Back again, folks — as I said, I’ll be dropping by weekly, to keep you apprised on developments.
This week, I’ve been buried under a pile of papers (and digital files), putting things in order, with an eye towards not just “make it so that Eric can lay it out with a minimum of frustration on his part” but also “make it so that the document can also be shown to non-graphic-designers and still make sense/be useful”, since I’ll be sending the rules portion along to those of you who said you wanted an advance look at the new design later this month.
So that’s what’s been up this week — but I also wanted to take the time and thank everyone who commented after last week’s long-overdue update, here and via email & social media. It wasn’t an easy update to make (as I mentioned, my stupid brain chemistry turned it into this big anxiety-riddled thing I was avoiding), and the encouragement and enthusiasm that you folks shared with me was absolutely amazing. I’ve been running on that buzz for the past week!
Lastly, on a genre-related angle that some of you might be interested in — one of your fellow backers recommended DRAMAFEVER to me. It’s a streaming service that shows various Asian drama series and movies. There’s a paid premium option, but the main service is free (ad-supported), and they’ve got apps for Roku and other media players (or you can watch via the website). It’s pretty much the best legitimate source for recent Chinese TV, including wuxia/xianxia shows (FYI: the difference — wuxia = quasi-historical, xianxia = more overtly fantasy).
Here are the trailers for two series which I put on my watch list (I’ve managed to see a couple episodes of each so far). They should serve as excellent inspiration for FAR WEST campaigns!
Flame’s Daughter is a wuxia romance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK9AVT0bsLM
…whereas Tribes & Empires: Storm of Prophecy is a Game-of-Thrones-esque xianxia drama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tshPW5cABho
Anyway — I hope that some of you find those interesting. I’ll be posting a review of the shows, in the “Inspirography” section of the FAR WEST website, once I’ve finished watching them.
No time to watch right now, though — back to work!
I’ll talk to you next week.
Gareth-Michael Skarka
Lawrence, Kansas
May 10th, 2018.