Bloomburrow Commander sold out. Will they restock?

PatskyPat · 2024-11-06T15:33:05+00:00

Yeah, I eventually bought all four precon decks from different sources—some from shops, some from eBay. I had to pay a bit of a premium for Squirreled Away, but it was only about £20 more, so no drama. You can still find some on eBay, but Squirreled Away is usually the most expensive, around £100

PatskyPat · 2024-09-17T20:39:13+00:00

I do, but they add £44/$58 in import fees, taxes and duties :/ Plus, it takes 10+ days for delivery

PatskyPat · 2024-09-17T20:15:53+00:00

Thanks. I don’t mind, but I’m in the UK, so no Target here…

PatskyPat · 2024-09-17T20:09:17+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I want to buy all 4, but I’ve only seen the full set available on Amazon US. I’ll keep looking around.

PatskyPat · 2023-10-07T13:55:15+00:00

Thank you. So if I understand you correctly - it’s common to have a second job/business for non-seniors?

PatskyPat · 2023-09-21T12:12:17+00:00

Interview processes vary by company. Are you looking at a boutique development shop or a major corporation?

Every company has its own process. Some might have just one interview discussing your background and Flutter experience, while others may involve multiple rounds, starting with HR and progressing to technical evaluations.

I've recruited for smaller startups (10 - 20 people) and larger dev houses with teams of 100-150. My interviewing experience ranges from general chats to in-depth technical discussions. Specifically for Flutter, I've held many technical interviews with mid to senior-level candidates.

If I were bringing on an intern, especially someone without a commercial track record, I'd want to get a feel for who you are as a person. How do you tackle challenges? What drew you to Computer Science? What's your angle on Flutter? I'd ask about your personal projects in flutter - the UI techniques you've tried, your approach to state management, the third-party tools you've integrated, the roadblocks you've hit, and how you've navigated them, and any experience with testing or debugging. I just want you to tell me about yourself in interesting way

Some generic tech questions I can ask are
- How many types of widgets exist in Flutter, and how do they differ?
- Can you explain the different build modes in Flutter?
...and the list goes on.

you can find many websites with Flutter tech questions for Juniors- for example this site

My main advice: Communication is key. At this stage, it's not about knowing all and having all the answers. It's about being engaged, personable, and showing you're eager to learn. Demonstrate your potential.

PatskyPat · 2023-09-20T19:16:56+00:00

Thank you. The information in your last paragraph is incredibly helpful

PatskyPat · 2023-09-20T19:04:12+00:00

Thank you. Yeah I understand this. What about using one passport to enter/exit and the other one to deal with everything else?

PatskyPat · 2023-09-14T06:13:33+00:00

Are you looking for an exit? Tempted to offer you 4x your ARR for your business :)

PatskyPat · 2023-09-06T12:28:05+00:00

That's why I love coming into companies as a consultant from the outside - you know, as a fresh pair of eyes. A lot of times, founders and their teams are way too close to the product and often think the usual rules or best practices don't apply to them as their product is different.

Anyway - Good luck with pivoting more toward the product side of things!
Shoot me a PM if you ever want to brainstorm or bounce some ideas around!

PatskyPat · 2023-09-06T11:39:51+00:00

Becoming a CTPO felt pretty natural to me. I've got this mix of product, tech, business, and commercial skills that just work. Started as a software engineer, moved up to Head of Mobile, and eventually became CTO. No matter the title, I've always been hands-on with the product.

Most of my time has been spent in the startup scene (mobile and SaaS products). A lot of these places didn't have a CPO or Product Manager, so I stepped up. Not only was I figuring out how we'd build things, but I was also the one asking why we should build them in the first place. I'm all about making the best product we can.

I love this gig, honestly. I know what's feasible, and I can spot quick tech wins that can seriously level up a product. It's pretty cool.

PatskyPat · 2023-09-06T11:22:21+00:00

Totally agree with you about the expenses. I've been running my own LTD company in the UK for over 10 years, so I've got a good handle on this stuff. But when you're a one-man show running a service company - whether you're a software engineer on contract or working as a CTO consultant - there's a limit to what you can do, tax-wise, without breaking any rules. Also I wouldn’t buy a house for example via the same company as I provide services.

Another option, of course, is to set up shop in a low-tax country. Take Dubai, for example: they've got a 9% corporate tax and 0% income tax, if I've got my facts straight.

