Captcha the Frustration

Dork Tower by John Kovalic 

One of my favorite webcomics - Dork Tower by the talented John Kovalic - has posted a classic strip in its site. Kovalic sees Passwords and Captcha's the same way I do... through a red mist!

Click the caption below the picture to see the whole strip.

Every website with a forum or online shop now needs you to register and set up a password. Every blog requires you to decipher a Captcha before submitting a comment...and its doing my head in! I understand that security online is as necessary as locking the front door of your house. It's a sensible precaution to keep the hackers, spammers and phishers out in the cold. But I also think that sometimes our security precautions can become just a little bit paranoid and over zealous.

I disabled the Captcha feature on BLMA about two years ago and since then I can count on one hand the number of genuine Spam comments that have bypassed the filters (and that includes the brief period of Trolling I suffered). I check my comments several times a day so none of the bogus comments that have been posted stayed visible for long!

I'm not advising everyone to turn off their security features en-masse, I understand that for some sites these are valuable and vital precautions. But it might be worth asking yourself if your Blog really needs such high level security. I have definitely seen an increase in the number of comments to my posts since I disabled Captchas, maybe because its now a lot easier and quicker to do so.

Demoncon 2011 Maidstone

My good friend and talented artist Dave Stokes has been featured before in this blog. His latest venture, the Webcomic Blackfriars seems to have been attracting some attention withing the comic community and has been invited to have a table at Demoncon in Maidstone this Sunday.

Dave will be selling prints of his artwork throughout the day. "I'll be sketching all day so you'll be able to grab a quick sketch of your favourite character for £5-£10. I'll also have some of my original artwork available to sell starting at £10. I'll be there between 10am and 4pm so if you're interested in getting a sketch please drop by and say Hi. I'll also have a few small printouts of my Blackfriars webcomic to show off"


Blackfriars Webcomic

 

Blackfriars Webcomic

I've written about my enjoyment of Webcomics several times on this blog. I've never been a big reader of the traditional printed version (except as a kid) but I have enjoyed following several on the Internet over the years. Now Dave Stokes of the Dagenham Dungeon Delvers has started his own Webcomic called Blackfriars. The first two pages of a prologue story are now available to view and so far I think its looking pretty good indeed.

Here's the lowdown in Dave's own words. "It’s a contemporary fantasy story set in present day London about three unlikely heroes, an ancient threat from Britain's mythic past, Magick as a secret resource of the British Government, all converging on a long-lost gateway to the Fey realm situated in the tunnels of the London Underground beneath St. Paul’s Cathedral... As if rush hour wasn’t bad enough."

Dave did a lot of research before starting on this project and this clearly shows in his work. At last years British International Comic Show he was able to pick the brains of professionals like 2000AD artist PJ Holden. His advice helped convince him to get started on his own comic. Dave claims to be no good at drawing architecture, but I think you'll agree these first few pages are excellent.

You can see more of Dave's amazing artwork on his other site, Dave Stokes Sketch Blog.

How modern is too modern?

'Modern History' by XKCD

I saw this webcomic recently and it got me thinking about a subject that has corssed my mind several times before. How modern can a conflict be before it becomes insensitive to wargame it? There are a slew of wargames and boardgames covering recent history from Vietnam to the Gulf War. Is it insensitive to game these? And what about re-enactors who don army surplus or replica uniform and 'live' the history. Are they glorifying war or exploring history?

It could be argued that all wargames are essentially making entertainment from death and destruction. I don't agree (obviously) but its a conclusion that is all to easy for the outsider to arrive at. This is one of the reasons why I think wargaming conventions and Living History shows are vital. I look on these events as outreach for our hobby, a chance to engage with the general public and show them that we are not weirdo's living in our mom's basements and subsisting on crisps and coke (or Cheetos and Mountain Dew).

My own personal definition of 'Modern' is anything after WWII, and for me the closer you get to current events the more uncomfortable I would be playing a game in that period. I personally would be uncomfortable playing a game based on the current conflict in Afghanistan for instance. Having said that I also have little interest (beyond a current affairs perspective) in modern conflicts and I'm therefore not likely to wargame them.

Wargaming isn't about recreating moral decision making and it is certainly not a simulation of events in graphic detail. I think many gamers would consider their hobby an intellectual exercise and a gateway to history. In essence all wargames are just chess with better playing pieces and nobody suggests that grand masters are warmongers. So what would you consider to be too modern to play? Or are you comfortable playing any conflict?

