La nouvelle plateforme URights s’appuie sur les solutions analytiques et cloud d’IBM pour mieux valoriser les droits des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today reported record online and mobile sales for Australia’s third Click Frenzy ahead of the Christmas shopping blitz. The results are based on Australian online shopping transactions analysed by IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark.

EnergyAustralia, the country’s largest electricity distribution network, today announced an agreement with IBM for the implementation of an energy network monitoring and control solution.

Duncan Trussell on Joe Rogan I’m trying to turn more people on to this Duncan dude! ???? Daily Photo – Male Lion in the Wild On our second day in Botswana, we were lucky enough to see this mature male lion. The previous time I was in Africa, I didn’t see a male lion for […]

What if, after Harry faces Voldemort in the Forest, he doesn't go to his mental construct of King's Cross Station? Rather he finds himself on the shore of the Black Lake in a host of Guardian Angels (one a little odd, another disturbingly familiar looking), and a tall, hooded black-robed figure. On a white horse. Named Binky...

Because I love a good story and groove on rich immersive themes, legacy games really appeal to me. The chance to be part of an unfolding narrative is wonderful. It provides a structure for friends to commit to an investment of their time together on a regular basis. It holds everyone's interest over time (when the story is well written and executed). Especially valuable for me is that it lessens the bitter taste of a loss; I get so interested in the plot that I don't care as much about winning. I'm trying to tamp down my competitiveness and narrative driven games help. Finally, I’m a huge fan of Inka and Markus Brand (we have a number of their games in our library already, including all of the Exit  games, Encore, and Raja of Ganges). For all of these reasons, I was really excited when Ravensburger sent me a copy of Inka and Markus’s newest legacy game, Rise of Queensdale, to review.

I actually received my review copy early in 2019, but our RoQ group consists of parents with busy schedules so we can only get together about once a month to play. We've made our way through 13 games so far, and with only 2 or 3 more to go before we finish the legacy series of games, I thought it was a good time to sit down and share my thoughts on the game (Especially in light of Christmas approaching).

Rise of Queensdale  is a legacy worker placement game set in Medieval times. Players take on the role of subjects to King Nepomuk II and Queen Margaret and are tasked with building a new city, Queensdale, on behalf of the royal family. Each player is given jurisdiction over one quarter of the city and is competing against the other players to build the best borough.

As the legacy series of games progresses, players continue to build different types of structures to earn favor with the royal family (fame points) in the midst of dealing with political drama, disease, and other Medieval happenings. Each game in the series sees players attempting to reach their next epoch goal (a target number of fame points). If they are successful, they will have a new, higher epoch goal during the subsequent game.  Note that multiple players can reach their epoch goals during the same game as gameplay continues through the end of the current round once one player reaches their goal. The winner of each game is the person who surpassed their epoch goal by the most points.

The artwork in the game is illustrated by Michael Menzel with graphic design provided by the Fiore GMBH studio in Germany. Michael is probably most familiar to the US based board game community as the illustrator for the Legends of Andor series of games. He brings the same fantasy style drawings he used in that game, with their romantic fonts and soft palettes of color to his work here and it’s lovely. There are a lot of components included in Rise of Queensdale   and Michael does a good job of tying them all to the theme as a cohesive set with the artwork.

Components include dozens of different types of wooden tokens (huts, meeples, player score markers, etc.); the city building board,  scoreboard (epoch tracker, fame counter, and more), action board, player boards, building tiles, and other pieces made out of cardboard; and wooden dice. Everything has held up wonderfully as the months and games have gone by. The rulebook is flipped through frequently and while it’s showing signs of wear, it’s still holding together, staples in place. The rulebook is straightforward and we haven’t had any issues understanding the nuances of the rules.

The narrative in Rise of Queensdale is well written.  It’s memorable and everything that happens makes sense in the framework of the fictional universe laid down by the designers. We’ve played a lot of narrative driven games (Pandemic Legacy, Betrayal Legacy, Middara, Aeon’s End Legacy, Legacy of Dragonholt, Charterstone,  and Seafall, just to name a few) and Rise of Queensdale ranks near the top for narrative driven games that do a good job of incorporating the game play into the storyline. Some legacy games feel more like a story was loosely slapped on top of the game mechanisms, but that isn’t the case here. At the same time, this isn’t an RPG with some board game elements thrown in. The mechanics of the board game have been adeptly planned and implemented; they’re challenging and provide a compelling experience. As the legacy series unfolds, more actions are added to the action board; no one gets complacent or bored because new options keep coming available. Our game group has agreed that there seems to be enough components and actions to allow for replayability as a standard board game even after we’ve reached the very end of our last game in the legacy series.

