iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 24/09/2026

Do you think your cat knows it has a name? In other words does your cat associate some set of sounds that you make with "me"?

picture of a grey cat sitting on a windowsill looking at the camera

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 24/09/2026

Good. I feel like I am the -SA evangelist. Thanks for supporting an effective copyleft!

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 24/09/2026

Please set a good example and use an SA license!

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 24/09/2026

What happened in your most recent TTRPG session and how does that compare to thousands of other sessions? #sessionkeeper has some insights you can use to compare what happened at your table with what happens across a large cross-section of tables! table.sessionkeeper.ai/p/the-five-s...

table.sessionkeeper.ai

The Five Shapes of Combat in D&D

Trace the fighting across a session and it takes one of five shapes.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 16/09/2026

#SessionKeeper's data shows that despite many different "shapes" of TTRPG sessions the odds are about 28% that the table is engaged in a major combat encounter in the final 40 minutes; and that holds true almost regardless of how long the total session is. table.sessionkeeper.ai/p/the-night-...

table.sessionkeeper.ai

The Night Builds to a Fight

Combat climbs all night and is highest about forty minutes before the end.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 11/09/2026

I divide my life into "before 9/11" and "after 9/11". The before seems like an impossible utopia. The after reads like apocalyptic fiction. 25 years on the clean division of before and after has never been more clear.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 09/09/2026

And TSMC, the world-beating facilities in Taiwan that actually makes the chips that nVidia is selling.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 09/09/2026

There are wildcards. SpaceX is an AI play. Meta is trying to be a hyperscaler and an AI provider; CoreWeaver is an almost synthetic business designed to make contracts for provisioning GPUs and debt for infrastructure flow into data center construction

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 09/09/2026

The few hundred companies are venture-backed AI startups. The two companies are OpenAI and Anthropic. The five companies are the "hyperscalers" Microsoft, Google, Amazon, AliBaba, and Oracle. The one company is nVidia.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 09/09/2026

@edzitron.com writes: "the AI bubble is based on the whims of maybe a few hundred companies spending money on two companies to justify five companies spending money with one company." www.wheresyoured.at/concentratio...

wheresyoured.at

Concentration Risk

If you liked this piece, you should subscribe to my premium newsletter. It’s $70 a year, $18 a quarter, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter that’s usually anywhere from 10,000 to ...

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 09/09/2026

Yes I agree; a lot of games are very 1:X - the GM speaks to everyone and everyone speaks to the GM but they don't necessarily speak to each other.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 08/09/2026

It doesn't surprise me that the GM speaks a plurality of the time in most TTRPG sessions. #sessionkeeper has data that quantifies how much the GM is usually speaking. table.sessionkeeper.ai/p/the-dm-spe...

table.sessionkeeper.ai

The DM Speaks Half

At the typical table, the DM talks as much as every player put together.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 31/08/2026

#sessionkeeper's data shows that when gamers play really long TTRPG sessions almost a quarter of those really long sessions have NO COMBAT. table.sessionkeeper.ai/p/the-fight-...

table.sessionkeeper.ai

The Fight Needs Runway

Sessions under 90 minutes skip combat half the time.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 27/08/2026

It was my pleasure to appear on Justin's Think Like a Game Designer podcast! We delved deep into the ancient history of my career in gaming and the industry's reaction to the arrival of AI. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed participating in the conversation!

justingarydesign.substack.com

Ryan Scott Dancey — From Fake Mail Order to Legend of the Five Rings, the Power of Self-Belief, and the Future of AI (#109)

Think Like A Game Designer Podcast

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 24/08/2026

Greg from #SessionKeeper has published a new blog about data from real tabletop RPG sessions! table.sessionkeeper.ai/p/in-search-...

table.sessionkeeper.ai

In Search of the Roleplay Table

The fighty table and the talky table are mostly the same table.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 18/08/2026

#SessionKeeper is an amazing way to make your tabletop RPG sessions more fun and help you GM the best game you can. To build awareness they've launched a Substack that explores the anonymized and aggregated data from real game sessions. table.sessionkeeper.ai/p/surprising...

table.sessionkeeper.ai

Surprisingly Little Stabbing

28% of TTRPG sessions never roll initiative at all.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 17/08/2026

Masters of the art of storytelling, and doing it repeatably for decades.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 14/08/2026

Sad to see that Count Binface the Recyclon didn't win the by election last night in Clapton. Apparently the Claptonians would rather be represented by an unrepentant fraud than a comedian.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 03/08/2026

