…I re-opened this site as a blog. It was my hope that I could finally make a go of it on the ‘net. But things didn’t work out that way.
At best, the site pulls in just enough to cover expenses; I haven’t made a penny from it in all this time. What is worse is that I’ve fallen behind the curve.
My system can’t handle new games at all. There is no way I can afford a computer that could. And let’s face it, it was on game reviews primarily that my reputation was built.
So between no income and no modern system, I’ve lost heart. I’ve been struggling with this since the weekend; it hasn’t been an easy decision to make.
The site is going into suspended animation. No more posts will be made, unless my situation changes for the better. Chat will continue on Thursday nights as usual for the forseeable future.
Thank you all, for your participation here the past three years. It’s meant a lot to me. You’re good folks, and I’ll miss you. Sigh.
Aw, crud. :(
I’ve always enjoyed reading your commentaries and reviews, Scorpia. I’d missed you. Hate to hear you are disappearing again, but I understand how the economic realities are. You’ll be missed.
Nooo! I don’t mean to pry Scorpia, but how short can you be on the website? To my knowledge, you never asked for donations, but I for one would be more than happy to drop a few dollars in to a tip jar for this place.
That’s really sad. I’ve really enjoyed your commentary, and I think you and Coyote complemented each other well. It would be great if you could continue, but not if your heart isn’t into it. Good luck with everything!
Well, this sucks. I’ve always enjoyed reading what you’ve wrote even though I’ve never been one to comment too much.
I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you. You and this site will be sorely missed. :(
Life’s a beach, then you die. :(
Don’t know if I can help, but…
I do have a 2-3 year old Dell sitting behind me, a 6800 (?) nvidia card on a shelf, & assorted other parts. And, I’m a half-hour from The City.
Life is full of changes. Some good, some bad.
But, in my view, these are the lowpoints of the computer gaming industry.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered today to pay our respects to our dearly departed:
Inforcom-you gave adventure a new name: Zork
SSI-you set the Gold Standard in RPGs
Sirtek-you put real wizardry in your games
New World Computing-you showed us your Might and Magic
Origins-you were the Ultima in games
Computer Gaming World-you estiblished the Computer Hall of Fame
And lastly,
The Scorpion’s Tale (or is it Tail?)
The Scorpion’s Mailbag
The Scorpion’s View
Scorpia’s Gaming Lair
You really had your mark in CPRs and made JVC push M&M into new and better games.
You all will be sorely missed.
Now, everyone, let’s bow our heads in slient prayer for the next decade for our dearly departed.
Soon after the site had opened I stumbled across it. I think it was about the time that CGW closed down and I made the comment elsewhere that I pretty much quit reading them after Scorpia left. That piqued my curiosity about what ever happened to her and Google led me here. There are very few sites to go to talk about classic RPG games, and this blog quickly rose to the top of my list. I have probably posted more of my own thoughts and views here than any other forum or blog elsewhere, so in a sense I felt like this was my home on the net as well, though I was really just a guest.
I too would be glad to make a donation. I probably saved a fortune in hint books from your GEnie roundtables and CGW articles before there was a public Internet to turn to. I can build a computer from parts if we could get enough pieces together.
I hope things improve and you can continue at a later time, but I wish you the best in whatever you decide to pursue. I will continue to visit the weekly chats and I will drop you an email from time to time to see how things are going. Thanks for everything, you and this site will be greatly missed.
Scorpia,
I have mostly lurked here but I always enjoyed your columns in CGW and like reading your blog. I grew up playing the Ultima’s, Bard’s tales, etc.
Thanks for sharing yourself via this blog for these three years.
I would love to donate to your site as well if it would help you with expenses. I really hope something works out but if not good luck in all your adventuring.
I failed to say the most important thing in my original comment:
Thank you.
Scorpia,
A emachine without a monitor sells for around $300 at Wal-Mart. This model will play most of the current games as well.
I have one emachine that I have had since Feb. 2000 that still works great to this day.
