TNA No Surrender '09 Fantasy Booking

TNA Wrestling's PPV No Surrender occurs Sunday evening. Now, I haven't watched Impact in awhile. One, I don't have easy access to the show anymore. Two, TNA was one of the reasons I need to take a sabbatical from wrestling. By the time I would watch Impact I discovered that I would fast-forward through most of the show. Three, TNA strayed and continues to stray from the type of product that attracted me to it.

Since I haven't watched the product in awhile, I really can't provide any predictions. I will provide my own personal fantasy booking of this weekend's No Surrender PPV. This is merely the opinion of one wrestling fan.

Rhino vs Bobby Lashley: Rhino has given so much to the company that he deserves more than to just lose to Mr. MMA Bobby Lashley. How about have the match end as draw either by time out or double count out. That way Lashley technically doesn't lose and there can be rematch.

ODB vs Cody Deaner: Unlike the WWE's Women's division, I actually like and respect the Knockouts Division. That fact that guy is wrestling for the title makes the division look like a joke. ODB for the win.

Knockouts Tag Title Tournament: the roster's big enough for tag belts? No comment.

X-Division Championship Match: I like both Daniels and Samoa Joe. In my opinion TNA hasn't done the best for Samoa Joe. They also haven't done the greatest by Daniels either. I'd say Daniels. That way there can be a Joe vs Daniels II.

TNA Lethal Lockdown: I'm all for pushing new talent. British Invasion all the way.

Abyss vs Kevin Nash for Legends Title: Oh yeah, a bounty too. Let's see if I'm dissatisfied with how TNA has handled Samoa Joe, I am very unhappy with how they have treated Abyss. Give the Legends title to Abyss via pinfall. TNA really needs to start push its own talent.

Hernandez vs Eric Young: Eric Young is the leader of a heel stable. Hernandez is a potential top guy. Have Eric Young win here. Hernandez can get revenge later.

Heavyweight Championship four way match: By now, I hope I given the impression that I think TNA needs to start building its own stars. Either Styles or Morgan. Styles deserves the belt; however, Morgan would be the biggest surprise. That surprise could pay dividends.

Longbox Digital Comics

This post over at Flashback Universe reminded about Longbox Digital Comics. Longbox is as the name suggests going to be platform for the distribution of digital comics. Even though I am somwhat of traditionalist when it comes to comics, prefer the floppies and trades, digital comics become more attractive as the months go by. One, I don't have to worry about storage as much as I do now. Two, I can trim my physical copy purchases. Three, I can sample more comics in their entirety without hassle. Last, I have read more comics and comics pages online than physically the last couple months.

As that blog posts asks about wish lists, here are mine.

1) Big publishers as well as smaller publishers. There's nothing wrong with smaller publisher but there's already OBS and Wowio for that.

2) The option to either download or read online.

3) Some measure of interactivy.

4) Cheaper prices than what the print edition costs. Honestly, if I like the work enough I just may buy the physical copy. If it costs the same, I won't.

5) Timeliness. I am all for supporting the shops. However, I don't want to wait at least six months in order to read the comic.

Serenity Today - Changing my Approach

Been about a month since I last updated my blog, merely because I have been spending more time on Facebook rather than updating my blog. Since today is the next Serenity session, I figured I'd comment on some changes I am making. I have learned much on how I should run the game after having ran one module. Here are some changes I am making to my approach.

Pacing for one Act per session
One of the things I am grateful for is that the players have a tendency to cover a lot of ground per session. When it comes to the published Serenity modules they have averaged one or two, sometimes three even, acts every session. So speed isn't a problem. Well, it isn't so much a problem except when it comes to prepping. Unlike the first module, I read the entirety of the second module before running it. Problem is I still felt stilted while running the first act. Why? Because I hadn't given enough preparation and thought to the first act. In many ways that was the same with the first module. So far I hadn't been able to give proper attention to what I running for every session. My solution is to borrow an approach used by a WOTC staffer. I am only going to plan for one segment each session. Once the players reach the end of that prepared segment, the session will be over for the most part. For the current module, that means one act per session. Which happens to work out rather nicely as the module has three acts and an epilogue.

Not running a game of Vampire the Masquerade
Sigh. Everything was going well among the players until this last session. A player that missed the previous module but character was still present did something questionable. Several players were upset about it. Furthermore, I didn't know the player had done that until it the player revealed it in dialogue. To compound matters another player was passing secret notes. I am not running a game of inter-party intrigue ala Vampire the Masquerade. As Jayne's betrayal was hinted at on camera so shall it be with this game. No secret notes. No surprise actions that happened without GM notification. Everything that happens will occur 'on camera'.

If you are not there, your character isn't
I felt that by keeping the non-present PC's with those actually playing would help foster an in-game connection. Last session, I learned that all depends on the player. No more.

The need for a rules helper
Honestly, I haven't been able to devote as much time to both prepping the module and learning the rules as I would like. Today, I plan to appoint one or two rules helpers. On a related note, the assignment idea never happened as I either forgot to assign or no on volunteered.

That's about it for now.