Drew McAdams

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  • Ultimate Writing Resource List

    Apr 12, 13

    thelastrplord:

    a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post

    General Tips

    • 34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer
    • 50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills
    • 5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer
    • 10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity
    • The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity
    • The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers
    • You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style
    • 7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In
    • 8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut
    • How to Show, Not Tell
    • 5 Essential Story Ingredients
    • How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one
    • Why research is important in writing
    • Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character
    • Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)
    • The Importance of Body Language

    Character Development

    • 10 days of Character Building
    • Name Generators
    • Name Playground
    • Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
    • Seven Common Character Types
    • Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters
    • Web Resources for Developing Characters
    • Building Fictional Characters
    • Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
    • Character Building Workshop
    • Tips for Characterization
    • Character Chart for Fiction Writers
    • Villains are people too but…
    • How to Write a Character Bible
    • Character Development Exercises
    • All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!
    • Medieval Names Archive
    • Sympathy Without Saintliness
    • Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)
    • Behind The Name
    • 100 Character Development Questions for Writers
    • Aether’s Character Development Worksheet
    • The 12 Common Archetypes
    • Six Types of Courageous Characters
    • Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2
    • Creating Believable Characters With Personality
    • Body Language Cheat Sheet
    • Creating Fictional Characters Series
    • Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description
    • 7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters
    • Character Development Questionnaire
    • How to Create Fictional Characters
    • Character Name Resources
    • Character Development Template
    • Character Development Through Hobbies
    • Character Flaws List
    • 10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters
    • Ari’s Archetype Series
    • How to Craft Compelling Characters
    • List of 200 Character Traits
    • Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex
    • Making Your Characters Likable
    • Do you really know your characters?
    • Character Development: Virtues
    • Character Development: Vices
    • Character Morality Alignment
    • List of Negative Personality Traits
    • List of Positive Personality Traits
    • List of Emotions - Positive
    • List of Emotions - Negative
    • Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
    • Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)
    • 30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme
    • Words for Emotions based on Severity
    • Eight Bad Characters
    • High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types

    Female Characters

    • How Not to Write Female Characters
    • Writing Female Characters
    • How to write empowering female characters
    • Why I write strong female characters
    • Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men
    • Writing strong female characters
    • The Female Character Flowchart
    • Eight Heroine Archetypes

    Male Characters

    • Eight Hero Archetypes

    Tips for Specific Characters

    • Writing A Vampire
    • Writing Pansexual Characters
    • Writing Characters on the Police Force
    • Writing Drunk Characters
    • Writing A Manipulative Character
    • Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship
    • Writing A Natural Born Leader
    • Writing A Flirtatious Character
    • Writing A Nice Character
    • Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains
    • Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain
    • Writing Villains that Rock
    • Writing British Characters
    • How To Write A Character With A Baby
    • On Assassin Characters

    Dialogue

    • It’s Not What They Say…
    • Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue
    • Speaking of Dialogue
    • The Great Said Debate
    • He Said, She Said, Who Said What?
    • How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters
    • Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life

    Point of View

    • Establishing The Right Point of View
    • How to Start Writing in the Third Person
    • The I Problem

    Plot, Conflict, Structure and Outline

    • Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method
    • Effectively Outlining Your Novel
    • Conflict and Character Within Story Structure
    • Outlining Your Plot
    • Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets
    • How To Write A Novel
    • Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
    • Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is
    • Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
    • 36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations
    • The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks
    • Conflict Test
    • What is Conflict?
    • Monomyth
    • The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps
    • Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
    • Plotting Without Fears
    • Novel Outlining 101
    • Writing The Perfect Scene
    • One-Page Plotting
    • The Great Swampy Middle
    • How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?
    • Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
    • How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel
    • Create Structure in your novel using index cards
    • Choosing the best outline method for you
    • Hatch’s Plot Bank

    Setting & Worldbuilding

    • Magical Word Builder’s Guide
    • I Love The End Of The World
    • World Building 101
    • The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life
    • Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1
    • Creating a Believable World
    • Setting
    • Character and Setting Interactions
    • Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
    • World Builders Project
    • How To Create Fantasy Worlds
    • Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

    Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts

    • *Creative Writing Prompts
    • *Ink Provoking
    • *Story Starter
    • *Story Spinner
    • *Story Kitchen
    • *Language is a Virus
    • *The Dabbling Mum
    • Quick Story Idea Generator
    • Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud
    • Busting Your Writing Rut
    • Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow
    • Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle
    • The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes
    • Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits
    • Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging
    • Random Book Title Generator
    • Finishing Your Novel
    • Story Starters & Idea Generators
    • Words to Use More Often

    Revision & Grammar

    • How To Rewrite
    • Editing Recipe
    • Cliche Finder
    • Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written
    • Writing 101: Revising A Novel
    • 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
    • Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language
    • Grammar Urban Legends

    Tools & Software

    • Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for
    • Write or Die - Stay motivated
    • Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites
    • My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free
    • Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free
    • Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free
    • Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
    • Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable
    • Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable
    • Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac
    • SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
    • yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable
    • JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable
    • AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine

    Specific Help

    • Fashion Terminology
    • All About Kissing
    • Genre Help: Romance
    • 187 Mental Illnesses
    • Types of Mental Illness
    • Eye Color List
    • Spectral Groupings

  • Marketing and Feeling Dirty

    Mar 20, 13

    So as I mentioned previously I just started a new role as Director of Marketing in my consulting firm.  It’s a brand new role, one that I argued for 2 years to have created and hopefully have me fill it.  With so many choices in our consulting niche, I argued, we have to do something to stand out.  Our brand presence is atrocious, and we need to not only make it good, we have to outshine everyone else.  And I got what I wanted - yay! 

    Except now, I feel kinda dirty.  Saying that I’m in “marketing” makes me feel  dirty, sleezy.  I read the word ‘marketing’ and I cringe. Marketing has a deserved bad wrap I think, and I’m no exception to feeling that negative image when I say the word.  More than a few people I’ve told about my new position sneer slightly when I say “marketing,” automatically assuming I’m going to turn into a sleezy car salesmen type that seem to hide behind ‘marketing’.  

    I don’t want to be the sleezy car salesman.  When I say I’m in marketing, I don’t want people to think insane sales numbers inflated by ego and a desire to look awesome.  My vision for marketing is refine the message, create a brand image that’s consistent with our values as a company, and work to establish my firm as expects in our field.  When I say I’m in marketing, I want people to think that I give 100% every day to do 3 things: 

    1. Get my message in front of the people who want to hear it 
    2. Give my firm the tools to always have it’s best foot forward
    3. Establish ourselves not just as a firm, but as a source of information and expertise. 

    That’s it.  Ego doesn’t factor into this.  If I’m successful, it’s only because I took the time to understand my niche, create a solid plan, and be willing to adjust that plan as I go.  I’m hoping that I can do that.  My vision includes a lot of social media, web marketing, revamping image, putting what’s really important forward—and cutting all the fluff marketing.  

    Here’s the being in marketing, and still having a soul :-)

  • Creativity, Risk, and Business

    Mar 14, 13

    I’ve noticed that my time as a consultant, I noticed that I was taking less risks.  While I noticed it other places, I noticed that my problem solving seemed to a little bit too much “by the rules.”  I think for most people, this is a fine state of being, and being a problem solver within proscribed lines is a valuable asset, and definitely beneficial in any business. 

    But as I transitioned from a consultant back into the realm of communications, my true passion in life, I feel boxed in by my own thinking.  I find myself reaching out into the world for the How-Tos and Whys, whereas earlier in my life I would have just crashed and burned till I got it right.  I’m in a very different scenario than I was in college when I had the option to fail spectacularly, but that doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be willing to take more risks.  

    Taking Risks is ultimately what drives us forward.  It takes a certain kind of learned fool-hardiness to be a regular risk-taker—not to mention a strong constitution.  Those true risk-takers who change their lives, their business, their world—do things without any guarantees.  There’s no certainty to striking off the beaten path—but for some, it’s the only way.  

    I’ve been pidgeon-holing myself into the “this is how it’s done, and I should stick to that,” kind of mentality, and I feel like I’ve been limiting myself and not taking risks because of 1) the inherent nature of consulting work is to be conservative and 2) I’m in a new role with completely different responsibilities.  My compulsion is to mitigate the risk there by finding what’s worked and utilizing it myself.  

    But I don’t think that’s the right thing to do.  Anecdotally, It’s hard to think of anything in history that was created through following the norm.  Greatness is inherently risky.  

    But one glimmer of hope — I recognize this risk-averse nature in myself, which means that I can change it.  If I can see it, I can make a difference.  

    So here’s to breaking free of the bonds of conventional wisdom, shucking shackles, coloring outside the lines, thinking outside the box—daring to be different and confident in that difference.  Here’s to the ever powerful - “What If….” and the rejection of the status quo to create something grand, fantastic—something great.  

  • Jan 17, 13

    fuckyeahdinoart:

    Feathered Velociraptor by *TheFranology

  • Dec 12, 12

    laaverosada:

    As many of you already know, a beautiful and preposterous game by the name of Glitch closed its doors two days ago. Even though Glitch is now gone, that doesn’t mean that Glitch inspired sharing of creativity has to go with it. Elendraug had the right idea when he started a giveaway for custom made Giant Icons, but sadly, that giveaway ended today. Now it’s my turn to pick up the slack.

    PRIZE:

    A custom crocheted plushie of your avatar in Glitch, lovingly made by yours truly.

    It will measure about 7 inches tall, and while my avatar ended up being pretty simple, I’m not afraid of details. Also, the circle eyes, v-shaped mouth, and no ear or nose look is just a style I like, but I’m more than willing to accommodate to make your plushie look the way you want.

    Rules:

    1. Reblog and/or like this post to enter (you may do both)
    2. You must have an existing account on Glitch.com (and therefore an avatar)
    3. Keep your askbox open
    4. For obvious reasons, you have to be comfortable with giving me your mailing address
    5. I’ll ship internationally
    6. The giveaway ends December 24, so that gives you two weeks to get your reblogs and likes in
    7. You don’t have to follow my blog to enter
    8. If you want to enter but don’t have a tumblr account, drop me an email at laaverosada@gmail.com with the subject, “Glitch Giveaway” and I’ll get you added to the list
    9. Save a copy of your spritesheet just in case something happens to the site before the giveaway ends

    And that should be it. Thanks, everyone. You, the community, are part of why this game was so great, and you all deserve so much more than just my silly little dolls.

  • Dec 11, 12

    elendraug:

    ELENDRAUG’S GLITCH GIVEAWAY

    As many of you know, Glitch is closing this weekend. I want to do something to mark the occasion!

    PRIZE:

    A custom, handmade Icon of your favorite Giant. Read more about them here!

    It will measure around 5” tall (12-13cm) and will fit perfectly on a bookshelf or a desk. Please note that this is my first attempt making them and it will take time!

