More gaming convention technology notes

The UK Games Expo is yet another gaming con that has gone to a free online event this year. Of particular note is their virtual dealers' room. The custom software to power it is still being built, but you can see what capabilities they're looking at on this page. It's simple enough to include a link to a company's online store, but they're trying to replace the other functions of a dealers' room table too, like being able to walk up and ask questions or play a demo.

Gen Con Online has a freeform field for the platform you're using on its event submission form, but it has begun to gently herd people toward a subset of online gaming and conference platforms with this list. New to me: D20PRO (RPGs) and GoBrunch (teleconferencing). The con itself will be running all its "main hall" events on Twitch and will be spinning up a Discord server for at-con communications and unstructured hanging out.

121 days to go

Dinner on the Fourth of July was bison burgers, hot dogs, and patriotic cupcakes. Social distancing recommendations did not stop the local fireworks show from going ahead.

Oregon is seeing more cases than ever, and yet is doing better than most of the US. We're still more at the "wear a damn mask" level than "returning to lockdown might be a good idea". And the word about masks has finally gotten out: on this week's grocery run, every single person I saw had a mask, and almost everyone was wearing them correctly.

The weather has been mild and pleasant, and looks to continue like that for the next week. I wish I had an excuse to be out and about.