J. Walton
@ludopolitics.bsky.social
He/they. I teach about Game Design, Technoscience, & East Asia at CMU. Belatedly joining this thing to keep up with my creative & academic communities (comments my own).
Pinned
J. Walton
@ludopolitics.bsky.social
· Feb 23
Hi folks. Not sure if I'm going to post a bunch here -- I'm trying to get back into blogging, actually -- but I want a way to keep track of what y'all are up to, particular in terms of indie games and games scholarship. Nice to see your digital faces again.
They even did one better and are also releasing a resonator-style electric banjo, with both piezo + magnetic pickups that have a dedicated mix knob. So if a solid-body banjo doesn't have enough echo/twang for you, there's this one. So cool. eastwoodguitars.com/products/eas...
Eastwood Banjotar DLX Resophonic Electric Banjo Guitar
The Banjotar DLX feels like a banjo with its five strings, familiar tuning, and that quick, snappy playability, but the resonator and electrified voice give it a personality all its own. It shimmers, ...
eastwoodguitars.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:10 AM
They even did one better and are also releasing a resonator-style electric banjo, with both piezo + magnetic pickups that have a dedicated mix knob. So if a solid-body banjo doesn't have enough echo/twang for you, there's this one. So cool. eastwoodguitars.com/products/eas...
Eastwood Guitars loves designing modern takes on classic unusual instruments, so I emailed them a while back to suggest a new version of the Japanese 1960s Winston/Kawai electric banjo. Just now, this model popped up for pre-order. Unreal. eastwoodguitars.com/products/eas...
Eastwood Banjotar Electric Banjo Guitar
In the early 1960s, a small Japanese brand called Winston (built by Kawai) quietly released a banjo-guitar that most of you have probably never heard of. Some people noticed the 6-string version, but ...
eastwoodguitars.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:06 AM
Eastwood Guitars loves designing modern takes on classic unusual instruments, so I emailed them a while back to suggest a new version of the Japanese 1960s Winston/Kawai electric banjo. Just now, this model popped up for pre-order. Unreal. eastwoodguitars.com/products/eas...
DHS was created with an intentionally Orwellian name, amid the Islamophobic and xenophobic environment of the early War On Terror moral panic and its associated right-wing suspension of even the most basic human rights for everyone. Abolish the whole department.
January 28, 2026 at 6:35 PM
DHS was created with an intentionally Orwellian name, amid the Islamophobic and xenophobic environment of the early War On Terror moral panic and its associated right-wing suspension of even the most basic human rights for everyone. Abolish the whole department.
Wow, just think about what they must be comparing it too?
January 28, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Wow, just think about what they must be comparing it too?
Reposted by J. Walton
Education is a public good for all.
When politicians censor classroom teaching in order to narrow the field of topics that students can engage in, they rob them of a stellar world class education.
This is what is happening at Texas A&M & other institutions in the state.
🧵
When politicians censor classroom teaching in order to narrow the field of topics that students can engage in, they rob them of a stellar world class education.
This is what is happening at Texas A&M & other institutions in the state.
🧵
January 28, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Education is a public good for all.
When politicians censor classroom teaching in order to narrow the field of topics that students can engage in, they rob them of a stellar world class education.
This is what is happening at Texas A&M & other institutions in the state.
🧵
When politicians censor classroom teaching in order to narrow the field of topics that students can engage in, they rob them of a stellar world class education.
This is what is happening at Texas A&M & other institutions in the state.
🧵
The biggest tragedy of Nazz is that their record company, in the midst of screwing them over by putting out the third album without their support, didn't name it "Nazz Nazz Nazz."
January 26, 2026 at 5:49 AM
The biggest tragedy of Nazz is that their record company, in the midst of screwing them over by putting out the third album without their support, didn't name it "Nazz Nazz Nazz."
Sounds great. Also, that visual design sample is terrific.
January 26, 2026 at 5:48 AM
Sounds great. Also, that visual design sample is terrific.
Especially when Mage's system is about how reality works?
January 26, 2026 at 5:44 AM
Especially when Mage's system is about how reality works?
I know it's called Council of Elrond but I feel like that chapter is 75% Gandalf talking about cool stuff he did by himself that nobody else heard about until now.
January 26, 2026 at 5:43 AM
I know it's called Council of Elrond but I feel like that chapter is 75% Gandalf talking about cool stuff he did by himself that nobody else heard about until now.
Also, like: I probably know whoever donated these to the used bookstore? The scene isn't that big, and who owns the POD version of Montsegur AND Nexus. That's gotta be like 5 people.
January 25, 2026 at 5:50 PM
Also, like: I probably know whoever donated these to the used bookstore? The scene isn't that big, and who owns the POD version of Montsegur AND Nexus. That's gotta be like 5 people.
We should definitely grab a coffee, just so I have a sense of where you are with things now, generally speaking. Also, my favorite Todd B-side is... "Under the Ice" from Nazz Nazz? Or if that doesn't count, I'll take the Sufi-inspired doo-wop track "Hodja" from A Capella.