And another emachine that I have had since Jun of 2005 that can still run most current games. So emachine computers are not that expensive and make great gaming rigs.
My current computer specs are:
emachine T6212
3200+ Athlon 64 Processor
512 M RAM (upgradable to 4 G)
160 GB Hard drive
And this computer does run the following games:
Drakensang
The Witcher
King’s Bounty: The Legend
I should point out that the Computer that I saw at Wal-Mart is even better than my current computer.
Therefore, can you afford a new computer for $300 to run the current if many on this site chips in?
And can you create a link to PayPal so we can make donations to this site?
Another vote for a PayPal button… I would certainly be up for donating. :)
I’m sorry to hear this. It’s been fun, and thanks for the articles over the years, here and elsewhere.
O Scorpia’s Lair, O Scorpia’s Lair,
Your articles sharp delight us.
O Scorpia’s Lair, O Scorpia’s Lair,
Your articles so delight us
They’re enlightening when summer days are bright;
They’re entralling when winter snow is white.
O Scorpia’s Lair, O Scorpia’s Lair,
O how we’re going to miss you.
This is a sad thing. Thank you, Scorpia, for all the information and insight you’ve provided over the years. I’ll miss this place.
I wish you well with whatever comes next in your life.
Mmm, I’ve been wondering why there weren’t any updates for the last few days.
Since I don’t want to see you stop blogging I’m going to launch right into the pep talk and suggestions.
First, check out these two sites for inspiration:
Groklaw
Emptywheel
Note that both sites have donation links.
How much money do you need to raise? As you say, you must have a computer capable of running current games. Let’s say $1000 for a new computer every couple of years, so that’s $500 per year.
You also need broadband — more and more games are downloadable or have online features. At $50/month that’s $600 per year.
So right now you need $1000 for a new computer, thereafter you need to pull in $1100/year for the broadband and the computer upgrade every other year. This really seems doable, perhaps just from putting a donation link on the site.
The donation link can happen immediately, now for some longer term items:
On the Groklaw site I listed above, did you notice the Groklaw Gear link? You should set up your own CafePress site with some items. T-shirts or other things with your logo, and where it will fit, some quotes about Foozle. For example, after a very cursory look, I found this quote from just the other day: “Dark. Dangerous. Disturbing. That’s the typical Foozle lair.” There are likely better quotes, but you get the idea.
Since I’ve mentioned putting the logo on T-shirts and things, let’s talk graphics. You need a new logo, and some design tweaks to the website graphics.
First, the logo. Since the logo is your personal brand which will go on the website and the CafePress items, it should be professionally done. Yep, more donations to solicit, or perhaps the design work itself might be donated.
I’m not a designer, but it seems to me that you need a line art logo which can both stand alone and be incorporated with the “Scorpia’s Gaming Lair” text for the top banner image. If it were up to me I’d suggest to the designer a motif of a woman’s face with a scorpion forehead pendant. Not straight on, but maybe 3/4 view, emphasizing one eye more than the other, perhaps tilted a bit or gazing slightly down. The logo should communicate “Scorpion Woman”. If the scorpion pendant in the middle of the forehead ends up being too small, maybe the design can incorporate just the forehead and eye(s) so the scorpion pendant would be more prominent. I’m not sure about the colors, but it shouldn’t use too many. Perhaps a dark, kinda goth look. In any case, the logo would be line art made with something like Illustrator or Inkscape.
While occasionally the above logo will stand alone, usually it will be part of a larger logo that incorporates the “Scorpia’s Gaming Lair” text, used for the website banner. A variant for use on CafePress items would include the website address, “www.scorpia.com”.
The website banner will be an element of the redesign of the blog template. Note the clean designs of Groklaw and Emptywheel linked above.
As part of the redesign, several elements on the page should be removed:
Search Google box (But keep Search Scorpia Content, retitled as “Search”.)
Testamonial (Please, no cutesy noise about pixels and bits.)
Credits (Move this info to a separate page.)