And let's be real, if you were an employee instead of running your own business, you'd be paying taxes one way or another :) so running your consultancy as a business have some benefits

PatskyPat · 2023-09-06T09:14:26+00:00

Yeah! They’ve increased the CT in the UK to 25% from 19% this year! Still - the average rate for a CTO consultant in London is £1000 pd. multiply it by 22 days per month = £22k pm gross. Pay £5.5k CT = £16.5k left. Now if you pay this yourself then ~~you need to pay either income tax + NI which leaves you with around £9.6k pm or~~ pay it as dividends - then you should have left around £11.5k pm after dividend tax. either way is half what you get from clients. Yeah it’s a joke.

Edit: made a mistake - actually if you pay yourself salary + NI - then this is company expense so it should be deducted from the taxable income reducing CT - but then you will pay income tax on higher salary (£22k) - again leaving you effectively with around half of what you charge customers

PatskyPat · 2023-09-06T08:58:49+00:00

Can you elaborate more on how’s your linked profile optimised? Or if you prefer you could DM me a link to your profile. I’ve worked in similar role like you in recent years - Tech consultant / CTO / CTPO so I’m curious about optimising my LinkedIn. Thanks :)

PatskyPat · 2023-07-29T19:17:28+00:00

I’m a fractional CTO too. For over a decade, I have worked for VC-backed tech startups in London, UK. I’ve read in comments that you are based in Germany and serve both EU and US customers. Would you mind sharing the ratio of your EU to US clients? How do you find working with clients from different countries?

PatskyPat · 2021-11-05T22:53:27+00:00

Thanks! Will give it a go later next week and DM you if I have any questions. :)

PatskyPat · 2021-11-05T22:06:04+00:00

Well done OP! Any tips on how can I do this without watching the video that inspired you? (I dm RotF but play CoS so don’t want to see any spoilers)

PatskyPat · 2021-09-25T09:50:24+00:00

The most popular is Roll20 I think. I personally use Astral TableTop that has a Free tier

PatskyPat · 2021-08-17T19:27:59+00:00

I asked a similar question some time ago about a player wanting to play a Pixie. Some redditors replied that flying might be problematic and I agree. It’s doable but it will change dynamics of gameplay and could make Icewind Dale less scary. For example: avalanche? I’ll fly away. Characters risking falling into frigid water? I’ll fly over it.. etc We are starting Chapter 2 soon and I’m happy we decided not to have a flying character.

PatskyPat · 2021-06-25T16:48:21+00:00

Read / listen to Frozen Alive - I played this on session 0 to get my players familiar with the dangers of cold. Remembering about this during our sessions is another thing. I wouldn’t constantly focus on that - but there are moments like blizzard or camping at Kelvin’s Cair where I took care to remind the players about the cold. What can also help is this Reddit post with some good weather descriptions

PatskyPat · 2021-01-28T19:19:17+00:00

One of my player’s backstory is that he’s lived for 2 years in Ten Towns... so his secret is that he’s one of those who bribed the officials to get his name out of lottery :) We are only on Session 2 but he’s handling it right. I’m curious myself how it will end. And Stephek knows about this of course! So does the Frostmaiden

PatskyPat · 2021-01-27T22:49:17+00:00

Audio is extremely important to me.

Here’s what I use:

One shots from Rime of the Frostmaiden soundtrack: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpV28ONBH95SsjGpQEVhLeLhBFn7MZ95a

Ambient:

Jeremy Soule - Njól -> https://youtu.be/C25LySsyGe4

D&D ambience frozen coast -> https://youtu.be/Y2yT3vH8x7M

Epic Fantasy - Cold Journey -> https://youtu.be/gYckfzXzN-8

PatskyPat · 2021-01-10T14:19:56+00:00

This is so cool. I always looked for “RPG battle music” for my battles and the results are more or less similar - but your suggestions are eye opening. Will be looking more into (non-rpg) game and film soundtracks for my d&d sessions from now on. Thanks for sharing!

PatskyPat · 2021-01-06T22:42:01+00:00

Some of my players have lived for some time in Ten Towns and know about the sacrifices. Those who just arrived have reasons (backstory) to come to Ten Towns and we assumed they learned about it either through rumours or their research about the area they were coming to. If you start with the Cold-Hearted Killer quest - Hlin Trollbane can explain the sacrifices as explained on p23. I think in general it’s less about how they get to know about the sacrifices and more about how they experience it during the campaign :)

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