    RULES:

    1. Reblog ONCE. Tumblr won’t acknowledge additional reblogs, anyway!
    2. Likes count!
    3. Please keep your askbox open.
    4. Giveaway ends on December 11th, 2012. (The Giants love 11, amirite?)
    5. Don’t be a jerk.
    6. You must be comfortable giving me your address, for obvious reasons.
    7. I will ship internationally!
    8. You do not need to follow me, but please follow Glitch Cosplay (and participate in our projects)!

    That’s it! Thanks, everybody!

  • Building a Home for a Community - Part 2

    Dec 10, 12

    
    

    This installment I’m going talk about the last couple weeks up until the game actually shut down, December 9th.  That, I think, deserves it’s own installment in this series. 

    The Website

    So I had this crazy concept—create a Facebook specifically for my community, for “Glitchen” as they are called, the players of Glitch.  I had a solid idea for the functions of the site thanks to my time on Gameful.org, but the execution was a drastically different thing.  

    I started out by making sure there was interest.  There were a ton of new glitch projects spawning seemingly every minute on our Facebook group, and I wanted to make sure what I was doing wasn’t just adding to the noise, but adding something of real value to the community. 

    My post was fairly well received, and I had someone volunteer server space (even though I didn’t need it) but she also had a Glitch-esque domain just hanging out there too.  So the space, WhereCanIfindaWoodtree.com was born.  My compatriot with the domain setup the initial install of Wordpress and BuddyPress, then had some real-life commitments to take care of, and it fell on me. 

    The Configuration

    Wordpress and BuddyPress and are awesome platforms, and hugely extensible which is, of course, it’s bane and it’s boon.  I started with the few concepts I wanted - the ability to earn points, and the ability to earn achievements.  Having those two goals in mind, I set off in search of technology to support my vision.

    One of the downfalls of such quickly iterating development timelines like Agile/Scrum methods is the constant strain to keep everything up to date and current with existing versions.  So many plugins that I found that had cool concepts behind them, but were outdated and hadn’t been updated in over a year.  

    Generally speaking, as I browsed, a year was the cutoff for me.  If a plugin hadn’t been updated in that time-frame, I personally assumed it defunct and eliminated it.  I eventually found a few that matched what I wanted in large concept — Achievements for BuddyPress allowed me to grant members Badges either as a 1-off event, or based on regular events like posting, replying, etc.  

    Then, I found another plugin that also did what I wanted, just with some overlap—Cubepoints (in combination with CubePoints BuddyPress Integration).  This allowed me to do a few things — first we could grant badges based on recurring events on the site, like posting, forums, logins, etc.  Second, we could make a level system using the number of points earned.  Third, with a quick fix to the code, we could allow users to donate points to each other…and base badges off of that.  

    As I was searching for these and preparing the grand project plan in my head, I discovered something that I wholly unprepared for (though it seems silly to say in retrospect) - Spam.  Lots and lots of spam.  But crafty spam.  BuddyPress allows you to create groups with blogs and forums, and members and most everything you can think of.  It’s also a bit of a loop hole in the registration process for spammers.  Spammers could register/log in to my site, then begin posting group spam…meaning they literally created groups AS spam instead of comments or posts.  

    The only way to stop them was to find yet another plugin to start the spammers before they registered.  So we found out, and let and behold the spam stopped!  Unfortunately, a fair number of legitimate users also got flagged as spam.  And since I was having some slow adoption rates, this was concerning to me.  But users adoption is for next time :-) 

    Building a Home for a Community Series Articles:

    Building a Home for a Community - Part 1 

  • Building a Home for a Community - Part 1

    Nov 23, 12

    This is going to be a running series, as it happens — so I’m not sure how long it’s actually going to be, but should be good stuff.

    So I want to start with the basics.  Last week, a game that I adored announced that it was closing down in a little under a month.  Up until this point, none of the community had any idea that any was wrong with the game, and it came as a pretty big shock.  

    The game is called “Glitch,” and it’s a browser-based MMO that was wonderfully goofy, kinda psychedelic and had no combat.  Its focused primarily on exploration of the world and crafting.  It uses a system similar to Eve on-line, where training skills and in games requires real world time.  Start out at just a few minutes, and towards the end can take weeks.  

    Anyway, the zany story which is ripe with innuendo and adult humor, all wrapped in a colorful animation style that’s utterly unique in the world of gaming, Glitch captured the hearts of a lot of people …. just not enough it would seem.  

    The game closes on December 9th, and it’s pretty sad.  In light of it’s imminent demise, satellite communities started to pop up everywhere: Flickr groups, DeviantArt, Facebook, Tumblrs just to name a few.  

    But what all the screenshots in the world wouldn’t capture was the community.  People had seen saying that it was the community that made the game, not the other way around (there’s probably a deeper lesson in here someplace), but a lot of people were upset about the loss of the community, in addition to the game itself. 

    My first instinct was to create a game as a home for these displaced Glitchen (players of Glitch call themselves Glitchen), but as I’m not a dev (even if I was a dev) it was going to take a long time to get something like that in place.  By the time it was ready, the community as a whole likely would have fallen apart, or been greatly diminished.  

    My next piece of inspiration came from the amazing Jane McGonigal.  She started a site called Gameful.org that a while back I helped with a while back.  The site had originally been on WordPress using a plugin called BuddyPress, which turned it into a social network, kind of on-demand.  From there, the team used CubePoints and Achievements to gamify the site.  Completely custom branded.  

    So I thought - holy crap, I can do that!  I posted in the Facebook group, found a couple partners in crime, and set off to this vision of someplace for our community to live that felt distinctly Glitch, and had a feeling of game — hopefully get the best of both worlds.  

    Thus, my journey of building a home for a community begins …. 

  • Twesome Tweet Twiming - The Best Times to Tweet

    Nov 19, 12

    Timing is everything when you are communicating.  The phrase “There’s a time and a place for everything,” comes to mind for me here.  For example, telling your significant other about a persistent itching “down there” immediately after being intimate - probably not the best time.  Or a chef coming out to talk to his patrons and elaborating in great detail about a rodent problem he was having — again, not the best time such a communication.

    Social media is the same game.  There’s a best time, and a not best time to post in social media.  When you’re blogging for example, you want to make sure you write regularly (cough… like I clearly do) and consistently.  If you post a specific column on Fridays, always post it on Fridays.  Consistency is great for building up an audience.  

    When you are using other platforms, like Twitter or Facebook, you want to make sure you fire stuff out when the most people are likely to see it.  So can you expect the same amount of engagement from a Tweet fired at 3pm vs. 3am?  I would guess that not.  I imagine the 3pm one would have a far better chance of catching someone’s attention that the 3am.  Most of the time. 

    The reason I say most of the time is that your followers might be active at different times than someone else’s followers.  Your followers might be actually active at 3am, in which case that’s when you want to fire out your tweet.  

    Up until recently, the only way to figure out when your followers were most active was through trial and error.  You tweet at different times, and see how many clicks/retweets/replies you got.  Then, you tweeted more during those times with highest number of hits.  While this still works, it’s little bit easier now thanks a few tools.  

    Tweriod is an app that analyzes your first 1000 followers up to once a month to determine when they are most active by looking at when they tweet, respond, retweet.  Crunching this data, it then spits out 4 times per day when your followers are most active, and your posts are most likely to make the most of their 4 second shelf life.  If you pay for the service, you analyze all your followers and crunch your data more then once a month.

    Now the really cool thing is the Tweriod works with another app, BufferApp that allows you schedule your tweets and posts at times you set.  But Tweriod can actually export its results of the best times to tweet into BufferApp—so you don’t have to keep track of meticulously plan out when your tweets will go.  You just write out the tweet, hit “Buffer” and BufferApp schedules the tweet to go out during your next peak follower time.  Pretty spiffy in my book. 

    Another tool, SocialBro also can calculate the best time (in the free version, based off of 100 of your followers), and you can also use it to calculate the best time to tweet as many times as you want in the free version.  

    There are lots of great options and cool social media tools — these are just the 3 I used to plan out when to reach the most followers.  Do ya’ll have any others?  

  • Nov 19, 12

    postcards-from-ur:

    Dear glitches,

    Following yesterday’s big, sad news, I decided to send a postcard (possibly many) to TS, as a way to thank all the team. It’s been an awesome ride, you guys, and I’ll miss you. If you glitches send a postcard, we might send enough so that every single team member has a postcard to keep after next month.

    Here’s the address :

    Tiny Speck, Inc.

    360 Clementina St.

    San Francisco, CA 94103

    from the Terms of Service

    love,

    -balatik

    PS: please reblog this message! and send a postcard! do it now especially if you live outside the US, it’ll take some time to arrive!

  • Rules of Engagement: Which Platform When?

    Nov 14, 12

    As I delve deeper into the world of professional social media-ing, I’m often struck with a conundrum of having great content that I want everyone to see, and I want to word-vomit it to every single network I manage.  That’s the side effect of great content—you want everyone to see it.  But I know I have a lot of duplicative users between my platforms - which is a good problem to have in the grand scheme.  Users following us on multiple networks is really what I want - it means that I’m being engaging and posting content that people want to see.  Engaged users are like gold.

    But do people really want to see the same content posted both places all the time?  Do you want to see the same content posted both places all the time?  I’m guessing no.  There always needs to be a decision-making process to determine which networks something should be posted on.  While there are no hard and fast rules in social media to just about anything, here’s the basic process I go through to determine which platforms to push content onto. 

    1. What is the goal?  We always want engagement, but engagement rarely has a hard and fast definition.  Do you want a public forum where you can get your content in front of as many people as possible, or do you want a semi-private forum where your goal is to generate discussion?  The answer to that question 
    2. Consider the format:  Is the content a video, image, sound or text content?  Audio is something that traditionally isn’t done on Twitter (not that  it’s ineffective to the best of my knowledge, just not very often distributed).  
    3. Consider your audience: Your audience is your followers yes, but more nuanced than that is which demographic is most likely to want to see your content?  Which network is that demographic most active on?
    4. What time of day/day of the week is this going out on?  Timing is important.  Your Twitter users might be active at different times than your Facebook users.  Knowing who you want to hit when will help you figure out which network your content makes the most sense for.

    There’s nothing overly surprising about this list, and for a lot of us I think it just kind of happens naturally.  But it still bears consciously running down the checklist occasionally.  Because even with vetting process like this, I’m still left with a lot of overlap on which network is appropriate— but that’s OK.  If someone follows up on multiple platforms, chances are they expect to see duplicate content.  However, keeping some content network exclusive is good too: it encourages other people to follow you on those networks to get at the content.  

    Generally speaking, I maintain about 60/40 split with content shared across multiple networks to content exclusive to one network.  Ultimately, I’m creating or curating content for a specific community, who I then want to see that content.  But to keep that 40%, sometimes I purposely withhold content from one network to post on another.  Other times, I’ll post content to one network one day, then several days or a week later, post it again on a different network.  

