Nick LaLone

Finally got to sit down and play some board games this past weekend. Also reconnected to a community I left 13 years ago when I left Austin. Amazing to see how it’s evolved and also to learn how much I enjoy 18xx.

My first 5 RPGs played: 1. D&D2e: Planescape via Dragonlance and we ended up in Ravenloft 2. Stuperpowers 3. TWERPS 4. 7th Sea 5. Shadowrun

QTP with a video game that transports you back to your childhood⏳

Woke up all excited to learn about a new Sword World kickstarter. Logged in to back it. No option to just buy the 3 core books. Logged out, sad.

Finally got some dining room chairs. Now can sit and play games…..?

Finally started getting some art up around the house. Still love this early 80s art for Mattel’s Dungeons and Dragons line. The game itself is weird tho

In playing Ultima Online and thinking about the timing of its development, if EA had gotten the D&D contract over SSI or had finished purchasing TSR OR SSI in like 96, I don't think UO would've found any funding at all. That moment would've shifted the whole gaming industry at present.

Been listening to a 4 hour video about Ultima Online that has me playing it while New Legacy season 2 is released. It’s interesting enough to have dislodged two blocked ideas about computers and games. youtu.be/35SKawn2SDI?...

After a tumultuous 3 years with a tiny catio we bought so my best bud Joe could ride out his cancer in peace outside, we finally got a full on catio. Now to equip it with its own pet door so they can all enjoy it whenever they want.

Was unpacking some books this morning and somehow I missed this one when I bought a Timex Sinclair 1000 a couple years ago. It’s got a comic book adventure and when the big fight comes, you write a BASIC game included in the back. Neat!

A thing that has dominated my thoughts about post academic life is that I like being wrong and don’t have much of an ego. I like to listen and learn and be corrected. I like to advocate be critical in an effort to learn and teach. And I’m told constantly that I’m weird, annoying, and weak.

Ah, arthritis my old friend. I didn’t need the reminder that I have hands.

30 minutes, 2 sides, to play Frogger.

The totality of unpacking leaves little room for anything else

I only got a few weeks left of unpacking but man has it been nice to just look at stuff I forgot I owned and re-read some books, some diaries, watch some old forgotten tv shows.

My last PhD student, @justincolegis.bsky.social, recently passed away due to a sudden and aggressive fight with Cancer. Justin was the brightest part of my time in Rochester. Our talks about GIS, social science, and Bruno Latour were formatve. millerfuneralandcremationservices.com/obituaries/?...

just before COVID, I bought a bulk lot from a closing #ttrpg site on Yahoo Auctions Japan. It had Sword World, DnD rules cyclopedias, shadowrun, and GURPS Runal from @sjgames.com This is a replay book. Looks like someone scanned it here: www.scribd.com/document/746...

Got retro tink set up…now to find my consoles in the sea of boxes. What a ridiculous setup I’ll have at this house. Hopefully it’ll last for more than a few years.

No one had said not to.

Bought a bunch of @vanrydergames.bsky.social graphic novel CYOA to check out. Might just bring a whole collection of CYOA games to a game night soon.

Writing a business plan for yourself while trying to figure out who exactly you are is awkward aa hell. But it’s therapeutic in a way that maybe only Jeff understands.

When I left Austin in 2013, everyone carried GURPS and various Steve Jackson Games. It was weird to not see any @sjgames.com in game stores in Austin but I’ve been happy to start seeing some again!

Kristen ran another Ultra-ish marathon today. It's amazing to see that community of folks. It's still new enough for "professional" to be accessible yet insane enough for the community to be small and driven. Prolly not for too much longer, but it's nice now!

Saw this and immediately thought of @mothmother.com for the last character they played in whatever game we were playing with @snapdragoness.itch.io store.cave-evil.com/collections/...

Office decorations off to a strong start.

Welp, closed on house today, big conference tomorrow. Oh, and my birthday is tomorrow. Kristen running a marathon Saturday. The next few weeks are going to be all about moving...ugh

Well, it finally happened. I typed into eBay, “antique games” and started looking for late 1800s #boardgames.

Name a character who deserves their own spinoff.

Went with @dunots.voidsent.com to the Austin City Limit Break @aclimitbreak.bsky.social today! Always nice to be reminded how positive the ffxiv fanbase can be. Resubbed and came home with some prints for the house we’re closing on on Tuesday.

For the #ttrpg fans out there. I am prepping to propose running a few dungeons in His Majesty, the Worm. For those of you who have run it, what tarot deck did you go with? I went with The Phantomwise Tarot: bookshop.org/p/books/the-... But is there one closer to the book's aesthetic?

I will say something like, “Eiichiro Oda, the writer of One Piece is the Tolkien of our time.” And folks ask how or why. often scoffing loudly. The attention to detail goes all the way down to foot prints as a plot device spread 13 years apart . youtube.com/shorts/mdFPp...

Without saying your age, what is your favorite movie that came out when you were 20?

Name an album you can listen to on repeat that doesn't get old.

Today seems to be the day i've decided to sit down and rewrite the, "About Me" portion of my website. It's also the biggest source of anxiety i've had since leaving the tenure track.

And it exploded…

Man. Earth 2 had some fun promise. Still mad about it. youtu.be/aPRHz5Itq78?...

People still ship brand new physical cassettes for a computer from 1982 — and argue over BASIC vs assembly like it's 1985. The ZX Spectrum scene never died. #ZXSpectrum #RetroComputing comuniq.xyz/Technology/p...