Virtual Excursions (Occupies a huge portion of some of the most valuable and prominent real estate on the page, but has nothing to do with gaming, so reduces the signal to noise ratio and thus dilutes your brand. Replace with the links from the “Places to Visit” page, which your readers will find relevant.)
YouTube Viewer (It’s supposed to show game-related videos, but instead is showing a music video from the YouTube user HipHopNewsDay. Much better to occasionally embed relevant YouTube videos into blogs posts.)
Sorry to ramble on so, but I really don’t want you silenced. You have a unique perspective on gaming valued by many thousands of your readers over the years.
The reason I’d noticed that you weren’t updating for the last few days is that I was looking forward to your comments on the Monkey Island news, both Telltale Games’ forthcoming Tales of Monkey Island, but particularly The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition remake of the original. I’d be happy to donate towards your being able to play these games, and I think many of your readers from over the years would as well.
(I have a couple more comments to send via email, but couldn’t find an address. If you’re interested, drop me a line, or I’ll try to remember to show up for the chat.)
Another thing you can do to get people coming back, is to let others add articles to the site. In other words, be an editor. This way, others can do games you’re not interested in and keep this site with new content every day. The best thing of all, you won’t be so pressured to keep adding new content and can take a day off every so often-except for putting up an article submitted by someone else.
You might be surprised how popular this site would become. You could also become a mentor as well for these new writers. Imagine a website with articles written by Scropia, Coyote, Cyclops, and Presto.
Imagine a site with reviews on games like The Witcher, Drakensang, Dragon Age, King’s Bounty, etc.
This site could be a new Computing gaming World on the web with a real queen bee–oops I meant a queen scropion.
Also, by allowing others to post in the short run, that will allow you to get the money together to get a new computer.
Sorry to hear the sad news. In regards to other reviews being allowed, it’s a matter of trust. How far do you trust the other person? Are they reliable enough to provide an unbiased review?
I think the donation idea mentioned in previous replies should easily fix the computer problem.
Really sorry to hear this, Scorpia. I’d long missed your reviews and your comments before I found this site.
And though things change, there ARE good games out there. I don’t know your situation, of course, but I urge you to keep trying to find a way to give them a try.
As yet another soul who receives sustenance from this site (the only place I can even temporarily relive those nearly-lost old feelings of the youthful gamer), it will be greatly missed. I would consider it a dream-come-true to regularly write on the issues uniquely dealt with here, if only for a personal outlet and transportation back to a world of now-fading memories.
As a side-note, whenever I received a new edition of CGW, your column was always the first part I read, no matter what the subject.
Ah, that really sucks. I haven’t posted too much lately but I have followed along with your daily posts, always interesting.
I will miss your commentary Scorpia but I respect your decision. Doing something your heart isn’t into is no way to live.
I wish you all the best in finding something else to do that you love.
As a long time reader (even from back in the print days) you have always been one of my favorite commentators. I’m sure you’ll do well in what you put your mind to.
Best of luck!
I too will miss this site. I always enjoy your comments Scorpia, and it’s nice to read posts by people who understand there is more to gaming than shooters.
As others have said, I would be willing to make a donation to keep the site going.
Well. Thank you all. I really appreciate your comments, sad though the occasion happens to be.
I would like to make clear that the site isn’t going away. It is staying up (thanks to Dale’s generosity). I just won’t be posting to it.
Regarding a Paypal button: no. Although I understand the sentiment, that would be begging, and I won’t do it. ‘Nuff said.
Presto, I have to say I’m amazed that your emachine can really play those games. However, I can’t afford one right now. Even if I could, being an elitist, I’d wait. No PC I’ve bought (going back to the 286) has been off-the-shelf. Ain’t gonna start now ;)
As for having other people write articles, well, dunno if I want to try and turn this place into a “CGW of the web”. It would be a LOT more work, for one thing ;)
Stratagerm, thanks for taking the time to post those ideas. That’s too much to comment on here; I’ll send you an email in a day or two.
