 22: Ross Watson, of Fantasy Flight Games, will return to complete the Warhammer 40,000 RPG "trilogy" with our discussion of Deathwatch. This show will be recorded "live" at Genghis Con!

Finally, in an effort to keep our costs down, TGTT will be going back to a 64kbps mono format. We've been experimenting with 128kbps stereo, but there's really been no appreciable upside to it.

All in all, February is shaping up to be a great month for TGTT, and we look forward to releasing more discussions about analog roleplaying in a digital world. Until then, do good, avoid evil, and play more games!

-Ron

The Game's the Thing is going to make a run at winning an ENnie Award this year. So what I need from our loyal listeners is a list of your five favorite episodes that released between May 1, 2008 and the end of this month (which clearly isn't here yet). Send in your list and we'll enter you in a contest to win a cool prize. Email your answers to thegamesthething@gmail.com with "2009 ENnies" in the subject line.

Thanks in advance!

Recently, TGTT listener Sebastian Wolfe sent us a techno song based on our D&D podcast. He actually used soundbites from the show! Needless to say we were floored.

In our recent Romance and Gaming podcast, we included the song as part of our feedback section. We've had a great response from listeners that want copies of the original song. Well, faithful listeners, ask and you shall receive!

But there's more to this story, for there are actually two versions of the song! So without further ado:

Combat Advantage Makes Sense A

-AND-

Combat Advantage Makes Sense 2

Effective immediately, we have opened a Cafe Press store, called Shop TGTT. At this store, you can purchase shirts, hats, and a canvas bag!

So if you've been interested in supporting us, this is the way to do it, barring a direct PayPal donation.

The sale of every shirt will go toward the upkeep and upgrade of the show.

Thanks in advance!

12 to Midnight is a fine company. Please find ways to give generously to this worthy charity.



If any listener has the notion to donate to TGTT this month, please follow the link and do your part with 12 to Midnight instead.

-Ron

This is the first and last time I will bring up this subject.

The Game's the Thing is not an expensive endeavor in the grand scheme of things. It is also not free. Aside from an equipment and software outlay of just under $200, I have an annual operating cost of about $120.

Since the equipment is already bought and the operating costs are installment-based ($5 here, $12 there, etc.), I'm not trying to say there's a hardship here. I would, however, like to spend some money I don't have improving the quality of the show.

Some of the things I'm looking to have in the future:
Better sound input (i.e., mics, a preamp, etc.)
A method of recording in the field
A dedicated system for capturing sound (other than the hard drive of my laptop)

Most of the above isn't necessary (the exception being a method of recording in the field for interviews and such), but they sure would make for a better quality show.

I want to be clear and say I don't see this show as any kind of a financial burden, but some of this stuff could help bring about improvements. If you like the show, you have the inclination, and you can afford it, click on the PayPal donation button in the right column of this page, and make a small contribution.

Thanks for your time.

-Ron