Rise of Queensdale is a great board game for bringing friends and family together. It’s competitive, so those who turn up their noses at cooperative games and like to win against others will find it enjoyable. Everyone is working toward their own epoch goal and multiple players can reach their goal during a game, so everyone can feel accomplished even when they don’t win. This also creates a brilliant built-in catch up mechanism as the player in last place has the nearest epoch goal to reach. The further a player gets ahead of others in the series of games, the farther their epoch goal becomes and the greater the chance that the players behind them will reach their goals before the leader does. In our games, no one has been able to run away with the scoreboard so far. That helps the game stay family friendly. The narrative turns the game into a shared adventure where everyone is an active participant. Better than going to a movie is feeling like you’re starring in one. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, because Rise of Queensdale  is a series of games,  right from the beginning, it fosters a commitment for players to spend time together on a regular basis. That’s the best gift to share with friends and family – our time – and anything like Rise of Queensdale that can make that happen is a wonderful Christmas present to place or find under the tree.

Strategy Tip: If the narrative provides a new shared goal, PAY ATTENTION and work toward it. There’s usually penalties for everyone if it doesn’t get done and rewards for the players who successfully complete it.

-------------------------------------------------
Publisher: Ravensburger
Players: 2-4 (We played with 4)
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): About 1 hour per game
Game type: narrative driven, legacy, dice rolling, worker placement
Rating:

Jenni’s rating scale:
OUI: I would play this game again; this game is ok. I probably would not buy this game myself but I would play it with those who own it and if someone gave it to me I would keep it.
OUI OUI: I would play this game again; this game is good. I would buy this game.
OUI OUI OUI: I LOVE THIS GAME. I MUST HAVE THIS GAME.
NON: I would not play this game again. I would return this game or give it away if it was given to me.

THE SHOP HAS RE-OPENED!

CHAPTER 3 IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME!

We also have new prints and Chp 2 back in stock, if you have been meaning to pick it up!

I FEEL LIKE SANTA~

I hope you all enjoy!

-Hamlet

I just wanted to add; we've got a bunch of new merchandise in production, but a lot of it isn't quite ready yet, so keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of months, because we'll be adding a bunch of new exciting items to our inventory!

*cough* body pillows *cough* *cough*

-Thisbe

Happy Valentine！

40代初のバレンタインです。
今年もチョコレート頂きました！
有り難うございます????

さらに今日は嬉しい連絡が二つありました。
二つともまだ言えないんですが

Sněmovna schválila návrh zákona o některých opatřeních ke zmírnění dopadů epidemie koronaviru. Jaké úlevy se dočkají dlužníci a jaké jsou podmínky pro zastavení exekuce, vysvětluje právník Adam Stawaritsch.

Sbírají jedno ocenění za druhým. Nejvíce si ale váží ocenění zákazníků. Své mošty a přesnídávky rodinná firma vyrábí v Bílých Karpatech, v místě, kde je příroda takřka nedotčená a čistá. Takové chtějí i své produkty.

A prospective buyer decides to spend his money on your product, probably after watching advertisements for it, and giving in to the salesmanship and perseverance ...

The post How to Get More Sales Through Repeat and Referral Business appeared first on Saleschase Stories.

Fishy Tale



View Comic!

1. Happy birthday Sai Pallavi: 4 times the actress redefined female superstar tag  Onmanorama
2. Birthday Special! Sai Pallavi is the epitome of elegance and grace in sarees. PHOTOS  Times of India
3. Happy Birthday Sai Pallavi: 5 Instagram Pictures Of The Actress You Can’t Miss  News18
4. Happy birthday Sai Pallavi: A powerhouse performer  Deccan Herald
5. Sai Pallavi birthday: Rana Daggubati, Naga Chaitanya and others send wishes  The Indian Express
6. View Full coverage on Google News

Valerie De Booser deelt uitdagende foto op Instagram vanuit haar kot  Het NieuwsbladHele verhaal bekijken via Google Nieuws

LIVE. De Wever over eventuele tweede piek: “Normale quarantaine is er een van zieken, niet van gezonde mensen”  Het Laatste Nieuws

