Brian Ballsun-Stanton

44,670 reputation

587206

bio	website	denubis.wordpress.com
	location	Sydney, Australia
	age	29
visits	member for	2 years, 7 months
	seen	3 hours ago
stats	profile views	1,246

Dr. Brian Ballsun-Stanton is a Philosopher, Information Technologist, and Game Theorist exploring the Philosophy of Data. He has a Ph.D in Philosophy from The University of New South Wales in addition to a MS & BS in Information Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

He has developed a new methodology (The Social Data Flow Network) to explore how individuals in the field understand the nature of data. Currently, his research is exploring the social construction of technology, focusing on the user-driven change of technological tools, in addition to his research of data warehouse ETL strategies for disparate data sets.

Beyond philosophy, Dr. Ballsun-Stanton has experience in haptic research, specifically the use of gesture control of human computer interfaces and an abiding interest in robotics as seen in his flying robotic cable-array manta-ray.

His interests include the academic study of Role-Playing games, the exploration of how science fiction literature transforms reality, and the social consequences of a technological world outpacing society's cultural assimilation of its consequences.

He is a long time gamer, having helped to design the indie game Pax Draconis. He has been running an Ars Magica game for the last 6 years and has extensive experience with indie games and both 3.5 and 4e D&D.

Papers you may be interested in:

Brian Ballsun-stanton, Samuel Russell (2012) Constrained Optimization in Dungeons and Dragons : A Theory of Requirements Generation for Effective Character Creation.
Brian Ballsun-stanton, Ernest Mueller, C Ross Eskridge (2012) Clerics , Magic Users , Fighters and Thieves : Theoretical Approaches to Rules Questions on the Role-Playing Games Stack Exchange.
Brian Ballsun-Stanton (2010) Asking about data: Experimental philosophy of Information Technology, 119-124. In 5th International Conference on Computer Sciences and Convergence Information Technology.
Brian Ballsun-Stanton, Kate Carruthers (2010) #c3t the command & control of Twitter: On a socially constructed Twitter & applications of the Philosophy of Data, 161-165. In 5th International Conference on Computer Sciences and Convergence Information Technology.

	44,670 reputation	bio	website	denubis.wordpress.com	visits	member for	2 years, 7 months
587206 badges		location	Sydney, Australia		seen	3 hours ago

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Apr 28	comment	Do thieves get extra encounters and dailies? Have you read the entire section in the essentials book?
Apr 28	comment	Do thieves get extra encounters and dailies? I don't understand your question.
Apr 28	comment	Do thieves get extra encounters and dailies? Hop into chat, we'll help you build a character.
Apr 28	comment	Any free and private wiki-like services for campaign tracking? Also, if you set headers and make a table of contents, the table of contents will automatically pull from the headers. Share a folder, make docs per topic, and make good headers. It's how I manage my ars magica game.
Apr 28	comment	I need help with a 3e-4e merger homebrew system (specifically fighters) So resolve contradictions in terms between "simple" and "dumbled down". Look at the literature (next, 2nd ed, the various indie games out there). It's very hard to create without being aware of the mistakes and ideas of others. Figure out the point of your game (do you want to model the world, pretend to model the world but make a big deal out of it, make a fun game-as-sport, or tell good stories?) Then figure out the mechanics that need to support that.
Apr 27	comment	I need help with a 3e-4e merger homebrew system (specifically fighters) How are you differentiating yourself from Next and Pathfinder?
Apr 27	comment	Do Backstab and Sneak Attack stack? I've... never been swooned at before. How... odd...
Apr 27	comment	Do Backstab and Sneak Attack stack? @JhyarelleSilver Hop into chat and we'll help you determine requirements for your character and a decent build.
Apr 26	comment	How do I play D&D 4e gridless (but still on tabletop)? John, can you update your question with these comments?
Apr 25	comment	What power sources exist in D&D and what influence do they have on their heroes? Okay, did a fairly large edit. Does this fit your intent, @john?
Apr 25	comment	What power sources exist in D&D and what influence do they have on their heroes? Are we talking about the nature of power sources here?
Apr 24	comment	How do I start DMing a new game after the Red Box? +1 And it's a lovely modern adventure, so you've got a much better understanding by the designers of what the system is supposed to do. Also, tokens!
Apr 23	comment	Which class should my “fallen” paladin change to? Completely agree, @kyran, but failing the class on execution is kind of moot in context of the question. Querent is looking for thematic match, not mechanical awesome. And FE (org) works if your campaign revolves around it. ::shrug::
Apr 22	comment	My players almost die in my encounters every time. Does this mean my encounters are too hard? Yeah, Since you have CB, make sure to grab the latest monsters from DDI as well. There have been changes, and some of those first monsters are just WTF.
Apr 22	comment	My players almost die in my encounters every time. Does this mean my encounters are too hard? Are you using DDI and the new character builder? The system has received a lot of love since those initial publications.
Apr 22	comment	Which class should my “fallen” paladin change to? Basically, what magic items and level do you have? It changes our answers, especially if you're not allowed to change.
Apr 22	comment	My players almost die in my encounters every time. Does this mean my encounters are too hard? Keep on the shadowfell is an old old module. Are you using any of the rewrites for it?
Apr 21	comment	Effect of natural environment on the development of cultures Crossposted: history.stackexchange.com/questions/8431/…
Apr 20	comment	Effect of natural environment on the development of cultures See Also and the 2377 citations of it.
Apr 20	comment	Effect of natural environment on the development of cultures Take a look at the citation web around: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2451.1997.tb00039.x/… this book citing a 1896 (yes, that's the right century) essay about this topic and so on and so forth.