There's actually a Chinese company that specializes in printing up custom playing cards for you (with "playing card" quality— think a deck of cards you could play poker with). A buddy of mine makes table games and uses them to print up test pieces for his concepts. I think it's a cost of around $16 USD for a pack of…

Damn. Now I miss my Tauren Druid too. Good times.

By the way, D:OS tends to be one of those Old School RPG's in the sense that it is *very* unforgiving at the early levels. There are no random encounters, so you have to build up XP and your levels by encountering what is "intended" for you— going outside the first city, for example, is tantamount to suicide unless…

I'm guessing whale spunk.

If it's any consolation, that's the same experience I had while working as an professional model maker for a couple of years...

I recommend this book : http://www.amazon.com/Empress-Dowage…

While it doesn't cover the opium wars specifically, you get to see that these opium dens were a result of foreign colonialism forced upon China.

When you look at China's history with drugs (specifically, opium), you begin to understand why the government looks down on any sort of drug that can enslave its populace. China closed its borders to opium before, and foreign powers fought to keep their trade rights open. The result? China losing a bunch of its…

Damn, didn't realize someone else beat me to the punch. +1 to you and let's see if I can delete my observation... =P

That's no Portuguese, that's MC Hammer!

A agree wholeheartedly to the condensation of your idea: empathy should be taught.

As for how, my personal belief is that everyone should work in a field that most closely relates to their passion. For me, it was as a customer service rep for a gaming company for a year. When everyone you are servicing acts like a…

This might fall under "Negotiation," but I would add Human Factors and Team Dynamics to the list.

People can be hard to predict, and covering a course of this nature helps to at least guess how people around you might operate and how best to engage and/or work with them, as well as recognizing how your own…

I read this from the point of view as an EA Executive. Chillingly true.

I've max - leveled a Crusader, Wizard and Witchdoctor, and I agree with your post. Crusader is a tanking terror on the battlefield with spell options similar to the latter two but with way more survivability.

Totally gave me nightmares too!

Reminds me of Steven King's short story "The Jaunt":

:::SPOILERS:::SPOILERS:::SPOILERS:::SPOILERS:::SPOILERS:::

People have to be put to sleep before being teleported, but one curious little boy decides to hold his breath when they gas him, and in the blink of an eye he lives for an eternity. The thought haunted me…

A good alternative is to buy a solid wooden door, then buy Ikea metal table legs and bolt them on. The hole normally reserved for the door knob can be used as the games master's cup holder or for power cables, depending on your game set up. Alone, it makes for a really great work table, especially if you have it…

Mobile Frame Zero is a fun little strategy game, even if you don't have the legos to effectively play it. Some buddies and I play it occasionally on a beer & games night.

It's a very niche market, I'll admit. I know they frequented Kublacon on the West Coast for two years, but stopped when they didn't drum up enough business. I imagine that hiring a friend who loves his craft to do the project at cost would definitely be cheaper, but if you're building for a market that may or may…

Kublacon 2014 had Tables of Catan with digitized surfaces for the tiles. I couldn't find the digital version online (the tables in the tourney may have been custom made) but the "analogue" ones are available here: http://www.tableofcatan.com/

Some of those tables are really classy; the surface can be covered over to…

This supports my theory that *everyone* should work in customer service for at least one year of their lives. I did so for a game company that put games on Facebook, and I had to read every single game complaint and vitriol ridden rant directed toward the developers.

Since I wanted to present an "honest" face to the…