    All in all, its a very subjective process to determine which platform to push your content out onto.  True, Facebook is better at facilitating discussion than Twitter, and Twitter is more likely to generate inbound links, but outside of some very general rules the rest is up to you.  

  • I WAS SUED OVER A BLOG POST AND YOU CAN LEARN FROM IT

    Nov 13, 12

  • What we think, we become.

    Nov 02, 12

    Buddha (via serrenitei)

  • Do not dwell in the past, or dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

    Nov 01, 12

    The Buddha  (via serrenitei)
  • Is Google+ a Failure?

    Nov 01, 12

    This weekend, I attended the Pittsburgh PodCamp 7, or pcpgh7.  PodCamp is a social media conference, held in each city all over the world.  Shawn Graham, one of the organizers of PCPGH7 said, “No one is on Google+.”  I can’t lie, I bristled a little bit at that statement.  But I’m not really sure why.  I started out all gungho for Google+, posted religiously, was invited into far-reaching circles of people.  I had a pretty solid network built up. 

    But then Google made some really sloppy UI choices, and I (along with some others) migrated away from the platform.  I still hop in now and again, but find the UI just as cluttered and confusing as before—I have to dig too much to find what I want.  Neither here nor there, but it still bothered me that Shawn had said no one was on Google+.  To be fair, he also acknowledge’s that social media is pretty dynamic, and everything could change tomorrow. 

    Do I think that Google+ failed at toppling the Facebook?  Yes. It failed at toppling the Facebook, but it succeeded in creating a niche social network even if it didn’t mean to.  It’s like the consolation prize for 2nd runner up.  Google+ hasn’t seen the record adoption rates promised and suffered from sloppy UI choices, but still has access to a enormous number of potential users.  With niche of active users pushing content to the platform, it’s still a busy hub if you know where to look.  In that regard, it succeeded in “not dying” and now is playing a long-game game, instead of an insta-win game.  

    I think the difference between how Shawn Graham views Google+ and how I view Google+ is that we are coming at it from different angles—he sees it as a tool for engagement to an audience at large, at which is clearly fails when compared to sources like Twitter and Facebook.  I see it as a niche audience tool (currently), allowing a specific subset of user to very effectively collaborate—mostly early adopters and techies.  Because its a niche network, it is far smaller than the Facebook behemoth.  

    That’s not to say that although Google+ lacks broad appeal that it’s necessarily a failure.  Facebook has had years to build up this kind cultural significance — Google+ just about a year.  The Facebook, by and large, created the social network space, and Google+ is trying to fit into this mold and play by the rules of someone else’s game, with limited success.

    My view is that with Google’s iterative tendencies (sometimes for the worse), they’ll make some really unexpected feature that will do a lot to launch it back into broad social relevance.  I don’t think it will ever “kill” the Facebook, but I think in months to come, it’ll grow it’s social networking relevance again (or in the first place, depending on how you look at it).  

    Oh, remember that MySpace thing?  Yeah, me either.  

  • Social Media Training Is Now Mandatory: Five Ways To Make Sure Your Company Does This Right

    Oct 31, 12
  • Why I will vote for Obama

    Oct 23, 12

    So here we stand on the edge of a precipice.  The election is in two weeks.  I don’t think anyone who’s connected to me really has any misconceptions about where I stand on the candidates.  I’m 100% for Obama.  And you, regardless of who you are or what you believe, should be as well.   

    Let me start this post by saying that from most perspectives, I personally, have nothing to gain by putting Obama back in office.  God willing I will never need the help any of the social plans he wants to create.  My taxes might go up.  I might make slightly less every year.  But if me making slightly less benefits those who are less fortunate than me, I’m 100% for that.  I vote for Obama not because doing so makes my situation better, but rather because it’s better for us as a nation.  That’s part of being a nation, it’s not every man for himself, and there’s more than “I” in community.  As my friend John so eloquently stated, ”Being a Democrat, I consistently vote against my own personal interests: I vote for people who may some day raise my taxes. I do this because I am my brother’s keeper, and will happily live a little less luxuriously than I might otherwise 

    if it means that someone less fortunate than I may be able to eat tonight.

    “

      

    In recent years, America has lost sense of community.  The extreme right argue for the rights for some, and stripping the rights away from others.  We’ve become so split, so broken that our cultural heritage is lost to us.  One only has to look at the still moving (but not as publicized) OccupyWallStreet movement to know that people still aren’t happy.  The Tea Party, while no longer the political force it was, still exists.  Equality for LGBT couples continues to make headway, despite anti-gay pressures from states and corporations.  Healthcare is more affordable for more people than ever before, but Romney would repeal it, because the extreme right told him too, not because it’s what is right for America.  At the heart of it for me, Obama cares about the nation, about making the nation a better place, about doing right by his people.  I think he represents a force that wants to heal the nation, cross the increasingly divisive lines between political parties, economic classes, race and lifestyle.  He wants to make America a community again.  Everything he’s done to this point has been to bring people together, not to drive them apart.   I can’t say the same about the Republican candidate.

    Romney and extremist right that currently controls the conservative party don’t want equality.  They want their own vision to dominate the American dream where large business dictates social policy, where the middle class shrinks to virtually nothing as money moves up the ladder, but never back down, where Christianity (or their interpretation of it) is the State Religion with a dictatorship only slightly askew of Muslim nations.  The extremist right wants to strip rights for women, gays, immigrants—and give control of the economy 100% to businesses that have consistently shown that when given the opportunity, will do what’s in their short-term self-interest, not that of the nation, or even their long-term self-interest.  Romney has been nothing but a divisive force since he started running.  His 47% comments cemented this for me, and it should for you.  He doesn’t want to heal the nation-he wants to serve his own interests.  A country is not a business.  What makes good business does not make good politics.  What makes a good businessman does not make a good leader.

    I say this because I thoroughly believe, more than that I know,  that Romney will destroy the United States as know it.  If he gets elected and continues his “Us vs. Them” rhetoric within his own country, I can see no positive outcome.  He and the extreme conservative right will rend the nation in two.. 

    We stand on the edge of a precipice, in what I think is the most important election of my short life.  I vote with Obama to bring us together.  I make less money to help those without because I am my brother’s keeper.  I want education to take us to the next level, and understanding and acceptance to be synonymous with what it means to be American.  I want a nation where the Liberal and the Conservative work together to move the nation forward, instead of focusing on shoving the other back.  Obama is the best chance for this.  In truth, he’s our only chance. 
  • Top 10 reasons why Freelancers Fail

    Oct 17, 12

    As a budding Freelancer myself, this is rather timely and poignant for me.  Definitely worth the 30sec it takes to read over it. 

  • Job Search: Completed.

    Oct 15, 12

    Well, it’s time for to write again.  My job hunt is done for at least the foreseeable future and I’m actually remaining with my consulting company, just in a different role. It’s what I would call a transitional role - I’m going to be the Marketing and Operations Manager for the company, so I’ll have a wide range of tasks, and a lot of latitude to do some really cool stuff with my media background.  So that starts in February, a few months away yet because I have to finish out my current contract, but I’m very excited about it.  

    The other piece of this was an insanely stressful few weeks in terms of jobs.  I’m going to relate some of these things in hopes that someone else doesn’t have to have a similar experience.  First and foremost, I interviewed with 4 places within 1-week, 3 of which were on a single day.  If you were curious, this is really not the best idea from an applicant perspective.  While I feel I successfully navigate all the interviews well, I had a few close calls of ‘Hrm, did I talk about this yet?  I’m not sure … hrm … uhhh’ not really the best experience for me.  

    While 3 out of the 4 fell through for some reason, luckily one came through and my existing company counter-offered, which was pretty great to feel that valued in an organization.  Here’s a few notes from 1yr+ job search: 

    1. Culture of the company is the most important aspect of the job; I ask about the company culture on every interview.  If you don’t jive with the culture, you are going to hate your job 
    2. While interviewing, be sure to ask the questions you really want to know about (as long as its not “when I take a vacation”).  The interview is as much for you determine your fit within the company as the company determining that fit as well.  It’s like the nuclear missile - you both have to turn the key, and you should both be sure you want it. 
    3. If you’ve left a company in the past, chances are it was for a pretty good reason.  Keep that in mind if tempted to go back. 
    4. Even while there are some companies that want to hire you, sometimes the stars just don’t align to make that happen.  You just need to accept this and move on, no matter how great of a fit it might be.  You can’t stake your future and your career on hopes.  If it’s meant to be, the situation will present itself again, hopefully in more favorable terms. 
    5. Don’t give up.  Even if you can’t find the exact perfect fit, take something that at least relates, or is a step in the right direction.  In this economy making a job change is hard enough, let alone finding exactly what you want.  

    I’m sure I have thousand other little gems from my experience, but that’s what I came up with off the top of my head.  

  • Oct 12, 12

    Not sure how I feel about it, but thought I would post it anyway - FB Video 
• Posts

  Posts

  Profile
  • Mobile Infamy Review - Happy Street

    Dec 07, 12

    Welcome to my soft launch guys for Lvl-42
    
    I have a more detailed, formal launch planned, but I'm close to being done and figured why keep doing the double post thing, eh?
    
    http://www.lvl-42.com/mobile-infamy-review-happy-street/ Check out the newest review I did on Godzilab's Happy Street
    
    Thanks - also -- Update your RSS feeds if you would :-)

  • Haven't forgotten about you!

    Dec 01, 12

    
    

    
    So I haven't forgotten about writing -- I've been crazy busy the last few weeks with the holiday, the design of a new site, and I'm doing a side project around the closing of glitch.  I should be back on my normal writing track next week though.
    
    Tchus!
  • New WoW Trailer Celebrates 8 years

    Nov 19, 12

    
    
    Yeah, not much else to be said here.  Pretty Epic.  It actually got me all nostalgic and wanting to go back again.  But it's never the same as it once was for me.  But I can dream :-)
    
    Via: Celebrating 8 years of World of Warcraft
  • Study Investigates Game Loyalty in MMO Market

    Nov 19, 12

    
    
    Researchers at the University of Buffalo have concluded that the way to get ahead in the MMO business--give players more control over their online personas while providing opportunities for collaboration, citing things like more elaborate chat and guild systems to allow greater levels of collaboration.  The study also states the games should provide players equal opportunity to win a battle, which actually goes against mainstream gamer thought and the special snowflake mentality.
    
    There's a bit more in the article, but it's mostly ... kind of common sense to me.  The games that have the greatest followings allow players to collaborate extensively and customize their avatar to the Nth degree.  The most I can make the experience my own, the more loyal and devoted to the space I will be.  I know a large part of the reason I stopped playing WoW was because I lost both these things - A strong, fun guild and the feeling that I could control how I played.  Off topic a bit, but I also believe the the ability to fail and screw something up is integral to a good game experience.  Playing God is rarely engaging.
    
    Anyway, hit the link bellow to read a bit more about it.
    