Scorpia, your columns in CGW were always the best part of the magazine and I really missed you when you left. I don’t recall when I googled for you, but I was very surprised to find your Gaming Lair. I regret not posting here very much, I’m a lurker at most places I frequent. I just wanted to say that without the help you’d supplied in your CGW columns, I might never had become a CPRG addict (that’s a good thing, really). What ever you do in the future, I’m sure you will be with me whenever I play new games and especially when I replay some of the old ones again. You were and are one the best and that will never change, at least not to me!
Mark
Rats. A sad day. Have you ever considered writing a column on someone else’s site? Maybe RPG Watch or Coyote’s? It might give you an outlet without the expense of the site. Of course the PC upgrade cycle is still problematic.
Scorpia, how can you putting a PayPal button on this site be begging???
Didn’t you get payed for each article you did for Computer Gaming World? Or did you do it for FREE? The answer is rather obvious. You provided CGW with a service and got payed for it.
Has it occured to you that you still provide a valuable service to the gaming community still?
Should you not be payed for your service as well?
Then hasn’t it occurred to you that the gaming community can become your employer by paying you for your time. All you have to do is put a PayPal button on this site and then we become your employer.
Of course, if you can work something out with Coyote, maybe he would allow you to contribute to his site as well. But please, don’t abandoned your fans.
Scorpia, I’d love to help out. I’ve been reading you since the 80s in CGW. I still own nearly every single CGW magazine since it’s beginning. Put up a paypal link and let me count the ways of appreciation of how much I enjoyed your articles.
Scorpia, you’re really working with an outmoded thought process on this one! A paypal link is not begging at all. You are providing a service, and we’d be happy to pay something. The fact that said service is not specifically quantized ($1 per column or something) does not make it any less of an equal transaction or, indeed, make it “begging” in any way. I think we all wish you’d reconsider, but will understand if you don’t. Thanks for all the great articles and reviews!
If she does not want to use PayPal or ask for contributions, that’s her choice. As much as people hate it, all good things come to an end.
Tis a sad day indeed, havent been on regularly on the need for the past few months because of my work shift but I try to catchup reading on this site atleast once a month. I there is something we can do to help you, dont hesitate to tell us please. I’ll be glad donate too. I have also some spare parts from my frankestein computer that I would love to give you. But in anycase, whatever your decision is, I will respect your wishes.
Thankyou for all the good years you’ve given us and will await your return.
Presto, it’s one thing to be paid for specific work on assignment, and another to put up a sign saying, “Hey, throw me some spare change”.
Even if I did do that, it would not help in the long run. Because, just like most people, I need a consistent income. Ain’t gonna happen with “donations”. Ain’t gonna happen with Cafepress.
So tell me folks, would you be willing to pay a subscription fee to read this site? And how much would you be willing to shell out?
My guess is, not enough of you to matter. The majority wouldn’t pay. The silent majority that comes to read and posts rarely, if ever.
No, getting money from the community ended with the end of the proprietary systems.
But I still appreciate the offers ;)
Well, Scorpia, what would the subscription fee be each month?
And how many fans need to support the site?
But, how about working something out with Coyote?
What do you think, ole howler of the moon?
Scorpia has a dedicated fan base, but I doubt it would be enough to provide enough to make a living. I would subscribe, but there would need to be a lot more. Just doing the math, if the subscription was $5 a month, which seems to be the norm for some other sites I visit, you would need hundreds of people subscribing to make any kind of money. Dale could probably provide you with the number of unique hits to the site, but you have to figure that only a small percentage would subscribe. Still, even if you only made a small profit, that could go toward the new computer fund. Didn’t you try a subscription site before the Gaming Lair?
I would like to see the site come back, if nothing else posting when you feel like it rather than daily. I wish you luck in finding something that can generate a sustainable income for you.
Presto, I asked how much you would be willing to pay ;)
But that was a trick question back there. I know subscriptions won’t work, because we’ve tried it before, twice. And while there was some cash, it certainly wasn’t enough.
Xian, thanks. I hope I can come up with something soon, too.
