The MapTool Gang of 3 decided to add a new member to their group: The Bard. They placed the following
advertisement on the RPTools.net forum.
We have an immediate need for an individual with strong enthusiasm for MapTool (and RPTools in general) who is willing to join the project team as our Director of Public Interfacing (herein referred to as "The Bard"). The job will entail periodic discussions with the developers regarding the future of MapTool and acting as the team's public persona. The former will include input on such things as usability, opinions on graphics layout, ideas for features, and so forth. The latter involves interacting with users to provide a positive first experience for them. This includes, but is not limited to, demo sessions showing off the basic features of MapTool (such as VBL, drawables, and basic token manipulation), gently promoting the use of MapTool on other forums (ENworld, Paizo, DDI, and so forth), and other public relations functions as may be deemed useful by either The Bard or the team as a whole.
Since this blog has a tradition of spreading the word for MapTool, I applied. I am proud to announce I was selected as The Bard.
What does this mean to you, the Savage Troll reader?
It generally means this blog will become a bit more MapTool centric and less Savage Worlds centric. We'll be spreading our wings to other game systems to show how they can use MapTool to bring their by-gone friends back together and speed their gaming via MapTool automation.
It might also go the opposite direction with new MapTool content posted on some, yet-to-be-created space that specializes in MapTool content. Were that the case then this blog would become more about game reviews and interviews and less about mapping and MapTool. I'm just not sure yet.
Regardless of which direction this blog goes, my new job means that you, the reader, have more input on the direction of MapTool. Since I now sit at the design table, I'll have an opportunity to voice your concerns and ideas to programmers of MapTool.
What does it mean to me, The Savage Troll?
Well, for one thing it means a new name on many of the forums I frequent. Thanks to an elven smear campaign picked up by a willing media, trolling isn't consider a good thing. Please leave a comment if you think of a better pseudonym for me. It also means I'll be running a lot more demo games. Please let me know if you have any interest seeing MapTool in action. It's a fast, flexible tool that handles any RPG that uses maps and dice.
What's next?
I'll be forming the MapTool Bard's guild. I need folks active on gaming forums, GMs, graphic artists, bloggers, and active social media folks to become MapTool Bards to help spread the word and bring feedback to the RPTools staff. Send an email to bard at rptools.net or leave a comment if you're interested in helping. This is a big job and I'm going to need a lot of help.
Here's to keeping it virtual.
Regards,
Keith Athey aka The Savage Troll