    Via: Level Up: Study Reveals Keys to Gamer Loyalty
  • Google Jumps into MMOs with Ingress

    Nov 16, 12

    Image from NBCNews.com

    Google jumps into the gaming arena in a big way.  Announced yesterday, Ingress is Google's take on the MMO gaming.  Not only MMO gaming, but mobile as well.  And when I say mobile gaming, I really mean mobile.  Details are scarce at the moment, but the game sounds like it's fairly standard MMO fare, hack and control nodes for more territory--with one exception -- you have to actually be in the meatspace (read: physically in the vicinity of the portal) to be able to defend or attack it.
    
    This style of game-play has been tried several times before, with limited success.  The key to widespread adoption is going to be widespread portals to attack, hack and defend, at least in my mind.  If anyone other than Google were trying something of this magnitude, I would be way more suspicious.  But, Google, who knows virtually everything about everyone anyway has the best chance of pulling it off.
    
    The game is still in closed beta and is currently on Android only.  Head on over to the website for more information and to sign up for the beta.  Supposed invites are going out pretty steadily.
    
    Via: NBCNews
    Official Site: Ingress
  • Slash Yell: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

    Nov 16, 12

    In Slash Yell, this week I explore the death of a game.  
    
    

    
    
    
    It's a situation we will all face at some point in the future--some of us will have (or have had) the misfortune of experiencing it again and again--the death of our game.  MMOs are unique in the gaming space because they are, down a to a one, transitory.  One of the things that makes MMOs so special is also that thing that causes us the most pain.  Any other games that you buy you have the disk, all the game content--you can pick it up and play whenever you'd like even if the company is long long gone.
    
    MMOs aren't like that though.  If the company goes under, the world disappears forever.  There's virtually no getting it back, though the possibility of it resurrecting is there its just not very probable.  People, myself included, fall in love with these games, and our digital homes become just that -- a home.  But more than the loss of a game world, I think we lose part of ourselves as well.  In essence, the death of a game is a bit like the death of little piece of yourself.
    
    For those of you who missed my earlier post, Glitch, a browser based MMO, is closing it's doors in about a month.  I'm lucky in that this is the first MMO I've actively played that has planned to close down.  I wasn't the highest level, but I did play a fair amount and I really enjoyed it.  It's sad to see it go.  In fact, it's much sadder than I expected it to be.
    
    In my graduate work, I wrote about how we, as players, interact with our avatars in virtual worlds.  One of the things I wrote about was the idea of the avatar in MMOs as an extension of ourselves -- or the Self (with the capital S for those of the psychoanalytical background).  Keep in mind, this is different from Role-playing.  I think of this as a universal extension of ourselves, whether you explicitly role-play in game or not.  But, more than just the avatar, the game itself affects our relationship with the avatar, and our perceptions of who we are.
    
    I play a lot of different games, but I don't have the same relationship with my avatar in WoW as I do in Glitch.  They are different.  In a really broad sense, I'm not the same person when I'm playing WoW as when I'm playing Glitch.  Without getting too theoretical, who we are and who we see ourselves to be is influenced by games like Glitch.  When you take away the game, it changes who we are--we lose that experience of what it's like to be a Glitchen, and we can never get it back.
    
    We take all the pictures we can to remember what it was like to be a Glitch, what it felt like in that game.  Even moving to a new game it won't be the same, even if the whole community moved.  Even if Glitch came back, it wouldn't be the same.  We've lost part of our identity with the death of the game.  A piece of who we are is now irrevocably gone.
    
    I think it's important to mention that it's not the time that's "lost," or grief over the loss of the money or effort into the game.  Games like Glitch are labors of love for those who play them.  Yes, they lost out on time and money, but it's what's inside that really counts for those players.  To experience this, you only need to listen to global chat to see the end of the world is all that anyone is talking about.  People are giving away things in-game that took weeks if not months of work to get to, just to let other people experience them for a bit before the game goes away.
    
    People keep on going as if their efforts in game will be rewarded long-term, even though they know they won't be.  They try for achievements, get trophies--hell, I even spent a few hours "cleaning" my house, which had my stuff scattered all over it (much like IRL house).  I wanted everything to be perfect for the end of the all things.  I spent time re-decorating, rearranging getting everything exactly as I wanted it.
    
    Then, I took screenshots.  Lots and lots of screenshots.  Just to remember what it was I had, and had no more.  To remember who I was as a Glitchen, what that meant to me as a whole person, and who I was after the fact.  In the end, that's all I can do.  Sit and wait with the rest of the game.
    
    Seeking a friend for the end of the world.  
    
    Apply within Ur: Serrenitei
    
    
    
    
    
  • Glitch Closing Down

    Nov 15, 12

    From the Closing Announcement and FAQ - Also, the saddest picture ever

    Sad news indeed.  The great browser MMO, Glitch, is closing down on December 9th to never re-open it's doors.  The studio behind Glitch, Tiny Speck says that there was just never enough interest in the game to keep it going.  In the game, you control your "glitch" and run around a world without combat, a total sandbox.  Skills were developed in real time, you had a house, a yard, and the game was mostly focused on crafting.
    
    In what seemed like a good move at the time, Glitch moved back into beta almost a year ago to change some of the basic game play elements, and several weeks ago moved back out of beta status without so much as a peep.  I can't help but think this is why.
    
    The game was unique, quirky, and fun in an industry that does best by doing the same over and over.  I played Glitch quite a bit.  While it wasn't an all the time kind of game, it was a game I loved to pop in and check out from time to time.  It's the kind of place that made me smile just by wandering around in.
    
    You can't sign up through the general public anymore, but I still have a few invite keys if anyone wants to play this crazy, beautiful game before it's gone.
    
    It's a sad day.  Glitch, you will be hugely missed.
    
    Via: A Sad Announcement from Tiny Speck
  • This kinda made my morning ....

    Nov 13, 12

    I don't know how many of you know about the game series Creatures, but it was one of my favorites growing up.  It's considered a virtual life game/simulation. You control a race of creatures, "Norns" that you get to breed and evolve/mutate.  They have complex genomes and digital DNA :) 

    
    

    And apparently, they like Gangam Style 

    
    

    
    Creatures 4 - GangNorn Style (PC, MAC, iPad... by fishingcactus
  • Big Changes Incoming....

    Nov 12, 12

    I wanted to let you guys know that I have some changes in-bound.  A new name, a new look, a new platform, the whole shebang.  I should be launching within the next few weeks.  I already have the basic layout of the site down, all the posts imported from here.  

    
    

    I'm still working on the logo for the new site, the content for the pages and making sure everything on the site makes sense and is easy to navigate.  But overall, I'm pretty excited.  

    
    

    Why the change?  Well, Blogger is a great starting platform, but as I've gone on, there's a lot that I just can't seem to get blogger to do that I would really like it to.  It does everything well, but I'd much rather be able to tweak it more, do more with widgets, other layouts, etc etc.  So, I'm moving from Blogger to a self-hosted WordPress site.  This will give me more control over the site, allow me to offer up my content better, and hopefully result in a better overall experience for you guys, my readers.  

    
    

    After I get this last little bit complete, I'll post an official "we've moved" announcement, and I'll post here at the new site for a couple weeks, just with a notice that Rogue-Gamer will be going the way of the dodo bird.  

    
    

    Tchus! 

    
    

    
    
  • Mobile Infamy Review: Plague, Inc

    Nov 12, 12

    Mobile Infamy Reviews cover mobile and handheld games.  For mobile, MI only cover Android games, as my distrust of all things Apple-related is prolific and well documented.  
    
    

    Plague, Inc.

    Image from Google Play

    Developer:  Ndemic Creations
    Business Model: Free / InApp Purchases for $2.99
    Google Play: Plague, Inc
    iTunes: Plague, Inc
    Rating: 2.75 out of 3 Stars
    Pretty Awesome 
    
    Plague Inc. is a game that scares the hell out of me...in a good way.  It's not meant to be a horror game, but the topic of the game, trying to design a plague to wipe out the human race, tends to fit the "Scare me shitless" mold pretty well.  The game is addictive, well designed, and a ton of fun to play.  The music is a bit repetitive, and their aren't many graphics.
    
    

    Overview

    
    

    The game is one of the few original games to appear on the mobile scene.  Billed as a strategy game and a simulation game, Plague Inc. puts in you control of a new pathogen.  The goal of the game is to evolve your disease to wipe out the human race.  Through a combination of choosing how your disease is transmitted, symptoms, and abilities, like cold resistance, of the disease, you pick a country to infect, and Patient Zero pops into being.  As you infect more people, you earn DNA points which you use to evolve the 3 basic traits of your disease mentioned above.  The trick is not to become too deadly too fast, or the people the world will develop a cure to your disease, and you lose the game.
    
    

    Pros

    
    

    The game is brilliantly designed.  It's inventive, well-thought out, and the strategy is deep.  The game features several different modes, from "Casual" to "Brutal" which are essentially your different skill levels.  Upon picking your skill level, you are then prompted to pick a plague type, which have their own pros and cons.  These function as levels within the game -- you have to successful kill off the human race using each plague time, before you can advance on to the other plague types.  You start with only bacteria to chose from, and once you beat the bacteria scenario, you can then move on to virus, and so on and so on.  Additionally, there 4 other types that have not yet been released on the Android version, claiming "Coming in Future Mutations."  

    
    

    I should note that you can purchase access to all the levels at once by buying the "Full Game" via In App purchases for $2.99.  This also unlocks 3 cheat codes for the game.  

    
    

    The premise is the game is deceptive simple, and creepily realistic.  Evolve your disease to kill the human race.  The strategy comes in with the fact that at the start, your disease is more akin to the common cold.  As you evolve some symptoms, other more fatal options open up.  But if you go too big too fast, the world realizes you for what you are, pools their resources and develops the cure.  

    
    

    The game takes into account transition across national boundaries, and countries can shut their borders, carriers take the disease to other nations via plane or train (indicated by a red plan flying from one country to another).  As you play and grow more virulent, countries will eventually become so over-run that the government collapses, and the country is essentially defunct.  This is important in the cure development -- countries will work together to develop a cure, and so those countries that are contributing most to your cure you probably want to develop your disease to specifically target that area.  

    
    

    There's a ticker at the top of the world screen that shows Top News from around the globe, and that's a good barometer as to how seriously the world takes your disease.  When you start, there's lots of nonsensical stories, but as you build, your disease starts to dominate the news more and more.  It's a good indication of how well you are doing in the game.  

    
    

    I don't want to give too much away, but the game is deep and well designed, and a ton of fun to play.  

    
    

    Cons

    
    

    There are remarkably few cons for this game.  The music is a bit repetitive and annoying.  I turned it off after about 4 minutes.  And there aren't very many graphics in the game.  I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing -- it's a strategy game about a disease -- not too much to show.  But I think that maybe it could have benefited from a few more graphics and animations than what it had.  I think the creepiness factor could have been increased 10 fold with a few well placed disease ridden images.  That's just me though, and like I said, this is a very minor gripe.  

