QUOTE (Crazy Ivan @ Aug 7 2011, 03:06 PM)

Dorkness Rising is a blast. I thought I was going to die from laughing so hard.
I highly recommend checking out
JourneyQuest then. It's just as hilarious, has slightly higher production values, and is a webseries that can be viewed entirely on their
website or
Youtube. After that, if you're feeling particularly adventurous, check out some of their earlier works. There's
The Gamers (definitely cheesy & NSFW for language ),
Demon Hunters (their mega-awesomely cheesy original student film), and their
improv sketches (they're mostly awful, but the jokes will stick in your head and make you chuckle for days afterwards, YMMV). I sadly own all their DVD's and have enjoyed them repeatedly. Not a fanboy though. I swear. Honestly.
QUOTE (Crazy Ivan @ Aug 7 2011, 03:06 PM)

In regards to the gender-bender, I've never been one to be afraid of playing female characters in games. Two of my favorite characters from D&D that I played to legendary effect were both female (a favored soul of kossuth and a fighter), and it wasn't an issue for me. Some guys play gender benders too far, taking stereotypes to insane lengths (pink armor?), but in general, most guy players could do with a dose of a female perspective.
I agree as well. As somebody who tries to see issues from all angles, and loves to play devil's advocate, I believe everybody can benefit from a change in perspective. That being said, too many guys play female characters as slutty succubi, chainmail bikinis and all.
QUOTE (Crazy Ivan @ Aug 7 2011, 03:06 PM)

On a comical side-note to that, my newborn daughter is named after one of those characters, though in part as a tribute to my uncle who passed away during my wifes pregnancy (he was a big gamer, introduced me to the PnP game world, and after we decided to find a tribute name for him, I refused to find a variation of the name "Bart"). So "Ember" was welcomed into the world just over 24 hours ago.
Congratulations!!