At #gencon I presented two panels A discussion of AI and how it will impact the gaming industry and society in general A discussion of how copyright interacts with games I've made the Keynote presentations for both panels available. www.widepacifichorizon.com/2026/08/03/g...

widepacifichorizon.com

Gen Con 2026 Presentations

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 27/07/2026

There are still a small number of tickets left for my Gen Con panel 5 Minutes to Midnight, which is going to explore the impact of AI on the tabletop gaming industry. The panel will be at 4pm on Thursday www.gencon.com/events/302293

gencon.com

Gen Con | Gen Con Indy 2026

The Best Four Days in Gaming

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 13/07/2026

Congratulations to Reiner Knizia, the first "Grand Slam" Spiel winner. He's won the Kennerspiel ("complex games") category for his design Rebirth. There are few better days in tabletop gaming than the day you win a Spiel. Congratulations to all 2026 winners! boardgamewire.com/index.php/20...

boardgamewire.com

JinxO wins 2026 Spiel des Jahres, Rebirth secures historic triple for Reiner Knizia -

JinxO designer Martin Ang's victory underscores the growing internationality of the venerable German board games award, which until last year's success for Hishashi Hayashi's Bomb Busters had never be...

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 10/07/2026

If Count Binface is elected, does Parliament have a rule against his attending in costume? Also, I hope he exercises his right to wear a sword.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 09/07/2026

It is the most on-brand thing ever that McConnell is faking his own aliveness to control the election that will select his successor.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 05/07/2026

Happy Birthday USA! 🇺🇸

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 30/06/2026

If Amy Coney Barrett were not a good person Birthright Citizenship would be dead. Today's decision isn't a win for stare decisis. It is a posted notice that says "try again later".

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 23/06/2026

The "Norwegian Row" is my new favorite thing. ROW! ROW! ROW! The Vikings Are Coming! Proud Grandson of Norway! 🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 19/06/2026

Juneteenth. A moment to remember two important things about the United States: 1. We've made incredible progress in addressing systemic inequality; to celebrate it we must teach where we started and how we got here. 2. Work still needs to be done. The job is not finished.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 19/06/2026

Next year we'll be as far removed from the year Austin Powers was released as Austin Powers was from the point when he was frozen in the 60s. Yeah Baby!

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 08/06/2026

I've noticed that since leaving Facebook and Twitter I take a lot fewer photographs. I don't take pictures at events. I'm not trying to take pictures of what I'm doing or seeing to post on social media. I'm probably taking 10% as many photographs as I was while I was very online in social media.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 08/06/2026

Well that's the future of the 20% of the industry that isn't D&D, Pathfinder, Cypher System, Basic RPG, or Savage Worlds. And probably the Brandon Sanderson Game. And Dungeon Crawler Carl. And Traveler. And probably a bunch more I'm forgetting.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 05/06/2026

I think facial recognition is a killer app for these tools. I am very faceblind; I have an extremely hard time identifying people by looking at their faces and I have a hard time connecting a person in my memory with a person I am seeing. Being told whom I was seeing would be a life changer.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 10/05/2026

And they've convinced themselves that everyone who isn't a "Conservative" (their definition used not mine) is actively attempting to destroy humanity and therefore it's OK to do anything, break any rule or law, to oppose them.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 01/05/2026

It still is the Department of Defense. Only Congress can change the name, and it has not.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 30/04/2026

"Never talk about Goblins" is generally good advice.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 19/04/2026

Wish I could emote other than a heart. A legend. A link to the first generation of tabletop game publishers. So glad I knew him.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 06/04/2026

“Double Haters” — voters who hold a negative view of both parties, roughly a quarter of the public. That group currently prefers Democrats in the midterms by 31 points. For comparison in 2016 and 2024, they broke for Trump. I think Double Haters determine elections.

cnn.com

CNN Poll: Trump’s approval rating on the economy hits a new low | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump’s approval rating for handling the economy has fallen to a new career low of 31%, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, reflecting growing pessimism among Americans ove...

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 02/04/2026

The bar is: I select a destination address while sitting in my driveway. I push a button. My car drives safely and reasonably on streets, highways, and parking lots. My car parks itself at its destination. I supervise but do not drive. I do that every day with FSD at a cost if $100/mo.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 02/04/2026

They win because of Full Self Driving. Its incomparably better to any other system available in the US. The Chinese options aren't available in the US and probably never will be. FSD is the only reason to buy a Tesla but it's the best reason to buy new car.

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Ryan S. Dancey @ryandancey.com · 28/03/2026

I thank the organization for completing this project and publishing the results. I hope you will do it again in 6 months or a year, and then make it a regular event. It will be very interesting to see this data series over time.

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