    
    

    Final Thoughts

    
    

    In a genre of gaming filled primarily with thinly-veiled money grabs, and clones of successful games (and money grabs), Plague, Inc is a welcome breath of fresh air. The game-play is familiar enough to be easy to play, but still hard to master.  Everyone from your Mom to your CoD playing little brother will find something to like about this game.  I know I did.  Then I immediately washed my hands and went to find my face-mask.  

    
    

    Google Play: Plague, Inc

    iTunes: Plague, Inc
  • Mobile Infamy: DragonStory

    Oct 31, 12

    Mobile Infamy is a semi-regular column reviewing mobile games.  I only cover Android games, as my distrust of all things Apple related is prolific and well documented.  
    
    
    

    DragonStory 

    From iTunes Store

    Update 4:48 EST: Added Image

    
    

    Developer: TeamLava
    Business Model: F2P
    
    Rating: 1 of 3 Stars
    Purely Meh
    
    Dragon Story is one of those games that I just want to love.  I really do.  I love dragons, I love breeding games, I thought it was a match made in heaven.  But...not so much.  Dragon Story has great visuals, good (if repetitive) music, but ultimately it gets in the way of itself more often than not.
    
    

    Overview

    The game is one of a clutch of DragonVale clones, a game that is currently exlusively on iOS from Backflip Studios. I haven't played DragonVale, but a quick gander of the reviews on the Play store makes me think that this game is at least comparable to it's inspiration.  The premise of the game is to hatch dragons from several "pure" types, like Fire, Air, Water, Forest, etc to create hybrid dragons.  To do this, you have to have places for the dragons to live (habitats), and have farms to feed them to grow them up and then breed them.
    
    

    Cons

    
    Like most mobile games, Dragon Story makes time it's primary resource.  Outside of the tutorial and the first 10 minutes of the game, it takes increasingly long amounts of time to perform any action.  Those initial 10 minutes make the game move at a pretty good pace.  After that, wait times increasing exponentially.  Hatching your initial eggs goes quickly, only take a few minutes.  By the time you get to your hybrids still "early" in the game, the waiting jumps to hours.
    
    Your dragons produce silver coins, the regular currency in the game that you can use to purchase more habitats, grow food, and buy decorations.  As you feed your dragons, they grow in level, which means that they produce more silver coins per hour.  Of course, to feed your dragon to each level costs more and more food, which in turn takes time to grow.  Each dragon has 3 forms, and every 3 levels, they can evolve to the next form.
    
    Now, this time as a mechanic isn't necessarily unheard of in the mobile and social games industry, but TeamLava seems to have missed the balance here between waiting and reward.  You spend far far more time in the game doing nothing but waiting than you do anything else.  In fact, outside of "waiting" the game doesn't have much else to do.  As par for these games, you can spend real money to buy "Gold" the premium currency to speed things up for you.  The conversion rate is 1 Gold coin equals an hour (or any part of an hour) of time.  The cost of gold varies depending on how much you buy at one time but varies from 20 gold per dollar to 28 gold per dollar at the upper end.
    
    But even though, the amount that you use that premium current is pretty intense.  For example, you have to "expand" your park.  To do this, you buy a 4x4 hunk of land, that inevitably has trees and brush on it.  So you buy your land which is several thousand silver coins, and you have to wait several hours for it to open up.  Ok, seems silly but I can handle that. THEN, depending on the type of foliage you have to pay, in some cases 50,000 silver coins (that's a huge amount in the early parts of the game), and then wait hours to be able to clear that block so you can actually build on it.
    
     The game is also pretty battery intense.  On a given day, of below average use (checking in on the game every couple hours), the game actually used more battery power on my Android then my phone's screen did, and that's no good.  From a programmatic perspective, the game is clearly pretty inefficient piece of software.
    
    

    Pros

    
    

    Beyond that, the game's graphics are visually appealing, and interesting.  I really enjoyed the general art style of the game, and the dragon forms are detailed and imaginative.  The game takes a very stylized approach to the game, and all the dragons are rather cartoon-y in nature, but I think for the nature of the game that it works.  The part that I found most engrossing about the game was the music.  It was a surprisingly enjoyable sound track, and I found myself wanting to have the game open more just to have the music on to listen to in the background.  However, unfortunately that piece is relatively short, and so plays on loop (I was incredibly disappointed to find this out).
    
    

    Final Impressions

    
    

    Overall, you can probably see I'm not horribly impressed with the game. While it uses most of what's considered "Standard" in the industry, it does it in an incredibly unbalanced way that means that the game does more to destroy the engagement of the player, than draw them in.  But the art style and the music are both phenomenal.  There aren't many of these types of games out there, so there aren't a lot of options.  But, unless you are jonesing for a fix of breeding games, you can probably just let this one pass you buy.
  • Quick Thoughts: Anarchy Nostalgia

    Sep 07, 12

    It's really great to think that even after so many years -- over a decade--some MMOs are still going and actively being played.  My first MMO love was Funcom's Anarchy Online and this year it celebrated its 11th birthday.  Wow, that is staggering to me. Not only because the game is so old, but that means I've been actively playing an MMO for about 9 years.  And AO was the beast that started it all.
    
    I wasn't around for the fabled horrendous launch period, but I've heard stories.  Oh man, have I heard stories. When I started playing the game was ...astounding.  I played a Metaphysicist (moochies anyone?), an Adventurer and a Doctor.  But the MP was my favorite -- I remember how geeked I was when I summoned my first demon instead of a meatball.  It was so ... invigorating.  I can remember sitting in my dorm room grinding hecks for hours and hours, or using NanoNanny to plan out my implants--flying all over the world to play-cities to buy things from the market--when I got my first yalm.
    
    Sure it's not the best game on the market.  But it's still a good game.  It was fun, complex, unforgiving (respeccing, what?!).  It had player housing, guild housing, a huge world that would take days and days to run across.  I met some great people in game, and I still keep in touch with.
    
    Those memories are vivid to me...just as vivid to me as stuff that happened in real life.  In the current MMO market, games seem to be dropping like flies.  Huge inflated budgets in games lead to completely unrealistic subscriber predictions--which is just poor planning.  Games downsizing, closing, running on skeleton crews so soon launch is the norm nowadays.  Yet AO is still kicking--maybe not going strong as it once was, but slow and steady, stable ... dependable.
    
    Sure, it wasn't the first MMO, but it was my first MMO.  And you always remember your first with rose-colored glasses.

  • Guild Wars 2 ate my life

    Sep 05, 12

    So yeah, Guild Wars 2 ate my life, so I haven't been posting -- either here or over on Loud and Pithy.
    
    Hopefully, I'll come up for air here eventually (maybe just enough to post an article or two, we'll see).
    
    But yah, if you haven't you should definitely look into playing Guild Wars 2 - great great game.  So much fun and definitely rekindled for me what made me fall in love with MMOs to start with.

  • SURPRISE! GameStop wants to sell Used Digital Games

    Aug 09, 12

    
    
    Wait...who's surprised?  Definitely not me.  In the grand scheme, it's not overly unexpected.  In our industry's  little survival of the fittest battle, the publishers try to kill off the used game business, and the used game business finds new in-roads to stay alive.  I think there this gets really interesting is how this will effect the idea of ownership of digital properties.  Right now, games are all sold as "licenses" to the software -- meaning that you don't actually own the software, you just purchased a license to use that software.  Sometimes, that involves a physical medium, other times it doesn't.
    
    Big Publishers are likely to push against this and say that the license is non-transferrable (meaning it can't be sold).  The counter claim to that will likely be the Doctrine of First Sale, which basically says that the publisher only has control over the first sale of the product, and not any subsequent sales of the product.  Again, the publishers are currently holding the stance that because they are only licensing the software, it doesn't qualify for First Sale Doctrine.
    
    When this battle comes up in the courts, I'll be really excited because this has larger repercussions outside of gaming, specifically in cracking the lock on content to certain platforms (like those tied to the iTunes store, or the Zune store, or Amazon). Anyway, the article doesn't say much other than GameStop mentioned exploring the possibilities, which again ... surprises no one.
    
    
    
    

    Via: GameStop Wants to Sell Used Digital Games - The Escapist 

  • WoW Continues to Bleed Subscribers

    Aug 08, 12

    
    
    As reported by Massively, World of Warcraft is down to a Whopping 9.1 million subscribers, about a million lower than a quarter ago in May.  This has to be making big-cat Activision-Blizzard anxious, despite the admittedly positive tone of the report.  Between Diablo III's impressive launch (for both positive and negative reasons), and Mists of Pandaria's impending launch, the company is lined up for a strong quarter.  
    
    My concern is the staying power of WoW.  The responses I've heard in the blogosphere, even the fansites, has been decidedly "Meh."  about the next expansion.  I don't think this has anything to do with the topic of the expansion (pandas -- loosely tied to lore), I think it has more to do with Blizzard painting itself into a proverbial corner with their game-design and a few other reasons I covered previously.  That, combined with the fact that the first round of Annual Pass subscribers is coming up real quick (and I know of at least 2 people who will be cancelling when that hits.)  I have to wonder what their numbers will look like come November.  
    
    Regardless, Ghostcrawler and company might be showing their age a little bit.  
    
    Via: World of Warcraft has 9.1 million subscribers, down by a million since May on Massively 
  • This is an issue, it needs to stop.

    Aug 08, 12

    I posted an article over on my other blog, "Loud and Pithy" a few days ago about the bigotry and harassment in games and game communities.  Take a jaunt over there -- let me know what you think.  It's not chocked full of answers, but rather just ... a need to say something about the games.
    
    
    

  • The Diminishing of World of Warcraft

    Aug 02, 12

    
    
    This post has been brewing in the back of my mind for quite a while now.  I want to start by saying that World of Warcraft is not now, nor has it ever been a bad game.  In fact, it's one of the best games ever made and it's ongoing influence in the MMO space cannot be discounted.  The WoW-model of design for MMOs is still very much in effect today as it was when WoW was first launched.  However, I think that WoW as it is has been diminished from what it was.  The game is still epic, but it's just not "as epic" as it was.
    
    So let me start by talking about my history in the game.  I started to play World of Warcraft right before the launch of The Burning Crusade.  I played, stereotypically, a hunter--that I only got to level 20--keeping in mind that at that point, level 20 was a decent portion into the game.  When TBC came out, I rolled a Blood Elf Rogue, and that's been my main ever since.  I loved the rogue class (coming from a Ranger in Neverwinter Nights), and I really enjoyed being a stabby character.  I feel in love with the lore of the Blood Elves, so much that I have the Blood Elf crest tattooed on my side (easily, the most painful place).
    