SMBC does D&D

I've mentioned before my love of web comics and their ability to cut right to the heart of sometimes complex issues. One comic that I follow on a daily basis is Saturday Morning Breakfast Club. There isn't a theme as such (unless you class off the wall humor as a theme) but its guaranteed to make me laugh out loud. I'm a relative newbie to this comic - I started following it about 6 months ago - and I was taking a look through the archive of old cartoons when I found this gem.



This is clearly an Intimidate skill check and the DC has been set at 16....the problem is the player has a -10 penalty for being a Dork and a further -6 for being Ginger! And unless his luck radically changes he's almost certain to roll a 1.

Space Invaders

I came across a great cartoon recently that sent me on a trip down memory lane. I'm not a big player of computer games these days, but when I was a kid I was hooked like pretty much every boy my age. I remember a family caravan holiday at Clacton (on the East coast of Essex) where I spent a large amount of time - and pretty much all of my pocket money - playing Space Invaders at the local amusement arcade. I'm not sure that my parents thought it was a productive use of my time but it beat the hell out of fishing.

I think of myself as fortunate that I grew up just as computing, and computer games, started to become accessible to the ordinary people. That's not to say I or my parents could afford to take advantage of the latest home technology. We always seemed to be a few years behind everyone else and that's still the case for me now (I'll get that iPad eventually). Maybe this is why I was hooked to the video arcade when we went on holiday. For a measly 10 pence I could play the latest game, if only for a few seconds until I got killed or the credit ran out. And that for me was the great attraction of Space Invaders. It was the first game that I personally had encountered that rewarded skill with extended play... and for a while I got quite skillful indeed. What an incredible summer that was.

The game was designed and programmed by Toshihiro Nishikado for the Japanese company Taito and was first released in 1978. It was later licensed by the US company Midway and in 1980 was licensed by Atari for the 2600 home system. Its still around in various forms for modern media which says a lot for the durability of this simple game. The original game was actually in monochrome with the coloured parts simulated by use of coloured plastic overlays. Space Invaders has allegedly earned Taito in excess of $500 Million USD since it was first created. #

Not bad for the most basic of shoot-em-ups.

Big Picture : Dorkmaster

One of the things I love about attending conventions is the people you meet. In 2004 I was lucky enough to chat with one of my favourite webcomic artics, John Kovalic of Dorktower fame.

As well as being a very talented artist he was also a very funny guy to chat to... and he drew me a personalised cartoon in one of his books I'd bought. I'm proud to call myself a member of his Army of Dorkness. 

Venn will it End?

I've been thinking about my lamentable progress with painting this year and stumbled upon a universal truth that I suspect applies to most tabletop model painters to some degree. Its a hobby cliche that every gamer has a 'Lead Mountain' that never seems to shrink. I'm no different and I only managed to reduce my mountain by 'getting rid' of a load of unpainted lead. Despite the drastic measures I still have no fear of running out of models to paint.   

The web comic Larry Leadhead famously suggested that if a gamer ever painted his last model his heart would give out on the spot and he'd drop down dead. However I'm not sure if that's something most painters have to worry about. After all the chance of reaching the end of the 'to-do' list is incredibly small.

I put this Venn diagram together with myself in mind (designed under the label 'procrastination') but when I'd finished I realised it could probably apply to most gamers. All you have to do is change the proportions according to your own situation. On the face of it this is a rather depressing truth that all gamers and painters have to come to terms with. But being a 'Glass half full' kinda guy I look on it differently.

If painting your last model is likely to prove fatal then think of this equation as a formula for immortality.

War is Hell

Here's the latest comc from xkcd and I have to say it made me laugh. If you want to see this and other great comics go to the xkcd site. The humor can be a little strange, but then so am I.

The Stupid, It Burns!

You know who you are!

(Source: http://plognark.com/)

Web Comics

I like web comics. I follow dozens of them, not all game related although most are. There is some great humor out there and here is a selection of my current favorites (the list is growing all the time).

The Unspeakable Vault of Doom is a quirky but very very funny Cthulhu Mythos inspired comic. True, stories of cosmic horror and tales of the old ones seem like a strange subject for comedy. But if you like your humor in five dimensions, this is the comic for you. If H.P.Lovecraft were still alive I think he would definatly approve of this tribute to his work.

The Order of the Stick is probably one of the longest running story arcs in comic form on the net. There are plenty of in-jokes about the rules and contradictions inherent in D&D that will make any player chuckle. There are also some great moments of slapstick guaranteed to make you guffaw - embarrassing if you're reading the strip at your desk in work. OOTS strips have been collected together into a series of excellent books (each with bonus material) which would sit nicely on any gamers shelves.

