After a few speedbumps we were finally able to get together with Jared Sorensen to discuss our experiences with FreeMarket. The original plan was to interview both Jared and Luke, but sadly  due to some technical difficulties Luke could not join us. Things ended up working out really well, though, as CJ and Kevin got a chance to dig pretty deep into some of their concerns and questions about FreeMarket.

Relevant Links

• FreeMarket
• Our FreeMarket Review
• Jared Sorensen
• Luke Crane
• Burning Empires
• Mutants and Masterminds
• System Matters
• Robert A. Heinlein
• Game Design is Mind Control GenCon Panel
• Beta Software / Feature Complete
• Peter Adkison
• Ron Edwards
• CHOIRS Project
• Rob Bohl
• Wikis
• Jason Morningstar
• Blade Runner
• The Coen Brothers
• Joshua Bell
• Existentialism
• Boing Boing
• Osprey VTOL
• Inside the Donut GenCon Panel
• Jared’s Events
• Inspectres Movie
• Parsley

Crunchy Bits!

• Intro Music “Inner Universe” from the Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST
• Outro Music “More Human Than Human (Meet Bambi in the King’s Harem Mix)” by White Zombie

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Turns out we had a lot to say about Jared Sorensen and Luke Crane’s FreeMarket. This is our longest review yet, clocking in at a full 90 minutes.  This game was certainly a challenge for us, and we spend quite a bit of time breaking down our impressions and problems we had with the game. We’re all looking forward to our interview with Luke and Jared coming up next week!

Relevant Links

Crunchy Bits!

• Intro Music “Inner Universe” from the Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST
• Outro Music “Rocket Man” by Elton John, performed by Jon Langford and the One Day Band

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Our time on the Cassini-Huygens Orbital Intrasystem Relay Station comes to a close. We wrap up our contract with People’s Energy Corporation, discover some interesting tidbits about Syntax_Error’s family. Derek Blaze re-establishes his reputation in a rather unorthodox way, and Muse gets creeped out.  To cap things off, we demonstrate a Tier Challenge, and put The Report up for review by the whole station.

Relevant Links

• Active Camouflage
• Carrie Anne Moss
• Karen from HomeWorld
• ePeen
• Legion
• Toner Wars – Diamond Age
• The Old Ones
• Shoggoth
• Biomechanical
• H.R. Geiger

Crunchy Bits!

• Intro Music “Inner Universe” from the Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST
• Outro Music “Better” by Jonathan Coulton.

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We continue our adventures on FreeMarket Station after a one-week hiatus. Due to a pretty big flub on Kevin’s part, the previous session was not fit to air. We discuss a bit of what happened in that session, how that mistake affected play, and some of our thoughts on the card system of FreeMarket. This session is a bit short due to some technical difficulties, so we didn’t break it up into smaller chunks. Also, at one point Brandon makes references to some “notes” in our book. Luke and Jared sent us their proofread copy of the rules, which includes marginalia and design notes that will need to be implemented in the final text. So when Brandon brings up a rules clarification on upgrading and repairing tech, he’s referring to those notes in case you get confused.  Despite the technical hiccups, we had a lot of fun this session. We’ve got a pretty strong grasp of the challenge system, and look forward to our final session next week!

Relevant notes

• ARG
• Tomacco
• Zemeckis
• Tits or GTFO
• WoW Auction House
• William Gibson
• There Will Be Brawl
• Super Smash Brothers
• There Will Be Blood
• Kirby
• Hannibal Lecter
• Portal
• Open-Source Software
• Kindle
• Bot-voting
• Malware
• Low-Frequency Fear Effects
• “Head in the Jar” people

Crunchy Bits!

• Intro Music “Inner Universe” from the Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST
• Outro Music “Can’t You Trip Like I Do?” by Filter and The Crystal Method

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Session two kicks off with a Thin Slicing challenge to rid the group’s MRCZ area of an annoying rock band, and from there CJ, Dan, and Brandon launch into a negotiation with a local MRCZ to test out some new technology for them.  We spend some time getting used to the nuances of the challenge system, and set things up nicely for some exciting challenges next session. Stay tuned!

Relevant Links

• RPG Podcast Poll Please take it!
• Project Donut Homepage
• Luke Crane
• Jared Sorensen
• The Walking Eye Comics
• Hal Jordan
• Mad Men
• Hong Kong
• Welch Ave Station
• Ronald D. Moore
• The 5th Element
• Lexx
• Japanese Capsule Hotels
• Biting the head off a bat
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• The Independent Insurgency
• Malcom Gladwell/ Blink
• Marilyn-Manson.net
• Twiggy Ramirez
• Mashup
• DRM
• Peter Steele/Type O Negative
• Lemmy420
• Putting things you like (Such as Elder Scrolls: Oblivion) in your pants
• Edward James Olmos – The Adama Glare
• The Segway GOB Bluth
• The Gambler’s Fallacy
• Valve and Bungie Stats

Crunchy Bits!

• FreeMarket Actual Play Session 1 Part A 59 Minutes
• FreeMarket Actual Play Session 1 Part B  52 Minutes
• Intro Music “Inner Universe” from the Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST
• Outro Music “Still Alive” by Jonathan Coulton.

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Transhumanism has been an interest of mine for quite some time, so I was pretty excited to get a chance to run through Luke Crane and Jared Sorenson’s FreeMarket. This session covers a the basic themes and focus of the game, and character creation.

Relevant Links

• FreeMarket Home Page
• Rapture – Bioshock
• LaGrange Point
• Clade
• MCP
• Friend Computer
• Ad Hocracy
• Alvin Toffler
• Diamond Age
• Cosplay
• Adopt a Highway
• Stephen Colbert
• Anonymous
• Cyberdeck
• All Your Base Are Belong To Us
• Singularity
• Furries
• Malcom Gladwell – Blink
• Mt. Dew WhiteOut
• Kusanagi
• Mera
• Lebowski
• Draper
• Hal Jordan
• Rutger Hauer
• Gesture Clusters
• Kinesics
• ARG’s
• Cybermen
• Improv Everywhere
• HAL
• DARPA
• Sneakers
• The Wolf
• Voight-Kampff
• Panther Moderns – Neuromancer

Crunchy Bits!

• Intro Music “Inner Universe” from the Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST
• Outro Music “Future Soon” by Jonathan Coulton.

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