I'm sure this has been all over the Net by now, but a short summary. In the early 90s, a spinoff from Civilization was made called Colonization. Basically being the same game shrunk a bit to cover the 1500-1800s age where Europe had colonies all over the world. Well, now they are using the Civilization 4 engine to make a new Colonization. Its been known about for a little under a month now.
This game blogger at Variety ( http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/06/civilization-iv.html?cid=120259136#comment-120259136 ) took offense to it, claiming it either glorifies the European atrocities that took place, or whitewashes it if the player chooses to not kill everyone in sight.
This is an incredibly stupid line of thinking. Dare I say it? IT IS MADE OF FAIL. (For non Netspeak people, this means it is incredibly wrong on so many levels as to be an embarrassment not only to the writer, but to anyone misfortunate enough to read it.)
While I am loathe to link to it, giving him any more readers (Like anyone who doesn't know me reads my prattle anyhow!), it had to be responded to. Because I play wargames and other games that take place in history, I had to respond to it. And will repeat my message here:
This article was horrible, a joke of your average uber left wing. Another reason the word liberal is almost a swear word these days.
Colonization is NOT genocide, abuse, and pillaging. Some of the actions colonists did certainly were however. Which in many cases these oh so honorable native tribes were doing to each other to begin with. The European colonists just did it oh so much better.
The game itself is based on history. It could get people to research and learn more on what really happened. Many games are based on history.
I am a tabletop games player. I have a game based on Vietnam. Obviously someone is controlling the NVA. It doesn't mean its glorifying or whitewashing NVA troops who put American soldiers in slave labor camps. Nor does it mean the US player is proudly dropping Napalm on innocent villages and burning, screaming children are the result.
Hell, the game actually had the approval of a Vietnam veteran's museum here in the US!
When we play Axis & Allies does it mean we are ignoring the horrible things Germany, and Japan did? Howabout Stalin whose atrocities were mostly focused on his OWN PEOPLE? What about the US and Doolittle's Raid? The A Bomb? The UK's empire of destruction?
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
In fact, it REMINDS us of what happened, both horrible and not, and hopefully will help us learn from the past and NEVER LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN. (Fat chance given the average amount of ignorance and lack of thinking proudly proclaimed by your average human being. And those in power just want more power, no matter the cost...)
When I play Avalon Hill's old Gettysburg game on the side of the Confederates, it doesn't mean I support slavery. In fact I despise slavery and the oppression of anyone, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, sexual preference, or religion!
Unlike you Mr. Variety blog writer, I know history, and try to learn from it. You can learn from games. Given that almost every post in this thread disagrees with you either in full or partially, I hope you learn something from history too.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wednesday and Thursday Game Reports
Wednesday was a Sarge's trip. 1500 points of my Tyranids vs 1500 points of Space Marines. Things did not.. go well. I forgot the Move Through Cover rules, meaning my Genestealers got caught in a crossfire and did nothing but die. My Lictor pretty much had the same horrible luck for assaulting and cover, and was also vaporized. My Carnifex and Hive Tyrant survived till I called the game, but didn't exactly light the world on fire. Neither did my Biovores or Zoanthropes. When it came to vehicle armor penetration I mostly rolled 1s and 2s on the Glancing Hits table, outside of one full on destruction of a Vindicator. My Termagaunts did little outside of damaging a Landspeeder, and my Hormagaunts did minimal damage to an Assault Squad. Altogether it was a rather sad comedy of errors.
Thursday was Fantasy Flight Games' "A Game of Thrones" with Pico and Starfury. It was a learning game where I did horribly. Its a Diplomacy styled boardgame where combat is non luck based, and only various in game events are based on chance. (Card draws for various events such as getting more troops and whatnot.) While a fun and interesting game, it really does seem to be one of those games where if you start losing you might as well quit unless you have some sneaky plan or help from other players. For example. I didn't notice how many assist units Starfury had near a location I attempted to capture. I lost horribly, and suffered while given the game's ALL OR NOTHING combat (with minor exceptions), Starfury lost nothing. Then an event came up where one of the game's quasi currency units had to be used to stop raiding barbarian dudes. Starfury and Pico had nearly double the currency than I did at the time. We had to blind bid this currency and the combined value had to beat a target number to stop the barbarians. If this combined number isn't high enough, everyone loses troops, and the lowest bidder loses DOUBLE. Well, being in a bad place I risked bidding nothing. They didn't bid enough to make the value so I got hurt even worse than I already was, causing a nice death spiral. Next turn they both assaulted me in my weakened position and I conceded. The death spiral got further. I don't do good in losing positions, as I am forced to try ever riskier moves that inevitably fail putting me in an even worse position. Its why I do not gamble. I do not have great luck.
