Experimenting: Free vs. For Sale

Eighty five percent of the traffic on Mithril & Mages comes via search engines. Subsequently, the vast majority of those visits find and use what they need then move on to the next task. The overall usage rate for the pages visited is nice but I’ve had a few different documents available for consumption that were accessed by a rare few visitors. Direct visitors are also a small portion (~7%). Most of those visits are also use single random generator.

Overall, few visitors were unlikely to find any given document let alone download it. What would happen if I made the document available for sale? The visitation rate of RPG purchase sites is far larger than my traffic. Enter the experiment.

I uploaded Namespace: Given Names (forenames) as the starting point. I didn’t mention I’d done so anywhere. I sold a couple of copies for $0.99. Then I dropped the price to $0.59. Four more sales occurred in a couple of days.

Tonight, I added the Medieval Surnames document for $0.59 and bundled the two for 0.98. Cheap but far more than the original price of zero. Within an hour, I sold a copy of the bundle. The standalone surname document has yet to sell.

People who are purchasing the products are unlikely to visit this site. Still, those that purchased the Given Names document got a complimentary copy of Surnames. I could call it brand building but in reality I just felt it was the right thing to do.

The experiment shall continue. If you want a copy of both for the low, low introductory price of free, say something witty in the comment section within 24 hours. The comment email address will be used to issue the free copy.

Prototyping

Raw new platform. Something crazy will come of this. For now, a few parts are missing to even get it to RC control level. The box of extraneous sensors isn’t even open yet.

Brew & BBQ Update

The crew finally settled on a beer recipe for the B&BBQ session on April 13th. Actually, Danny picked out one he wanted to try which will be quite challenging. The brew is Sonoran Black Ale with Mesquite-Smoked Malt and White Sage from a magazine subscription. I cannot recall the exact magazine but the overall grain bill is as follows.

For 5 gallons:

2.0 lb. Home-Smoked Pale Malt
3.0 lb. Home-Smoked Wheat Malt
1.0 lb. Home-Smoked Carastan Malt
1.0 lb. Home-Smoked Flaked Oats
2.0 lb. Pilsner Malt
0.5 lb. CaraMunich Malt
0.3 lb. Debittered Black Malt
0.5 oz. Chinook, 11% a.a. (60 min)
0.5 oz. Hallertau, 3% a.a. (10 min)
0.5 oz. Coriander seeds, cracked (2 min)
0.4 oz. White Sage leaves (2 min)
Belgian Wit or Wheat, Wyeast 3522 or Wyeast 3944 or 3942

Without the sage, the cost is about $30 including yeast. No real instructions were given for smoking the grains. From what I’ve read, the length varies depending on the pungency of the smokiness you want in the final product. Too much and it will end up tasting like an ashtray. Too little results in no discernible smoke flavor. I purchased an extra pound of pale malt so we can sample as the smoking process moves along.

The general process is to just wet the grains slightly (damp, not soaked) and place them on a stainless steel screen in the smoker. Then smoke for whatever time frame is desired. From my reading, smoked grains also require additional aging to allow the flavors to blend well. The recipe indicates 6-8 weeks. I allow most brews to age for 4 weeks before sampling. This one will be be ready in early summer. I am a bit wary of the end result. The brew could be a complete dud. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

Beyond picking the brew, Danny will be the pit master for the day. He’s ‘cueing up ribs with a ginger/pineapple glaze. Should be tasty. The rest of the crew will be on tap for some sides.

Should be a great time.

New Stuff from Barrel Rider Games

Archer from Barrel Rider Games

You don’t have to mix it up in melee to be deadly! With the Archer you’ll defeat your foes before they ever have a chance to raise their axe! This 20 level class for Labyrinth Lord (and other old-school fantasy role-playing games) will bring new dimension to your game!

Halflings – Tales from the Fireside from Barrel Rider Games

Halflings are often regarded as lazy, boring busybodies by the rest of the world. But inside those bodies beats a heart of fire! In Halflings: Tales from the Fireside you’ll get a look inside halfling culture and society as well as learning new options for your halfling character. While this supplement is specifically designed for use with the Labyrinth Lord role-playing game, it can easily be adapted to any old-school fantasy game with minimal effort!

Half-Elf from Barrel Rider Games

Just because you’re a half-elf doesn’t mean you have to get the short end of the stick! With Half-Elf you’ll get a 15-level class for Labyrinth Lord and other old-school fantasy role-playing games! A touch of charm, a bit of wit, and a sword are all you need when you’re a half-elf!

Archer from Barrel Rider Games

You don’t have to mix it up in melee to be deadly! With the Archer you’ll defeat your foes before they ever have a chance to raise their axe! This 20 level class for Labyrinth Lord (and other old-school fantasy role-playing games) will bring new dimension to your game!

A little Labyrinth Lord plus a bit of Middle Earth = Hangout Game

Fun stuff. G+ Hangouts work just fine for gaming. Especially if you aren’t worried about specific behavior. I joined the game just because it fit my schedule for the night but will be returning.

I even had the general set of technical difficulties. Race around, swap machines, then fire it up again. I forgot dice in the madness so used my dice roller widget, which was no issue with the DM.

Fun. Tired. Nap time. More later.

RUIN – 8 minutes of Post Apocalyptic Goodness

I could see playing or running a game in a similar setting…

RUIN from OddBall Animation on Vimeo.

Motorcycles, post-apocalypse, and the constant process for survival. What’s not to love?

Zombification on the Cheap

Google+ has a great number of RPG folk on it. In turn, those cool people know more cool people. That’s how I stumbled onto Bryon Rempel and his 1000 Zombies project. Byron is offering to convert pretty much anything into a zombie for a $10 donation.

Byron is drawing each and every one of the 1000 zombies. Getting yourself transformed is quite simple… Here’s the process in his own words from his latest interview.

BR: There are not very many steps to getting zombified. Step 1 – the funding… a minimum donation of $10 lets you get someone or something zombified, either yourself, your pet, your family, coworker or boss, or anyone else you want to see join the walking dead. The donation can be made via PayPal (idrawzombies@hotmail.com) or you can contact me to get my mailing address and mail out a money order.

2nd step – send me a picture of the future victim, and let me know if I should go all out or keep the gore to a minimum. You can even suggest colours or backgrounds. I might not follow all the suggestions, but it never hurts to have your input. This is a publicly funded and directed art project after all.

Step 3 – the waiting game… you’ll get your turn, but in order. So if you are number 543 in the list, you get your zombie when number 542 is finished.

You can find Byron on Google+ or at idrawzombies.com. Why are you still reading this? Get your zombie on. I have 3 people in Byron’s queue. When they hit completion, I’ll be sure to post up the results.