    Even still, I played the game off and on for months.  I didn't have a guild so playing the game was always a little bit ... well, boring.  I did a few server transfers and landed on a server and found a guild towards the end of TBC that I stayed with all through Cataclysm.  For me, Wrath of the Lich King was my WoW hayday.  Not because of gameplay changes, but because of the guild that I played with was a ton of fun, we got along great.  We weren't even close to the best guild in game, but we had fun and that was all that mattered.
    
    Towards the end of Wrath, the guild exploded, splintering off in different directions.  I continued to play regularly again more of a "free agent" than an actual guild member, but without access to raids to get gear, I was repeatedly kicked from PUGs in the dungeon finder for not having enough DPS (even though I needed gear from the dungeon).  This wasn't just a once or twice thing, but when I would try to play, in a run of 4-5 heroics, I would be kicked from 3-4 for being ungeared and they didn't want to "carry" anyone.  Its not that I didn't know how to play my class -- I did.  I was always effective as a rogue.  Most of the time I was kicked based entirely on GearScore--nothing else.
    
    Eventually, after meeting my partner and having a few WoW dates, we both eventually moved away from WoW and onto other games, but we keep active subscriptions, and keep coming back.  And finding it disappointing again, and moving on again.  This brings me to what I consider to be the diminishing of WoW: the inclusion of GearScore into the game proper, and allowing faction transfers.
    
    I think that GearScore is likely the worst thing to happen to a game.  It attempts boil a player down to a discrete number, which when correlated to other numbers such as DPS, comes up with entirely new ways of discrimination. The actual skill of the player is irrelevant -- the only thing that matters is your GearScore.  To a lesser degree, if your GearScore is appropriate but you aren't hitting some arbitrary number that someone has decided you should be at in DPS, HPS, etc, you are judged by that too.
    
    Now, if this were just the realm of the elite, it wouldn't be a problem for me.  It should only apply to those who are trying to clear the highest, toughest tier of content, the min-maxers.  But it doesn't.  Players in WoW apply this to every aspect of gameplay now.  Something as simple as running dungeons can now be denied to me if I don't have what some consider to be appropriate gear.  Even if the gear I need to get better is in that dungeon.  Worse, Blizzard actually incorporated this singular number as their gating mechanism.  There's something fundamentally wrong with making the summation of a player a single number, which intended or not determines whether someone can play the game.
    
    The second is faction transfers.  The inspiration for this one came when I was recently at an amusement park and saw someone with a Horde tattoo.  I'm a stalwart Horde player (hence the belf tattoo).  So naturally I got excited and pointed it out to my partner who replied with, "Like that matters anymore ... no one cares about Horde or Alliance anymore."  Allowing faction transfers for existing characters I think undermined a fundamental core mechanic of the game, which has always been about the conflict between the Horde and the Alliance.  In the MMO space, it's a fairly unique dynamic. When you think, there are still not many games that build this faction conflict into the story quite like WoW.
    
    I was (and still am, even if it's a meaningless distinction now) part of the Horde.  I was vested in the Horde and really enjoyed playing in it.  I had never rolled an alliance character above level 5.  I never wanted to play Alliance, I disliked Alliance.  But once faction change went live, and my guild imploded, I did what I thought I would never do -- I faction changed to Alliance to play with other friends.  I learned my way around Stormwind.  I tried to play for a while, my Worgen Rogue scampering about.  But for me, it just wasn't the same.  A few months later I transferred back to my blood elf rogue.
    
    But I think the damage was already done.  My choice to choose Alliance or Horde was already meaningless.    By being able to move back and forth between factions with no repercussions at all (outside of my wallet...I don't consider those "game" repercussions), I made my choice to pick a faction utterly void.  It didn't matter anymore.  It still doesn't matter.  Ultimately, I think that this is the greatest diminishing of WoW -- the game has become one meaningless choice after another.  If I don't like a choice, I pay money--things change.  My spec is meaningless now.  I lack any real choice in anything that matters -- I have choices of utility left in the game, but even those are meaningless.  I have no consequences in game for re-speccing, faction changing--anything.  A choice without consequences is at it's heart, not a choice.  A choice must have consequences or it's utterly meaningless.
    
    While this happens all the time in WoW, for me the faction change is the choice that diminished the game the most for me.  My choice to be Horde is meaningless because there are no repercussions to changing to Alliance.  I think in a larger sense, the lack of consequences for my choices is what has made WoW less than what it was.
    
    Like I said, I don't think WoW is a bad game, or that it's dying.  I don't think any of those things, but I do think it's been diminished from what it was through the implementation and tacit acceptance of GearScore and the gradual removal of all consequences for any choice you make in the game.  Literally, nothing in the game at this point has any consequences anymore.  And a game without meaningful, consequential choices isn't much of a game for me.
  • Pokemon Conquest - Initial Thoughts

    Aug 01, 12

    
    
    So I picked up Pokemon Conquest on Friday (since I actually managed to find it.)  I had stopped 4-5 other places throughout the week without success to pick it up (along with Theatrhythm, but thats for another day).   Anyway, I started playing the game and I'm probably 3-4 hours in--it's actually pretty fun, though a little bit shallow at this point in the game -- I'm not sure if the gameplay will deepen a bit more as time goes on.
    
    From a pokemon perspective, it's very much like pokemon lite -- not all 600+ pokemon are in the game, instead only a subset of 100 or so.  As you battle other warriors and warlords and wild pokemon, you add their pokemon to your "Gallery," which is loosely synonymous with the pokedex.
    
    As far as strategy goes, it's pretty standard far with how pokemon games with the pokemon types being more/less effective against other types.  In the beginning of the game at least, Pokemon Conquest goes out its way to make this easy for you to see.  The first couple kingdoms you conquer all play into this strategy to help drive the point home.
    
    Overall, thus far into the game -- it's pretty fun. At this point, it's not horribly complicated and the strategy at this point isn't all that deep, but at only 4 hours in, that could easily change down the line.  At the very least, it's a good addition to the Pokemon Universe.
    
    Reviewed: Pokemon Conquest
  • New Rift Lore!

    Jul 31, 12

    Massively snagged what looks like an exclusive story from Trion on all the new lore for Rift's upcoming expansion, Storm Legion.  I don't want to steal their thunder, so if you haven't already seen what they have to offer, but sure to hit it up ASAP, especially if you are a Rift fan. Right now, Rift is the only game that gets my $15 a month (though Funcom got the $200 for a Lifetime Sub), so I'm really excited about this expansion.
    
    Also - player housing.  For real.  Player.  Housing.  I can't wait.  I've missed player housing since Anarchy Online.
    
    Via: RIFT exclusive: Storm Legion lore bonanza at Massively
  • SWTOR Sweeps GDC Online Game Nominations - Really?

    Jul 30, 12

    
    

    
    Uh, what?  Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic nets a total 6 nominations for the GDA Choice Online Awards, and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, "Come Again?"  Not that the game was bad - I played it for a month before I got bored.  It was polished, pretty, and utterly run of the mill.  Outside of some slight differences in class structure and crafting, the game was stunningly underwhelming.  Still, it received nominations for Innovation, Audio, Game Design, Visual Arts, Technology, and Best New Online Game.
    
    So .... yeah, I'm curious how a game that was pretty universally regarded as "good, but nothing special..." and from which a large number of gamers flocked to, then away from got nominated for so many awards.  Again, not that the game was bad by any stretch, but I know I personally, I was really unimpressed with the game.  So I'm really surprised and I'm not gonna lie, a little bit skeptical about these nominations.
    
    
    Via: SWTOR dominates GDC Online Awards nominations @ Massively
  • Nintendo Posts Slightly Less Huge Loss - What's Ahead?

    Jul 26, 12

    
    

    Nintendo posted another loss this year -- not as big as last year, but still pretty substantial.  Just shy of 18 billion yen (or $220m USD according to Joystiq) net losses.  Again, substantial but not as bad, and the company does sound hopeful, since their 3DS sales grew 162% and they are no longer selling the systems at a loss.  With the launch of the 3DS XL and the WiiU, Nintendo is poised to make a come-back. 
    
    However, as with any of the Big 3 manufactorers, the hardware will be the deciding factor.  The interest in the 3DS XL is pretty substantial, with the device getting good reviews from bloggers to date and many current 3DS owners planning on the upgrade, plus those brand new sales.  Forecasting sales of the 3DS XL should be a substantial amount of initial sales at the end of the Summer 2012 with the forecasted launch, and I'm sure we can expect to see another spike in sales roughly 2 months later once we hit the Holiday shopping season. 
    
    The WiiU the verdict is still out on.  Currently reviewers seem cautious but hopeful about the platform's marketability.  The success of the product will likely be determined by the software line-up at launch.  If the software is there to entice people to purchase the platform, the platform will likely sell well.  Nintendo already has a 2 screen proof of concept with the success of the DS, this is simply a larger scale implementation of an idea that already works other places. 
    
    With two huge losses 2 years in a row, Nintendo really needs a solid launch to make the WiiU a success.  The 3DS has sold strongly, and will likely continue to sell, potentially even increase with the 3DS XL launch.  But a slow burn with the WiiU could really damage the company at this point. 
    
    Let's hope it does well, I really love Nintendo products, and their first party games are hands down, the best of any platform.
    
    Via: Nintendo posts $220 million net loss for first quarter - Joystiq.com
  • Ouya's First Exclusive Title

    Jul 19, 12

    
    
    Too much freakin news all at once! 
    
    Well, looks like Ouya continues to gain steam as developer Robotoki has just pledged an Ouya exclusive game -- The Human Element, a post-zombie-apoloypic game set for release in 2015 according to the update. 
    
    The exclusive part comes in the form of an episode prequel that will be exclusive to the Ouya platform.  The president of the company, Robert Bowling, was one the creative minds behind the Call of Duty franchise before the launch of his own company, Robotoki. 
    
    There's not a whole lot else to say at this point, other than it seems like the $5million in funding should be going to good use. 
    
    Head over to Ouya to see Update, and Robotoki's The Human Element website.
    
    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console/posts/270629?ref=email&show_token=5942e440d1d6ab88
    
    
  • EA Supports Equality for LGBT Community

    Jul 19, 12

    
    

    EA taking a stand against the Defense of Marriage Act?  I suddenly don't dislike EA quite as much.  Though the article at Joystiq makes it clear this at, at very best, as much a pragmatic move as one driven by any moral impetus, you know -- I'll take it.  At least EA had the gumption to actually say that it creates such an HR nightmare for them as well (just imagine being on the OTHER side of that too--my partner and I were asked to sign an affidavit--totally ignoring the fact that we have joint bank accounts and have both our names on the mortgage to our house.  ) Ahem, anyway.  This at least makes me happy--and I think it shows a dedication (even one motivated by self-interest) to the gay community.  Even a few years ago, a company openly declaring support for the LGBT community was totally unheard of.  Now I can think of at least 5 off the top of my head. 