While its a fun game, the ALL OR NOTHING combat leaves me a bit cold and I certainly won't be clamoring to play it at all. From time to time its an interesting game, but the combat system is a deal killer for me. Perhaps the expansions mitigate this a bit. But it is a Fantasy Flight Games title and so far I have yet to play a single game from them (excepting maybe Twilight Imperium whose only problem is how LONG it takes to play) that hasn't had some flaw that turned an otherwise well crafted and clever game into a lower rung.
We then talked about the current game situation. It looks like it will be switching to Wednesdays, when I am playing 40K. I love 40K in spite of it being a silly game. (On an IRC thread I made a comment about 40K many folks found rather true: "40K is about as serious as a fart after a 6 pack of beer.") This isn't too bad as they want to run D&D 4th edition, which I am mentally, spiritually, and logically opposed to playing for reasons which are 50% sound, and 50% rabid fanboyism.
What is interesting is many of the reasons I won't play D&D 4th are the reasons Pico isn't fond (to put it nicely) of 40K past 2nd edition. In both situations we have a game we are very fond of and don't want to buy new rulesbooks and learn new rules that screw up what we already enjoy. It doesn't help that every book I have bought for 3.x is now useless. The 2nd edition AD&D and earlier editions all mostly work together and I love Basic D&D a ton so they have much use, but the 3.x stuff which was so powers and abilities heavy are now wasted. The new edition doesn't have Psionics, the Oriental Adventures classes are gone, all the extra races from Forgotten Realms have gone poof, ect, ect.
Outside of the FANTASTIC Dungeon Tiles sets I have a bunch of books that are pretty much useless, especially given how so many people are buying up 4th edition like its made of sweet candy.
All these rabid consumers willing to have their entire collection invalidated, but not willing to drop any coin for quality fantasy RPGs like Tunnels & Trolls, Runequest, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, or Castles & Crusades?
10 years ago I might have cared about how bad the RPG industry is doing. Now I don't think I mind at all. D&D players have reaped what they sowed. Maybe if they tried some new games instead of opening their wallets every time a new edition came out things might be different. But what do I know? According to RPGnet new editions are the best things ever!
Thus I am staying out of the game. Besides, even if it is a good game, I am so disposed to hate it I wouldn't give it a fair shot, and I would probably ruin it for the two groups that have invited me to play it already. And that isn't fair to them. Even if I do wish from the bottom of my heart they would hate it and play something else instead.
With luck Necromunda will still be played once a month at Sarge's to keep us hanging out a little bit though. But who knows? If nothing else, I at least gain some free time to attempt to accomplish things...
Thursday was Fantasy Flight Games' "A Game of Thrones" with Pico and Starfury. It was a learning game where I did horribly. Its a Diplomacy styled boardgame where combat is non luck based, and only various in game events are based on chance. (Card draws for various events such as getting more troops and whatnot.) While a fun and interesting game, it really does seem to be one of those games where if you start losing you might as well quit unless you have some sneaky plan or help from other players. For example. I didn't notice how many assist units Starfury had near a location I attempted to capture. I lost horribly, and suffered while given the game's ALL OR NOTHING combat (with minor exceptions), Starfury lost nothing. Then an event came up where one of the game's quasi currency units had to be used to stop raiding barbarian dudes. Starfury and Pico had nearly double the currency than I did at the time. We had to blind bid this currency and the combined value had to beat a target number to stop the barbarians. If this combined number isn't high enough, everyone loses troops, and the lowest bidder loses DOUBLE. Well, being in a bad place I risked bidding nothing. They didn't bid enough to make the value so I got hurt even worse than I already was, causing a nice death spiral. Next turn they both assaulted me in my weakened position and I conceded. The death spiral got further. I don't do good in losing positions, as I am forced to try ever riskier moves that inevitably fail putting me in an even worse position. Its why I do not gamble. I do not have great luck.