Just a reminder that people in Canada and the US can buy an e-book of The Iron Dragon's Mother, the first book of my stand-alone fantasy trilogy for only $1.99 today. Tomorrow will be too late:

Here's the boilerplate:

ISBN13	Title	Author	Promo Type	Country	Start Date	End Date	Promo Price
9781504025669	The Iron Dragon's Daughter	Swanwick, Michael	ORM - Early Bird Books NL	US	2020-03-23	2020-03-23	$1.99
9781504025669	The Iron Dragon's Daughter	Swanwick, Michael	ORM - Early Bird Books NL	CA	2020-03-23	2020-03-23	$1.99

Open Road will promote the feature via social media. We hope you can share the deal with your network as well. You can subscribe to the newsletters at the links below so that you will get the direct link to the deal on the day that it appears.

Newsletter	Link
Early Bird Books	Subscribe Now
The Lineup	Subscribe Now
The Portalist	Subscribe Now
Murder & Mayhem	Subscribe Now
A Love So True	Subscribe Now
The Archive	Subscribe Now
The Reader	Subscribe Now

Open Road Media, my main e-book publisher, appears to be on a tear these days. Maybe because a lot of self-isolated people need books these days and aren't willing to wait for them to be delivered through the mails? I don't know and I haven't asked. I just pass along their promotions to you.

On Sunday, April 19th for one day only, my classic Grand Tour of the Solar System novel, Vacuum Flowers, will be on sale for $1.99 in Canada and the US.

Rebel Elizabeth Mudlark has a headful of stolen wetware, enemies that want her dead, and a Solar System full of colorful human and posthuman cultures that is far too small for her to hide in. She doesn't want to change everything. But she has no choice...

(Vacuum Flowers was written at the height of the Cyberpunk/Humanist wars and was meant to belong to neither camp. But I did throw in a short nod to each camp in the novel. Widely separated, of course.)

Here's their chart:

ISBN13	Title	Author	Promo Type	Country	Start Date	End Date	Promo Price
9781504036504	Vacuum Flowers	Swanwick, Michael	ORM - Portalist NL	US	2020-04-19	2020-04-19	$1.99
9781504036504	Vacuum Flowers	Swanwick, Michael	ORM - Portalist NL	CA	2020-04-19	2020-04-19	$1.99

Immediately after, on Monday, April 20th, my short story collection, ,Tales of Old Earth, goes on sale in the US and Canada for $2.99.

Tales of Old Earth contains nineteen of my best and strangest stories, including two Hugo Award winners and I forget how many also-rans. Featuring a planet-sized grasshopper, the train to Hell, an amorous sphinx, the last elves in the world, a civilization inside an International Harvester refrigerator, and much, much more!

Here's the second chart:

ISBN13	Title	Author	Promo Type	Country	Start Date	End Date	Promo Price
9781504036511	Tales of Old Earth	Swanwick, Michael	ORM - Early Bird Books NL	US	2020-04-20	2020-04-20	$2.99
9781504036511	Tales of Old Earth	Swanwick, Michael	ORM - Early Bird Books NL	CA	2020-04-20	2020-04-20	$2.99

Enjoy!

Не стало Алены Калистратовой, Eva Kali, cotopaxi. Внезапная острая пневмония. Все понимают, что за пневмония, но в Эквадоре, где она жила почти двадцать лет, не очень сейчас хорошо с диагностикой коронавируса. Остались в архиве фотографии. Мы общались по сети, а виделись последний раз только в 2004, когда Алена и Андрей Ширяев обосновались в Эквадоре, и мы с Березиным ездили к ним в гости. У меня на диске хранится немного фотографий, которые делала она — Алена отлично фотографировала и любила это. Люди, быт Эквадора, горы, снова люди, улицы. Давайте просто еще раз посмотрим на этот волшебный разноцветный мир, в котором жила Алена, которую мы помним:

А еще осталось немного фотографий с моей тогдашней мыльницы — они конечно плохенькие, в разрешении, которое считалось нормальным в 2004. Зато на них есть сама Алена:

 Not happy with conquering the rest of the house, the Armoured Dalek invasion force turns its attention to the living room. Only the human Lego force of Earth stand in their way.

It was just an excuse to do some funny voices. My little boy now thinks Daleks are really funny, if only he knew.