January 25, 2026 at 5:47 PM
We should definitely grab a coffee, just so I have a sense of where you are with things now, generally speaking. Also, my favorite Todd B-side is... "Under the Ice" from Nazz Nazz? Or if that doesn't count, I'll take the Sufi-inspired doo-wop track "Hodja" from A Capella.
I know, right? Come on, Half Price Books! But at least it's going to the Library.
January 25, 2026 at 5:34 PM
I know, right? Come on, Half Price Books! But at least it's going to the Library.
Nexus was published in 1994 and is "For 44 players [!!!], 5 Game Masters [!!!], and One Great Weekend."
January 24, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Nexus was published in 1994 and is "For 44 players [!!!], 5 Game Masters [!!!], and One Great Weekend."
Pretty great pre-winter-storm haul at the used bookstore. Already own @jmstar.bsky.social's Durance & multiple editions of Montsegur 1244, so those will go to my university library's new indie games collection. But check out that old Chaosium larp book co-written by our Forge colleague Walt Freitag!
January 24, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Pretty great pre-winter-storm haul at the used bookstore. Already own @jmstar.bsky.social's Durance & multiple editions of Montsegur 1244, so those will go to my university library's new indie games collection. But check out that old Chaosium larp book co-written by our Forge colleague Walt Freitag!
Reposted by J. Walton
it sucks that to stay solvent in any kind of self-employed creative field rn you have to maintain constant cognitive dissonance - everything is objectively Very Bad but also gotta find and speak to an audience (who also knows that everything is Very Bad) and… it’s a lot!
April 8, 2025 at 2:05 AM
it sucks that to stay solvent in any kind of self-employed creative field rn you have to maintain constant cognitive dissonance - everything is objectively Very Bad but also gotta find and speak to an audience (who also knows that everything is Very Bad) and… it’s a lot!
Honestly, it makes me want to write up a hack explicitly designed for live classroom / crowd play, sorta like what you and Meg have done with live play of Murderous Ghosts.
January 24, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Honestly, it makes me want to write up a hack explicitly designed for live classroom / crowd play, sorta like what you and Meg have done with live play of Murderous Ghosts.
We collaboratively answered all the char gen + sitch gen questions together too, which I think helped with getting them invested in the situation.
January 24, 2026 at 5:45 PM
We collaboratively answered all the char gen + sitch gen questions together too, which I think helped with getting them invested in the situation.
Reposted by J. Walton
At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.
January 24, 2026 at 4:45 PM
At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.
They were really excited to have my pilgrim (mentally) attacked by the eyeless singing hyenas -- and their inhuman mind-corrupting ululations -- in a wasteland made of dried bones.
January 23, 2026 at 9:06 PM
They were really excited to have my pilgrim (mentally) attacked by the eyeless singing hyenas -- and their inhuman mind-corrupting ululations -- in a wasteland made of dried bones.
Thanks! Doomed Pilgrim went great, though we hacked it a little bit (live!) to make it work in the classroom rather than on social media. For every question, I had a few students suggest possibilities, and then they each rolled a die, with the lowest result (closest to 1) being the first posted.
January 23, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Thanks! Doomed Pilgrim went great, though we hacked it a little bit (live!) to make it work in the classroom rather than on social media. For every question, I had a few students suggest possibilities, and then they each rolled a die, with the lowest result (closest to 1) being the first posted.
We're playing @megueyb.bsky.social @lumpley.bsky.social 's Doomed Pilgrim + Firebrands excerpts + @johnharper.bsky.social 's Lasers & Feelings + Pocket Danger Patrol in my "Indie RPG Studio" class today. Wish me luck as I weird out some college students with micro-scale mini-games.
January 23, 2026 at 2:18 PM
We're playing @megueyb.bsky.social @lumpley.bsky.social 's Doomed Pilgrim + Firebrands excerpts + @johnharper.bsky.social 's Lasers & Feelings + Pocket Danger Patrol in my "Indie RPG Studio" class today. Wish me luck as I weird out some college students with micro-scale mini-games.
Did not have Oregon Trail Optimus Prime on my bingo card.
January 22, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Did not have Oregon Trail Optimus Prime on my bingo card.
Especially regarding indie games.
January 22, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Especially regarding indie games.
Yellow River Valley. So fewer minotaurs, sadly, though the bones are ox scapulae and turtle stomach shell (flat). They do talk about hunting rhinos using chariots, though, which sounds extremely dangerous.
January 22, 2026 at 9:07 PM
Yellow River Valley. So fewer minotaurs, sadly, though the bones are ox scapulae and turtle stomach shell (flat). They do talk about hunting rhinos using chariots, though, which sounds extremely dangerous.
But, you know, I could also make one that you would play!
January 22, 2026 at 7:12 PM
But, you know, I could also make one that you would play!