While its a fun game, the ALL OR NOTHING combat leaves me a bit cold and I certainly won't be clamoring to play it at all. From time to time its an interesting game, but the combat system is a deal killer for me. Perhaps the expansions mitigate this a bit. But it is a Fantasy Flight Games title and so far I have yet to play a single game from them (excepting maybe Twilight Imperium whose only problem is how LONG it takes to play) that hasn't had some flaw that turned an otherwise well crafted and clever game into a lower rung.
We then talked about the current game situation. It looks like it will be switching to Wednesdays, when I am playing 40K. I love 40K in spite of it being a silly game. (On an IRC thread I made a comment about 40K many folks found rather true: "40K is about as serious as a fart after a 6 pack of beer.") This isn't too bad as they want to run D&D 4th edition, which I am mentally, spiritually, and logically opposed to playing for reasons which are 50% sound, and 50% rabid fanboyism.
What is interesting is many of the reasons I won't play D&D 4th are the reasons Pico isn't fond (to put it nicely) of 40K past 2nd edition. In both situations we have a game we are very fond of and don't want to buy new rulesbooks and learn new rules that screw up what we already enjoy. It doesn't help that every book I have bought for 3.x is now useless. The 2nd edition AD&D and earlier editions all mostly work together and I love Basic D&D a ton so they have much use, but the 3.x stuff which was so powers and abilities heavy are now wasted. The new edition doesn't have Psionics, the Oriental Adventures classes are gone, all the extra races from Forgotten Realms have gone poof, ect, ect.
Outside of the FANTASTIC Dungeon Tiles sets I have a bunch of books that are pretty much useless, especially given how so many people are buying up 4th edition like its made of sweet candy.
All these rabid consumers willing to have their entire collection invalidated, but not willing to drop any coin for quality fantasy RPGs like Tunnels & Trolls, Runequest, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, or Castles & Crusades?
10 years ago I might have cared about how bad the RPG industry is doing. Now I don't think I mind at all. D&D players have reaped what they sowed. Maybe if they tried some new games instead of opening their wallets every time a new edition came out things might be different. But what do I know? According to RPGnet new editions are the best things ever!
Thus I am staying out of the game. Besides, even if it is a good game, I am so disposed to hate it I wouldn't give it a fair shot, and I would probably ruin it for the two groups that have invited me to play it already. And that isn't fair to them. Even if I do wish from the bottom of my heart they would hate it and play something else instead.
With luck Necromunda will still be played once a month at Sarge's to keep us hanging out a little bit though. But who knows? If nothing else, I at least gain some free time to attempt to accomplish things...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
New Citadel Washes
Over at the big Warhammer 40K thread on Something Awful, much has been said about the new Citadel Washes that have come out. Last week I picked up 3 colors, Badab Black being the one I will show in the picture to follow.
Apparently these are NOT the merely watered down paint washes of olden days (which I actually like for what they are), but a new formula that really gets in those nooks and crannies. Its almost a "magic dip" solution. It makes meh paint jobs look halfway decent.
Case in point:
Notice how the 3 on the left aren't so bright and shiny, plus they have lots of detail you could not see on the one lonely fellow to the right.
This stuff is great! A nice paint wash never hurt any model. Just go either heavy or light for effect, and use the right colors. I tried Ogryn Flesh on a couple test models first, and while nice, its too subtle over a bright orange or orange with the old red wash model such as these. Hive Fleet Mustafar is simply too bright, and the black deepens them up, makes them look alive, and less like the paint pen over enamel spraypaint models they actually are.
I LIKE IT.
Apparently these are NOT the merely watered down paint washes of olden days (which I actually like for what they are), but a new formula that really gets in those nooks and crannies. Its almost a "magic dip" solution. It makes meh paint jobs look halfway decent.
Case in point:
Notice how the 3 on the left aren't so bright and shiny, plus they have lots of detail you could not see on the one lonely fellow to the right.
