Reader Question Day #31 – Google Play and galactic conquest
JR asks:
I am hoping that you are considering also offering your books in the Google Play store.
I’d given it some thought, but hadn’t decided on anything just yet. The tricky part about Google Play for ebooks is that Google (or whatever algorithm powers the Google Play store) will randomly cut the price of a book. That means all the other sites – Amazon, B&N, and so forth – will then cut the price themselves. And since Amazon charges a low delivery cost based on the size of a book – I believe it is about $0.10 a megabyte – you could find yourself making zero money on a particular book.
That said, I might put my free books in the Google Play store, since they’re already free, and I would prefer that they remain free.
Martel asks:
You post about computer games sometimes. Are you playing anything now?
Not really. At the moment, I am focused on getting the rough draft of SOUL OF SORCERY done, so there hasn’t been much time for gameplay. But when I have a spare moment, I’ll sneak in a few rounds of Master of Orion II on my netbook. Master of Orion II is an excellent strategy game of galactic conquest, and it came out, if I remember correctly, in 1995. So my netbook has more than enough power to handle it. (You can get Master of Orion 1+2 for $9.99, with the soundtrack, here at GOG.com.)
Were there any games that stick in your head? That were influential to you?
Oh, man! Were there ever! Recently someone asked me to list five movies that I would bring with me to a deserted island, and I came up with only two – THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (though I suppose that would technically be four).
But ask me to choose a computer game to take with me to a desert island, and the list would go on and on – Quest for Glory IV, King’s Quest II, III, V, and VI, Master of Orion 1+2, Master of Magic, Lords of Magic, Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II, Throne of Bhaal, Morrowind, Oblivion, Wing Commander, Dragon Age, Planescape: Torment…
Clearly, computer games have had more of an impact on me than movies. I think this is going to have to be it own post. 🙂
-JM
Haha, same here. I’d have more movies than that, but indeed the games would far out number them! Though it would be hard to play them on a desert island…
A few comments:
-Only one Star Wars movie? If you don’t care for the whole saga, why not at least take the entire original trilogy with you?
-I like many of the games you listed (though I never played some of the older ones), but I see you did not list Skyrim amongst them??!?! I take it you did not play it yet, but after you have, I guarantee it will be on that list! I’m still waiting on Bethesda to finally release that new DLC for the PC, O what infernal devils tempted them to make it an Xbox exclusive first? Grr…
So as of late I’ve been playing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, very good game. It’s not true open world like the Elder Scrolls series, but it’s still pretty big…and did I mention it’s awesome? The story is pretty good too.
I haven’t had much time for gaming – the occasional snatches of Master of Orion before I go to bed, lately.
I heard good things about Amalur. A pity the company imploded so spectacularly.
“A pity the company imploded so spectacularly.”
Yeah. I literally just found out about that last week, not sure how I missed it, that was big news. A whole company collapses, over 400 out of work, and the state of Rhode Island indebt (not to mention that now the taxpayers have to pay an extra $12 million a year until 2020 to pay it off…), spectacular is about the right word. What a shame, I feel bad for all those people. One wishes Schilling and the Gov of Rhode Island would have handled things differently.
And what a shame for the IP! It was very promising (as was the company that made it), they were going to do so much with it too. And Reckoning was an awesome game, and this collapse cut short any more DLCs or expansions they were going to release for it. Even the mmo looked pretty cool. There is always hope that someone will buy the IP, so much work went into it (10, 000 years of history says R.A. Salvatore), it’d be a shame if no one picked it up.