Awwwww man! I only just got here!
Maybe I just didn’t look hard enough at the rest of your site, but how were you making money? Through advertising referrals? I’ve gotta be honest, I had no idea you used to be a writer for a magazine. I came across your site through a link from someone else’s blog. Maybe some healthy marketing might help?
I also didn’t realise your bread & butter was game reviews either. Myself, I mainly enjoyed your commentary on game design mechanics, being a hobby game developer myself.
Lachlan, sorry you got here a little too late :(
Income (such as it was) came from the ads up top. Dale added a couple other things earlier this year, but improvement was only marginal.
Yeah, I used to write for CGW (R.I.P.) back in better days. Anyway, marketing wouldn’t help; you really need a very large readership to survive with advertising. Oh well.
How about we chip in and get you a console? There are some good console rpgs these days! Pretty please? :)
Allow me to add my regrets. As someone who wasn’t a reader ‘back in the day’ but just followed a link from Coyote’s blog, I really liked finding someone who would comment on all kinds of interesting rpgs. I’m sorry that you won’t be continuing, but I hope you’ll find some way to keep contributing.
Aelfric, “console” is a four-letter word ;) I’ll stick with computers, thank you.
Dungeon Crawler, I’d love to find a way to keep on going. Prognosis not too good right now, though.
I have been reading your articles since I was 13 and like the other comments I have appreciated your reviews and writing style and so thank you so very much.
Having been such a long time fan it occured to me that I have never seen a picture of you. Is this intentional;)
Again thank you
Snake, quite so: no pictures of me have been posted. And yes, it’s quite intentional. After all, we don’t want cameras breaking and people fainting (if not worse), right? ;)
And you’re very welcome; glad you’ve enjoyed my articles over the years.
Scorpia, It’s what’s on the inside that counts and from all that I’ve read by you in CGW and here; you are really beautiful, inside and out (and no I’m not sucking up)!
Mark
Awww lokivt, kind of you to say that (blush). Now, if some of that “inner” would just percolate through to the outer….;)
Aw, man, I still can’t keep from taking a peek here every day. Just to see if there are any new comments, if nothing else…
Well, as a once well-knowned TV series once ended its shows, I feel it’s time to use it again for this site.
Now it’s time to say good-bye to all our company,
M-I-C See you real soon
K-E-Y Why, because we like you.
M-O-U-S-E
RIP
The Scorpion’s Tale
The Scorpion’s View
The Scorpion’s Mailbag
Scorpia’s Gaming Lair
We will miss you.
(Now what will a giant eight-feet tall, female scorpion do for the rest of her life when she isn’t using her stinger on game designers?)
Yeah, Coyote, I keep checking back too.
We’re still thinking of you, Scorpia!
Just checking in to see what’s up. Can’t seem to help it. Missing the articles Scorpia. Hope things are going well with you.
Heh. I look in myself to see if there are still comments showing up ;) Thanks, folks. Must say, it’s been weird these last couple of weeks, not writing anything for the site. Or playing anything, either :(
Just found it myself. Remembering Scorpia from when she was in CGW (when there was a CGW), I’m sad to hear this place can’t make a go of it. But I think her analysis is correct. Very few sites bring in significant money through monthly subscriptions. The market changed; too much competition relative to demand. (When there is one gifted storyteller in a village of a thousand, he can make a living. When there are six million on a planet of six billion, they starve. Same ratio, different reality.)
Still, I hope she can find something connected to gaming that helps pay the bills… Good luck!
I keep checking back every day too just to see if anything has changed. I guess it’s just habit, this site has been in my daily rotation for 3 years now. I hope that your situation improves and you can get back to reviving the site soon, if nothing else whenever the desire to comment on something going on hits you.
I picked up Drakensang over the weekend. It’s a pretty good RPG for the price. It doesn’t stand out in anything it does; the plot is average, the quests are pretty much the usual fare, the game is very linear, but it is fun to play and that’s what really matters.
horse, sorry you didn’t find us sooner. Thanks for the kind remarks.