[h/t Stephan Hurtubise]  

I am so nervous about Valentine’s Day.  I haven’t ever done this before until I visited Earth and my friend Skeeter told me about it.  Should I give Spec a Valentine that is special and tells him how cute I think he is or should I give all my friends a Valentine that is the […]

It must be that time of year again!

Look at enough blogs or websites and you’ve probably ran into a display on their homepage showing their viewers their Alexa and Google Page Rank. But what exactly do these ranks mean and what can they do to help get your site noticed on the web. Here’s a basic description of what these two tools do

Alexa site rank like Google’s page rank is a measure to determine how popular a particular website or blog is. And while Alexa isn’t an accurate representation since it’s only limited to those who use their toolbar it can still be an important factor when it comes to generating traffic, getting others to link to you, and advertising on your site. If you’re not familiar with how Alexa page ranking works it essentially works like this..................

1. Early superannuation withdrawals frozen as hacking fallout revealed  Daily Telegraph
2. Calls for better superannuation protection  Busselton Dunsborough Mail
3. AFP investigating 'sophisticated' theft of $120,000 from 150 super accounts  Sydney Morning Herald
4. Is your super payout at risk? Thousands drained by fraudsters in COVID scam  7NEWS.com.au
5. Police confirm up to 150 victims of early super access fraud  The New Daily
6. View Full coverage on Google News

1. Second White House staffer has coronavirus after Donald Trump's personal valet was infected  SBS News
2. Donald Trump 'not worried' about coronavirus spread in White House after Mike Pence's press secretary tests positive  ABC News
3. Coronavirus US: Second White House staffer catches COVID-19  NEWS.com.au
4. Member of Mike Pence's staff tests positive for coronavirus  Sydney Morning Herald
5. Coronavirus is still ravaging the US. Donald Trump's campaign ads would make you think otherwise  ABC News
6. View Full coverage on Google News

Gerson Monje holds up his cellphone to proudly show off his online sex shop. A red banner reading "sold out!" is plastered across half of the products.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that it’s always a good idea to pick colors you enjoy embroidering with. If …

One thing you should know about me is that I am from New York and I am half Italian. That means when I like something,…

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hi, would you advertise my balloon in your directory, balloons for sale section, thanks regards, david.

lindstrand 105 a series, 118 hours, red/yellow/blue. no artwork, fully complete, very pritty, cmeron basket, suade top/poles leg leathers, all tank straps, cameron mk 4 double burners rego fittings, x 3 worthington 40 litre cylinder tanks, blue covers, teema fittings, but with rego fitting adapters, bonano quick release. refueling hose, tether rope, all complete very tidy outfit, bargain UKP 4550 djfarrar@fsmail.net

Donald Trump Jr. tried to sweet talk Twitter, and NOBODY was having it. Does the guy just want to be mocked by the masses on a continually often basis at this point, or what? 

Well this is it, everyone. Leaky's own "bootleg" Edward was in attendence today for a public screening of Deathly Hallows Part 2. The following show is a relatively unedited account of his conversation with Melissa and John with his thoughts and their reactions.

 

Episode 237 — The Final Spoiler Alert

Find the latest episode and explore PotterCast interviews, discussions and more at PotterCast.com

Visit the-leaky-cauldron.org for the latest and greatest from Harry Potter's Wizard World.

Protego Diabolica is the spell Grindelwald used to make those flames. What does that mean?

What "answers will be given"?

What is Mr. Blood? We...kind of can't remember

FB going to Brazil

Globus Mundi appears in the wizarding world

More about Leta Lestrange: what did Grindelwald really say about her? Is she really gone?

Is Newt on the spectrum of autism?

The big magical fights in the books, vs those in the movies

The return of the Mailbag!

...and more!

He has more than just the usual hand-wringing, here is one excerpt: Sean Illing …What’s the Occam’s razor explanation for these UFO sightings? Alexander Wendt To me, the Occam’s razor explanation is ETs. Here is another: Sean Illing If some of these UFOs are the products of alien life, why haven’t they made their presence […]

The post Alexander Wendt on why we should take UFOs seriously appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

Totally Reliable Delivery Service FREE (download before 4/8)
 

The Spring Sale is now here with fresh offers across a range of top content! Don't forget, Epic Coupons acquired in our Holiday Sale are expiring May 1, 2020 2:59am EST and able to be used on any eligible purchase $14.99 or above!

Spring Sale - ends 4/16