Journals of Doc Surge

Feb 01

The Long Race of Customer Retention

February 01, 2015 by Chris Billows in Trade 0 comments tags: Boot-Strapping, Business Development, Personal Resolve

Dear friends, My company Promaginy is a few months away from alpha launching our premier game website, Heropath. We are putting the finishing touches on the site’s functionality and still need to do some serious testing. I am really excited about what the site is going to offer RPG fans. I have been in the market long enough and have learned from others that considering the launch of any website or advanced game is more equivalent to a marathon than a sprint. Gone are my fantasy wishes for a home run, instead I am going to focus solely on how to retain the users we attract and to convert and then retain them as customers. I am confident that attracting users will not be our main challenge. The business model of Heropath will have built in virality, since the essential purpose of the site is to share what is created on Heropath. Our challenge will be how to make the user interface so intuitive and responsive that the user experience of building a web-based role playing game is a delight. This will take testing and iteration. Its a process of polishing and refining. Its tedious and requires intensive awareness. Interestingly […]

Jan 25

Welcome to Gamestories

January 25, 2015 by Chris Billows in Think (Games) 0 comments tags: Introduction

Here is my first blog post on Gamestories, a website devoted to Game Design. Gamestories is a new general game theory written by Chris Billows. Gamestories recognizes that games may not share mechanics or themes, but they all share the need to tap the player’s senses. Games are different from cinema, literature, music, and other forms of entertainment & art because the senses they trigger are more extensive and they invite the practice of transformation. Instead of focusing on whether a game is fun, art, interactive, or challenging, Gamestories says that games are important because at their best they invite players to bring all of their senses to the medium. A player’s senses are triggered through the game’s events, become remembered, and then later shared with other players. The greatest meaning of a game is not that it tells the player a story, but that the player tells a story to others about the game. Player plays Game > Player transforms Game Events > Events resonates with Player > Player tells Stories about Game Gamestories can be summarized thus: “A game succeeds as a game when it taps the player’s full range of senses, triggering integration of game events, and […]

Jan 22

How Discourse Needs a Course of Action

January 22, 2015 by Chris Billows in Trade (Blogging) 0 comments tags: Blogging, Introduction, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse

Dear Chris Bateman, I am replying further to your reply, The Virtue of Discourse: A Clarification Thank you for informing me that the Republic of Bloggers is not a concept that you personally founded. While I do not intend to embarrass you with an undeserved title, I do believe that any good idea needs its champions and it appears I projected this onto you. Not only do good ideas need champions, they also need a good story. Perhaps this is what is missing from the Republic of Bloggers? While the Republic itself may be a valuable concept, it is only made meaningful when it becomes something we can relate to, which is best done through the form of a story. Given your extensive experience in game design, narrative, and authorship, I think that you are uniquely qualified to help author the story of the Republic of Bloggers. Yet, this does not need to be a restrictive, one-way narrative. Perhaps some of us could engage in a roleplaying game that recreates the virtual founding and beginnings of the Republic. Not only would this serve to create a imaginary and fictional history for the Republic, I anticipate it would be a source […]

Jan 15

Rooting for a Republic of Bloggers

January 15, 2015 by Chris Billows in Trade (Blogging) 0 comments tags: Blogging, Introduction, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse

Dear Chris Bateman, I am reaching out to you about your post “A Republic of Bloggers“, which I found to be a refreshing take on a medium that has become far too associated with content marketing and search engine optimization. I am putting forward my intention to join you in your venture. What I found so appealing in your concept is the invitation to engage in a exchange of ideas, thoughts, and perspectives in a format that requires a greater effort and thus the possibility of greater reward. To exchange letters via our blogs is to engage in a practice that is becoming less and less attractive in a time where people prefer to be entertained by the latest tweet or feed. But we do not need to be popular to be meaningful, and perhaps it shall become the mantle for the Republic to do that which need not be popular. It only takes two to have a conversation, so perhaps with enough examples from a few of us, we can gather others to our Republic to expand our company. So I would like to engage with you to discuss some parameters for such an experiment. You mention that the […]

Jan 14

Trapped in the Social Media Realm

January 14, 2015 by Chris Billows in Trade (Blogging) 0 comments tags: Blogging, Introduction, Personal Resolve

So I have been very remiss to update my Doc Surge blog for the past year mostly because of Twitter. I have been engaging in discussions and the odd argument with others. I have found this both invigorating and discouraging. There is some really excellent people to follow and interact with, but there is also lots of anti-social behavior that is very off-putting. It has all been very distracting and while I will continue to use Twitter to be exposed to new ideas, I am going to go back to blogging and working on my websites and games. Twitter and other social media realms (they all have their own distinct culture) can be a wonderful method to connect with others. I also believe that it can used to help promote your business interests. But the fact is that it creates the illusion of working. You can social network but you still need to work on your own stuff. Which is why I am going to shift back to blogging on my various sites and start revving up for a soft launch of Promaginy’s latest offering – Heropath.

Jan 31

Winnipeg Jets Fighting Records 2011-13

January 31, 2014 by Chris Billows in Think (Hockey) 0 comments tags: Hockey Fights

Fighting is a part of hockey. At its worst it can be a hyped circus where mercanaries on skates beat the snot out of each other. At its best it can be a energizing moment where the players and crowd experienced a heightened sense of us vs them. The reality is that fighting is a reaction to intimidation and intimidation has been a part of sports, and hockey in particular for decades. Wayne Gretzky who was rarely a fighter and the greatest ambassador of hockey called it right on TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YjHN1BDrbs&t=2m37s So this is why you see below you the collective fighting records of the Jets since their return to Winnipeg in 2011-12, courtesy of HockeyFights.com. Fighting is not appealing to everyone, but those who like it really like it. Rank Player Fight 2011-12 2012-13 Total Win% Main Page Totals W L D W L D 1 Chris Thorburn 20 6 4 1 3 4 2 52.50% 2 Mark Stuart 9 1 4 1 0 2 1 22.22% 3 Tanner Glass 7 1 6 0 – – – 14.29% 4 Andrew Ladd 4 2 0 0 0 2 0 50.00% 5 Evander Kane 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 […]

Jan 10

Winnipeg Jets & Farm Team Collective Performance 2011-2013

January 10, 2014 by Chris Billows in Think (Hockey) 0 comments tags: Jets Farm Team, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats

The professional hockey world shifted a bit when Atlanta Thrashers relocated to become the Winnipeg Jets. Not only did the NHL get affected, but so did the minor league affiliations which needed to be reestablished. Atlanta had affiliations with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and the Gwinnett Glaidiators of the ECHL. Those were ended in the summer of 2011 when Winnipeg established a new affiliation hierarchy by forming a new team in St. John’s and establishing an agreement with a new ECHL team, the Colorado Eagles. The purpose of this post is to track how the three teams have risen and fallen along side each other to see if there is any pattern. 2011-12 Regular Season Team G W L OTL P Win % GF GA Division Finish Season Change Colorado Eagles (ECHL) 72 38 28 6 82 52.78% 250 252 2nd, Mountain -7.83 pp * ↓ St-Johns IceCaps (AHL) 76 43 25 8 94 56.58% 240 216 1st, Atlantic — ** Winnipeg Jets (NHL) 82 37 35 10 84 45.12% 225 246 4th, Southeast +3.66 pp *** ↑ * same team from CHL, but considered to be an expansion franchise for the ECHL. For […]

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