Xian, dunno. Can’t see how a game that’s average in all departments can be “fun” to play. It ought to have some aspect that stands out from the rest. Then again, what else is out there right now?
I still check out some of the other sites, and just caught notice that Zenimax (who owns Bethesda) has bought out id software:
Zenimax Buys id at rpgwatch
Drakensang is on my $10 list. Right now I’m about half way through Dungeon Lords.
I still think that you should write for another site. RPGWatch would be my first thought. You still would need a PC, but there are lots of indie and older titles that are worthy and would run on a slightly behind the curve PC. Considering how fast PC’s become obsolete even the budget PC’s are pretty good. My 1200 PC keeps up and I could buy an equivalent for 600 now.
Regardless, I hope you find a way to keep witting.
There have been several games that I would consider just average but were still fun. Eye of the Beholder III was probably the worst of the EOB series but I still enjoyed playing it. Ultima V is another example.
Drakensang captures the right balance. While it does not bring anything new to the plate, it is a solid RPG, and as you mention it’s about the only new thing out right now that appeals to me.
Heh - it’s a big fish in a small pond (of new releases).
Many of the fish in the large pond have died. Suspicions point to the many abandoned leaking 55 gallon drums found near the pond. While hard to make out due to the corrosion, some people claim to be able to make out the initials “EA” stenciled on the side.
So sorry to hear you fall on hard times. I was hoping the blog would do well. I can relate to the hard times. I’ll try and stop by once in a while to see how you are doing.
Hey Tyg, long time, no see. Hope you’re doing better than I am right now. Thanks for the support!
Eeek, I find your site and you’re going under. Temporarily, I hope.
I read your CGW reviews back when I was a new gamer and it meant alot to see that a woman could be a gamer and a super cool one at that! You made the toughest games sound easy.
I hope you’ll stay involved in gaming and keep your voice out there. Just use a free blog like blogger. Specialize in web based games, perhaps? Like Legends of Zork? Can you do the serialized downloadable games like Sam and Max and Monkey Island?
If you don’t want to go the console or downloadable route, how about DS Games? Lots of traditional point and click adventure games are coming to that format.
There’s always a way. /deepbow to you in any case and best of luck.
Salaryn
Sal, awww, sorry you came here late. Glad you enjoyed my work in CGW. A free blog wouldn’t help; this one didn’t bring in more than enough to cover expenses. It’s having enough money to live on that I need ;) (That and buying new games and a new computer to play them on) Sigh.
Awww, it’s been over a month now and I still stop by here to see what’s going on - if even to read the comments.
Hope all is going well for you Scorpia.
Bargeral, don’t know if you still check here, but during Scorp’s chat last night you mentioned that you were thinking about buying The Witcher Enhanced Edition Directors Cut. It looks like if you have the original as I do you can download it as a patch. Nice to know that they are taking care of their existing customers, some companies *cough* EA, Microsoft, Sony *cough* would have you buy it again for the new features. I didn’t have your email so thought I would mention that you can get the regular version and just download the 1.5 Enhanced Edition Patch then the Directors Cut patch if you want to save a few $.
Hey Scorpia, just popped over to say hi and hope that 2010 is treating you well.
So, ‘hi’ and take care.
Hey Otto! Thank you for remembering me ;) I hope that 2010 will be a much better year for all of us, gamers or not.
Hi Scorpia…miss you! :(
Aww, lokivt, thanks. I miss all of you, too. :( Sometimes, I wish we’d never gone beyond the 8-bit world.
I don’t know about y’all but I’m going back to the 8-bit world…I miss hacking ASM/BASIC and simple, fun games.
It was all downhill after FOUNTAIN OF DREAMS.
- HG
Otto, messing around with the code and cheating, eh? Well, why not?
HG, you would bring that up, wouldn’t you?
Hi Scorpia!
Was looking at early CGW issues and thought about you. I hope you are well and I was wondering if you have a column somewhere.
Still miss you!
Mark