    
    

    
    

    
    

    Brilliant, and totally makes me day :-)

    
    via: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/19/ea-joins-coalition-against-defense-of-marriage-act/
    
    and http://www.ea.com/news/ea-stands-against-doma
  • Initial Thoughts - The Secret World

    Jul 18, 12

    
    

    from Geeky-Gadgets.com

    There's a solid chance you've heard some people talking about Funcom's The Secret World.  There's an equally solid chance you've seen the positive response to the game.  Not 100% positive, but a pretty solid percentage of people seem to really like the game.  I'm definitely one of those people.  The game has been a refreshing change in an age of gag-inducing homogeny in MMOs, and the game industry in general.  It's with some tongue and cheek that I note that a lot of things that make the game fun for me are relics from older games. 

    
    

    At this point, I've been playing the game for a little over a week, and I'm probably 30 hours into the game.  By 30hrs into the game, I don't mean that I'm 30 hours through the game.  Actually, it's only been in the last 5 hours or so that I've moved into the second zone of the game.  The first zone took me about 20 hours to get through (give or take a couple hours).  But I'm a completionist and outside of the first dungeon, I did literally every quest in the zone I could find, found all the lore tidbits (I think…)--I milked that zone for all it was worth. 

    
    

     My favorite part of that?  When I totally finish out a zone in most MMOs, by the time I'm done I'm way outside the level range for the zone, and half-way through the level range for the next zone.  TSW this didn't happen at all.  I played through the whole first zone, and STILL got ROFL-stomped when venturing into the next zone.  It was glorious.  Part of this is because your effectiveness is primarily determined by the "quality level" (or QL) of your gear.  QLs currently go from QL0 (starter weapons) to QL10 (end-game stuff).  So even though I was get more and more abilities and spending skill points, the increase in damage was incremental enough that I couldn't out-level the zone before I was supposed to. 

    
    

    This is all part of the idea that I'm not being forcibly shoved, nearly against my will to reaching max level.  The game invites you meander in a lot of ways.  A lot of games I feel compelled to continue to make choices and progress as the game dictates.  While there's still a lot of that in TSW, the places where it opens that up, in the questing, the lore, character development makes the game feel much more geared towards me doing things in my own way.  If I want, I can totally slingshot my way end-game, powering through all the quests.  Or, I can play around, run the same quest 4 times if I really want , enjoy the voice acting, the cut scenes with really believable characters.
    
     

     There are still some bugs in the game--quests that don't trigger correctly or don't fire as they are supposed to, there were some chat issues early on, but pretty small potatoes when compared with most other MMO launches.  Maybe all others -- being kind of an MMO addict, I've played most recent (within the last 3-5 years) MMOs at launch, ad this has definitely been the smoothest.  There will always be a few bugs (I work in software, there's always a bug someplace), but the ones I've seen reported in TSW are far, far from game breaking. 

    
    

    I can say, I've been following the game since probably about 2008ish or so, and I was really excited about it, then the excitement faded.  Even then, I still pre-ordered and I'm glad I did.  I'm enjoying this and losing myself in the game in a way that I haven't in a really long time.  As to whether I'll stay interested in the game is up in the air, but I have a feeling I'll be playing the game for a while to come. 
  • Ouya has the potential to Change the Video Game Industry

    Jul 16, 12

    I originally posted this article over at my personal tumblr, Loud and Pithy a few days ago and thought it might be good to have on here as well.  To see the original post- check out here. 
    
    =====
    
    So I saw this thing a few days ago, and thought “Huh, that’s a nifty idea…” and left it at that. I didn’t really dig into it because … I don’t know, it was interesting to me, but not overly much. I’m primarily an MMO gamer these days, and while I still rock out some other games, I spend most of my time in MMOs. I loathe mobile games. Not because mobile games are as a genre bad, but just because they never seem to think about the game beyond the quickest and sleeziest way to separate me from my money. Of course there are exceptions to this, but by-and-large, this is the primary type of game you will find on either Android or iOS. 
    
    So looking at a console platform, built on Android, I immediately thought the same which is probably why I went “Huh, neat.” and moved on with life. But it happened to come across my feed that Ouya set a Kickstarter record. I thought “Huh, neat again.” and moved on with life. Then, a day later, I saw that it had made an ridiculous amount of money, to the tune of about $4million in funding, just 2 days after the project launched on Kickstarter. 
    
    Ok, NOW you have my attention. I did some digging and some reading, and realized that Ouya has potential for more than just the stupid, give-me-your-money-NAO! GluMobile type of game (Full Disclosure: I hate GluMobile, so my perception of them will be likewise somewhat biased). Ouya is working to get some big name games ported over to the platform and with the amount of interest generated here, and a sizeable install base BEFORE launch, I think they’ll get some big publishers to bite. Simultaneously, new development will be a huge portion of the platform too, as each and every console will ship with the free SDK, and there’s no complicated licensing procedures to go through to get your game on the market for people to try. And everything has to be free-to-play (for a portion of the game, anyway — this piece makes me a bit nervous). 
    
    Overall, the business plan seems solid in theory, but the actual implementation will be the deciding factor. I for one, think that this platform has a lot of potential to upset what is quickly becoming a stagnant industry. While it’s been brewing for a while, there’s been a pretty marked increase in the dissatisfaction with the game industry in recent years (more on this in an upcoming post). I think that if Ouya executes well, it has a the potential to sooth that pain point for a lot of modern gamers. 
    
    As I read more information about the platform and it’s vision, I see lots of similarities between Ouya and Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, and Playstation Network (or whatever they call it now-a-days). Those platforms have been wildly successful because they allow development of games on much smaller budgets (and occasionally, astronomical profits). Ouya sort of bridges the gap between the console indie dev market and the steam indie market — it’s a console indie market, but instead of the licensing and exclusivity deals that comes with the current generation of consoles, it’s much more open and developer friendly - like Steam. 
    
    They’ve got a ton of crowd funding, and as such, a ton of support from gamers. But gamers are fickle and demanding mistresses. I’ll be interested to see how they progress the platform and manage the gamer expectations over the next few months.

• Info

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    Andrew McAdams

    Social Media Architect, Digital Strategist, Media Scholar, Project Manager

    Computer Software | Greater Pittsburgh Area, US

    Summary

    New Media Strategist focusing on interactive media, social media and emerging media -- specialize in strategies for increasing social and web presence, online brand management, and stream-lining interactive processes

    Accomplished Project Manager and Analyst specializing in operations management, team building and team training, implementation enterprise solutions in all settings--from small to large. Excel with managing and analyzing integrated challenges and topics and interfacing with different teams and technical work ability.

    Strong technical aptitude to translate technical requirements to non-technical terms and explain to non-technical users, and translate operations requirements into technical requirements

    Specialties: Social media planning, social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, interactive media strategy, emerging media, budget management, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Adobe CS5, project Management, Business analysis, operations, healthcare, team building, team training, agile methodology

    Experience

    • Feb 2013 - Present
      Marketing Director and Operations Manager / Sagacious Consultants

      Operations - Actively involved in the day-to-day operations of Sagacious Consultants; Manage a team of consultants; Develop and optimize processes within the company to promote smooth day-to-day operations; Create and publish documentation internally

      Marketing - Develop marketing plan and corresponding marketing budget; determine appropriate venues to achieve verticals and execute on marketing plans; Develop and Maintain strategic marketing vision; Work with other executive leadership to ensure ROI of marketing investments; Oversee Sagacious Brand image, and develop and execute plans to increase web traffic, conversions, and overall company image; Manage outside marketing relationships with developers, magazines, and designers

    • Sept 2012 - Present
      Director of Social Media / SponsorChange.org

      -Develop relationships and grow the SC community through social media channels
      -Devise engaging discussion topics and interact with diverse audiences
      -Maintain and continue to grow SC relationships with community leaders and sponsors
      -Represent SC when needed
      -Support the CMO as needed
      -Unceasingly promote SC and raise awareness of our mission

    • Aug 2012 - Mar 2013
      Epic Access Consultant / Parkview Health

      Radiology Implementation Lead
      -Reviewed and validated the current interface configuration and planning to determine ability to function within business requirements
      -Acts as a liason between the client teams and vendor
      -Re-engineers workflows for radiology staff to better suit requirements
      -Provide training to IS FTEs around radiology workflows and build
      -Act as a resource to the Access team for other integrated areas as required

    • Apr 2010 - Mar 2013
      Senior Access Consultant / Sagacious Consultants

      -Assist with interviewing new prospective employees
      -Help develop policies and procedures for the company
      -Completed weekly status reports, expense reports, and actively recruited for the company
      -Mentor new employees
      -University of Minnesota Physicians Group/Fairview
      --Prelude/Cadence Team Lead – managed a team of 4 others, designed system workflows and advised other application teams on workflows and processes

    • Jul 2012 - Dec 2012
      Social Media Freelancer / Krazy Dogz

      Develop and execute digital marketing strategy, including Twitter, Facebook,
      Increased social engagement on related networks by over 100%
      Monitored and Managed Twitter and Facebook accounts during campaign and made adjustments where necessary
      Saw an increase in engagement and interaction with the KrazyDogz brand over the 5 month period, with a resulting increase in sales

    • Jan 2012 - Jul 2012
      Epic Access Consultant - / UPMC

      Advising the Epic Radiology Scheduling Project; Involved redefining project scope, redesigning the software solution. Interacted with all levels of the organization--both client and IT and provided documentation and guidance on the re-designed solution that met the new and emerging requirements of the project.
      Successfully launched the pilot site 3 months after redesign
      Provided post-launch support
      Planned and documented issues and enhancements to the pilot sites

    • Jul 2011 - Jan 2012
      Epic Access Consultant / Yale-New Haven Health System

      - Cadence Team Lead - assisted with management of 10 people; complete system build and make workow decisions, designed workows, trained new analysts, demoed software to clients and assisted with complex, integrated system issues ; provided project planning advice and assistance
      - Application Security Lead
      - Reporting lead for access reporting
      - Mentored Affiliate practice project team

    • Jun 2010 - Jul 2011
      Epic Access Consultant / Fairview Health Services

      University of Minnesota Physicians Group
      - Prelude/Cadence Team lead - managed a team of 4, designed system workflows, worked on integrated areas between modules, and assisted other teams; provided project planning recommendations and advice
      - Designed and executed a change control process

    • Mar 2009 - Apr 2010
      Project Manager/Product Manager / CECity

      Work as an IT project manager with various boardsto assist with the implementation process from the technical install to software configuration. The job includes workflow analysis and reengineering, as well recommending and implementing new best practice solutions in the field of Physician Performance Improvement. Technical lead of the PQRIwizard platform

    • Nov 2007 - Mar 2009
      Project Manager/Implementation Specialist / Epic Systems Corporation

      Implementation Analyst and Project Manager in Healthcare IT specializing in Practice Management software. experience in designing implementation methodologies, especially expedited installs. Interests include software configuration testing, cut-over transition strategies, process creation and analysis.