XKCD isn't a 'gaming' comic at all. Its mostly about maths and science but you'd have to be dead from the neck up not to enjoy the humor. One of my favorite strips has to be this tribute to Gary Gygax. As well as some great visual gags this strip is also full of excellent observational humor about the absurdity that is the human condition.

Billed as the Gamers comic strip it features the hapless Wargamer Larry Leadhead. Written with an insiders understanding of wargaming humor and sympathy for our poor dice rolls & shaky grasp of the rules. One of my favorites is why painters should never paint their last miniature. As with OOTS there are several book compendiums of Larry strips that you can purchase online. I feature a Larry Leadhead strip at the foot of this blog.

Another favorite of mine, and a web comic I have been following for years, is Dork Tower by John Kovalik, a fellow Brit now living in the US. John describes his comic thus "DORK TOWER is for anybody who’s ever played Dungeons and Dragons, who’s ever gone to a Star Trek convention, anyone who suspects that Anime is more than just a passing fad, or anyone who KNOWS one of these people." John has a large web presence with a Blog, a twitter page, and a Facebook page! He's also a very nice chap and not only signed my copies of his books but drew me a personal Igor portrait (my favorite character from the strip).

Last but not least are two comics, Nodwick and Full Frontal Nerdity, by Aaron Williams. Both have been around for a long time and, in the case of Nodwick, debuted in Dragon Magazine (issue #246 - April 1998). Nodwick is the long suffering Henchman in a disfunctional group of adventurers that most gamers will instantly recognise. Capable of carrying the huge ammounts of loot aquired by his companions nodwick is also employed to find (read 'trigger') traps. He spends a lot of his time being put back together again by the party cleric, Piffany, with the aid of large rolls of Duct tape.

There are lots of great webcomics that I also read (such as PVP and The Legend of Bill) but these ones are my personal favorites and keep me ammused (and sane) during the long dull work day!

Life Lessons

I recently came across this cartoon by John Kovalic from 2001. It tickled me then and its relevance is still as, well erm, relevant now. Check out Johns excellent webcomic Dork Tower.

I had the privilege of meeting John at Dragonmeet in 2004 and got some of his books signed. I'm not sure if he's planing on attending this year but if he does I'll be there.

Barbarian Hordes

I'm very busy in work at the moment and todays intended post is only half written (tut tut). So in its place is a great cartoon I stumbled upon recently. It made me chuckle...
"Blessed are the Geek, for they will inherit the earth"

The Turquoise Death

This weeks Larry Leadhead special cartoon [see it at the bottom of this Blog] had me laughing out loud today. It reminded me of a good friends Space Marine army, many years ago when we played Epic 40k. Epic derived from the earlier Games Workshop games Adeptus Titanicus and Space Marine and was based on the 40k universe but using 6mm scale models.

I fielded a largely Blood Angel Space Marine army and tried wherever possible to only use painted models when I played. One of my regular opponents played an Orc army and despite the predominance of bare metal in his fielded miniatures he nearly always won (the injustice!!). Then there was "The Turquoise Death". This was a space marine army painted in vivid Turquoise. They struck fear into the hearts of... well nobody actually... except perhaps Trinny and Susannah. But despite the fact that they looked awful and never won a battle we all still remember that army. Which just goes to show that even a badly painted army or model has more impact than a bare metal one.

Larry Leadhead Comic Strip

The Special Larry Leadhead Comic Strip has arrived at BigLee's Painting Blog! Check it out at the bottom of the page below the blog posts. Larry has been making me laugh (at myself mostly) for many years and is dedicated "to all gamers who really love their hobby, but don't take it too seriously!"

Inspiration from Frank Frazetta

Most of the miniatures I paint are fantasy rather than historical or sci-fi in theme. One of my favorite painters in this genre, and therefore one of my biggest influences when thinking about colour schemes, is Frank Frazetta. Born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York City his artistic skills were recognised at an early age. At 16 he was earning a living drawing for various comic books and his career included album covers, movie poster and most significantly (for me) covers to the the sword-and-sorcery Conan collection of stories by Robert E. Howard.
It was covers like the one above that drew me into the world of fantasy and adventure. And from there it was a small step into D&D and Miniatures painting. The work of Frank Frazetta continues to inspire my imagination and I often turn to my old Conan covers when thinking about paint schemes. So who inspires you when you pick up a brush?