    • Oct 2006 - Oct 2007
      Assistant Director of Admissions / EDMC

      Recruit and guide students through the enrollment process. Includes sales as well as advanced customer service techniques; required skills in time management, follow-up, organization, and follow through. Maintained 103% of sales goals and received recognition for highest student retention rates

    Education

    • 2010 - 2012
      New School University
      MA in Media Studies
    • 2002 - 2006
      Allegheny College
      BS in Communications
      Activities: Columnist, Assistant Editor for the Campus Newspaper; Speech Consultant; Student Director of Collegiate Leadership Conference, Head Intern of Creating Landscapes Day Camp, Alden Scholar, College Democrats; Student Commission for the Learning Commons
    • 1998 - 2002
      Lakeview High School
      HIgh School Diploma
      Activities: Drama Club, Forensics, Chess Club, Cross Country, 4-year Latin student, Show Choir, Chamber Choir, Marching Band, Jazz Band

    Additional Information

    • Websites:
      Drew McAdams - Digital Strat, Lvl-42 - Gaming Blog, Social Media Blog
    • Interests:
      interactive media, new media, social media, software implementation, software design, web design, martial arts, running/exercise, webapps
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  • Dear God @Xbox - How can you think ANYONE will want a platform this consumer hostile and this retailer hostile? /facepalm

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  • RT @WhitneyBlack777: “To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.” - Buddha

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  • Oh man - I know followers aren't a good indication of ... well, anything. But man I'm geeked to be at almost 400 :D

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  Spirit's End (The Legend of Eli Monpress #5)

  The Sworn (Fallen Kings Cycle, #1)

  The Mammoth Book Of Celtic Myths And Legends

  Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha
  The Daylight War (Demon Cycle, #3)

  The Unincorporated War

  The Spirit War (The Legend of Eli Monpress, #4)

  The Legend of Eli Monpress (The Legend of Eli Monpress #1-3)

  Spellbound (Spellwright, #2)

  Edge of Destiny (Guild Wars, #2)

  Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog

  Ghosts of Ascalon (Guild Wars, #1)

  Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4)

  Hexed (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #2)

  Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1)

  Blackout (Newsflesh Trilogy, #3)

  A Dance With Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, #5)

  Gamer Theory

  Unit Operations: An Approach to Videogame Criticism

  Communities of Play: Emergent Cultures in Multiplayer Games and Virtual Worlds

  Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World

  Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames

  The Business Of Media: Corporate Media And The Public Interest

  Media Economics: Theory and Practice

  A Crown Imperiled (The Chaoswar Saga #2)

  The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)

  The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)

  Finance for Non-Financial Managers

  My Life as a Night Elf Priest: An Anthropological Account of World of Warcraft

  The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)

  The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2)

  The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)

  Deadline (Newsflesh Trilogy, #2)

  Soul Stealers (Clockwork Vampire Chronicles #2)

  Dark Haven (Chronicles of the Necromancer, #3)

  Dragons of the Hourglass Mage (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles, #3)

  Winterbirth (The Godless World, #1)

  Excavation

  Game Development Essentials: An Introduction

  My Side of the Mountain (Mountain, #1)

  Mysterious Creatures (Mysteries of the Unknown)

  Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

  Nemesis

  Postmodernism

  Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

  New Atlantis and the Great Instauration

  New College Latin And English Dictionary (R 617 P)

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  Holy Bible: NIV Study Bible, Personal Size

  How I Learned to Drive

  Nothing Special

  Mindfire: Big Ideas for Curious Minds

  Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun Is Changing Reality

  In the Heart of the World: Thoughts, Prayers, and Stories

  Lord of the Flies

  Krondor: The Betrayal (The Riftwar Legacy, #1)

  On the Beach

  The Late Great Planet Earth

  World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King

  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)

  Make Lemonade

  Euthyphro/Apology/Crito

  Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: A Collection of Modern Tales for Our Life and Times (Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, #1)

  Precarious Life: The Power of Mourning and Violence

  The Agile Samurai: How Agile Masters Deliver Great Software

  Pride and Prejudice

  The Hobbit

  Riverrun Trilogy

  Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games

  Speaking Shakespeare

  Streams of Silver (Forgotten Realms: Icewind Dale, #2; Legend of Drizzt, #5)

  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

  Taste Berries for Teens: Inspirational Short Stories and Encouragement on Life, Love, Friendship and Tough Issues

  Teach Yourself German Complete Course (Book Only)

  On The Far Side Of The Mountain

  The Bible Promise Book: New International Version

  On the Road

  The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

  One Door Away from Heaven

  The Blood King (Chronicles of the Necromancer, #2)

  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management

  Paradise Lost

  People of the Sea (The First North Americans, #5)

  The Fair Folk

  The Lost World

  Performance Studies: An Introduction - Integrated Media Edition

  The Pit Dragon Trilogy

  The Prayer of Jabez for Teens (Breakthrough Series)

  Philosophy: Who Needs It

  The Reign of Istar (Dragonlance: Tales II, #1)

  The Odyssey

  The War of the Lance (DragonLance: Tales II, #3)

  The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation with Commentary

  Copyright's Highway: From Gutenberg to the Celestial Jukebox

  The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)

  Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace

  The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead

  Promise of the Witch King (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, #2)

  Time's Eye (A Time Odyssey, #1)

  The Summoner (Chronicles of the Necromancer, #1)

  The Values Divide: American Politics and Culture in Transition

  Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature

  Frankenstein

  War of the Ancients Archive (WarCraft: War of the Ancients, #1-3)

  Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

  When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?

  Religion, Deviance, and Social Control

  Why Do We Say It?

  Resurrection (Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, #6)

  Rhetoric In Popular Culture

  Uncommon Women and Others

  Rhetorical Bodies

  Watchers

  Eragon (Inheritance, #1)

  Ringworld

  Wheelock's Latin, 6e

  Road of the Patriarch (Forgotten Realms: The Sellswords, #3)

  World Of Warcraft(R) Limited Edition Strategy Guide

  Robots and Empire (Robot, #4)

  World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

  MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers

  The Robots of Dawn (Robot, #3)

  Wrath of a Mad God (The Darkwar Saga, #3)

  Sacrifice of the Widow (Forgotten Realms: Lady Penitent, #1)

  Year's Best Fantasy

  Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen

  Aftermath

  Yoga for Transformation: Ancient Teachings and Practices for Healing the Body, Mind,and Heart

  Alateen, A Day At A Time

  Sandstorm

  You Can't Eat Gnp: Economics As If Ecology Mattered

  Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe

  Amber and Ashes (Dragonlance: The Dark Disciple, #1)

  Secrets of Screen Acting

  Amber and Blood (Dragonlance: The Dark Disciple, #3)

  Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2)

  An Introduction To Islam

  You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises

  Shadowed Ground: America's Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy

  Approaching Democracy

  Arcadia

  Ascendancy of the Last (Forgotten Realms: Lady Penitent, #3)

  Ashenden: Or the British Agent

  Atlas Shrugged

  Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical

  Beloved

  Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel, #3)

  Conglomerates and the Media

  Black Order: A Sigma Force Novel

  Blood Brothers

  Brain Droppings

  Brisingr (The Inheritance Cycle, #3)

  By the Light of the Moon

  Canticle (Forgotten Realms: The Cleric Quintet, #1)

  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)

  Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

  Chariots of the Gods

  A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, #2)

  Circles of Stone

  City Of Plagues: Disease, Poverty, And Deviance In San Francisco

  Books of Blood, Vols. 1-3

  The Myths of Innovation

  Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument with Readings

  Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics

  Hammered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #3)

  Dark Inheritance

  Dark Lady's Chosen (Chronicles of the Necromancer, #4)

  Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Media Consumers in a Digital Age

  Darkfall

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)

  Darkwalker on Moonshae (Forgotten Realms: The Moonshae Trilogy, #1)

  Play Between Worlds: Exploring Online Game Culture

  Deep Fathom

  1984

  Difference and Pathology: Stereotypes of Sexuality, Race, and Madness

  A Discourse on Method and Meditations

  Dissolution (Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, #1)

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)

  Dragons of the Dwarven Depths (Dragonlance: The Lost Chronicles, #1)

  Earth's Mysterious Places

  Elminster: The Making of a Mage (Forgotten Realms: Elminster, #1)

  Eternal Hope: The Life of Timothy Alden, Jr

  Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter

  Experience and Nature

  Extinction (Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, #4)

  A Farewell to Arms

  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

  Firstborn (A Time Odyssey, #3)

  Forces of Deviance: Understanding the Dark Side of Policing

  Forward the Foundation (Foundation: Prequel, #2)

  From the Corner of His Eye

  Foundation (Foundation, #1)

  Fugitive from the Cubicle Police (Dilbert, #8)

  Future Quartet

  Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth

  Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

  Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

  Girl, Interrupted

  God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #4)

  Adobe Photoshop CS5 Classroom in a Book: The Official Training Workbook from Adobe Systems [With DVD]

  Goethe on Science

  Faust

  Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography

  Greek Gods and Heroes
  A Blight of Mages (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker, #0.5)

  Mindspeaker's Call (Ghatti's Tale, #2)

  Neuromancer (Sprawl, #1)

  Omega

  Trapped (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #5)

  Magician's End (The Chaoswar Saga, #3)

  Phobos

  Physik (Septimus Heap, #3)

  Hunted (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #6)

  Psychohistorical Crisis

  Redesigning Humans: Choosing Our Genes, Changing Our Future

  Legion

  Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives

  Voice of the Eagle (Kwani, #2)

  Weasel's Luck (Dragonlance: Heroes, #3)

  Ringworld Engineers

  The Ringworld Throne (Ringworld, #3)

  Ringworld's Children

  Riptide

  A Case of Need

  Shadowheart (Shadowmarch. #4)

  Shadow Fires

  Chapterhouse: Dune (Dune Chronicles, #6)

  Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #3)

  Dies the Fire (Emberverse, #1)

  Double Helix

  The Dragons of Eden

  Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles, #2)

  The Unincorporated Woman

  Exiles' Return (Ghatti's Tale, #3)

  Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1)

  Exodus

  Finders-Seekers (Ghatti's Tale, #1)

  First Born

  Flyte (Septimus Heap, #2)

  Throne of the Crescent Moon (The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, #1)

  Heretics of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #5)

  The Unincorporated Future

  Alien Phenomenology, or What It's Like to Be a Thing

  Songmaster

  Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)

  Uglies (Uglies, #1)

  Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)

  The Babel Effect

  The Day After Tomorrow

  The Echo

  The Face

  The Dread (Fallen Kings Cycle, #2)

  The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux

  Two Ravens and One Crow (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4.5)

  The Select

  Hideaway

  The Twelve (The Passage, #2)

  Clan Rathskeller (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #0.5)

  Island

  The Wrong Reflection

  Angela's Ashes

  Chromosome 6 (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #3)

  Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialog Book 2

  Kaibab Unbound (The Iron Druid Chronicles , #0.6)
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