This stuff is great! A nice paint wash never hurt any model. Just go either heavy or light for effect, and use the right colors. I tried Ogryn Flesh on a couple test models first, and while nice, its too subtle over a bright orange or orange with the old red wash model such as these. Hive Fleet Mustafar is simply too bright, and the black deepens them up, makes them look alive, and less like the paint pen over enamel spraypaint models they actually are.
I LIKE IT.
Tuesday Game Reports
Zombies mayhem, with myself, MagicDrew, and 9IN. (Followed by a quick game of Three Dragon Ante which was called for time but MagicDrew was OWNING at.)
As the picture showed, we played Zombies!!! with the first two expansions. By endgame, every zombie was on board (we used dice to keep track of zombie kills) and all but one of the Military Base tiles was on the table. I nearly won via 25 zombie kills, but 3 failed attack rolls took me and half my zombie kills out. With a nearly open heliport on the base (thanks to a quick and easy house rule where if there are no zombies left to place, the location is zombie free) 9IN ran in and took it. My luck at zombie killing failed when I needed it the most. Nobody actually went into the mall at all, and 9IN and MagicDrew both grabbed Jeeps from the Military Base Motor Pool allowing for some high speed shenanigans. It was a fun, quick night of action and adventure.
I still want to do a "Survival Horror" styled set of houserules to the game though. Maybe 5 life at start, 10 life max, 6 starting bullets, hand size as big as your current life (damage means you choose and discard a car), discard as many cards as you want and play as many cards as you want per turn (but only 1 during each player's turn including your own), and dying takes you out of the game entirely. But dead players on their turn move 2d6 zombies and may draw and discard up to a 3 card hand (only 1 discard per turn, and may only play 1 card per turn) in order to kill off everyone else.
And now that we have played some I need another bag of zombies, which would have made 9IN actually have to EARN his escape, and had our board filled with many more hungry undead.. Oh.. and they have a CLOWN related expansion coming out.
You heard me.
ZOMBIE.
CLOWNS.
As the picture showed, we played Zombies!!! with the first two expansions. By endgame, every zombie was on board (we used dice to keep track of zombie kills) and all but one of the Military Base tiles was on the table. I nearly won via 25 zombie kills, but 3 failed attack rolls took me and half my zombie kills out. With a nearly open heliport on the base (thanks to a quick and easy house rule where if there are no zombies left to place, the location is zombie free) 9IN ran in and took it. My luck at zombie killing failed when I needed it the most. Nobody actually went into the mall at all, and 9IN and MagicDrew both grabbed Jeeps from the Military Base Motor Pool allowing for some high speed shenanigans. It was a fun, quick night of action and adventure.
I still want to do a "Survival Horror" styled set of houserules to the game though. Maybe 5 life at start, 10 life max, 6 starting bullets, hand size as big as your current life (damage means you choose and discard a car), discard as many cards as you want and play as many cards as you want per turn (but only 1 during each player's turn including your own), and dying takes you out of the game entirely. But dead players on their turn move 2d6 zombies and may draw and discard up to a 3 card hand (only 1 discard per turn, and may only play 1 card per turn) in order to kill off everyone else.
And now that we have played some I need another bag of zombies, which would have made 9IN actually have to EARN his escape, and had our board filled with many more hungry undead.. Oh.. and they have a CLOWN related expansion coming out.
You heard me.
ZOMBIE.
CLOWNS.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Wednesday Game Report (And other musings)
For the last week or so there really hasn't been much to report on. An utterly awful failure of an attempt at playing videogames with people? Nahh, nobody cares about that.
Last Wednesday was the first actual gaming day I had. And it was a pretty darned good one. Went down to Sarge's and got in a 2 on 1 40K game. 750 points of Tyranids (me) allied with 750 Space Marines versus a 1500 point Witch Hunters force.
Turn 1 went to the Sisters, whose excellent setup allowed their heavy bolters to kill off most of my Genestealers. Their commander (Saint Celestine I think? The one that keeps coming back to life with 1 wound at the cost of Faith Points..) took a few more out with flamers, leaving me REALLY worried as close to 33% of my army points died in a single shooting round. Then she charged and my two surviving Genestealers and one angry Patriarch (Its officially a Broodlord, but it will always be a Patriarch to me!) made short work of her. My Hormogaunt brood charged in to a big squad of Sisters Repentia while my Zoanthrope, Warrior Brood, and Biovore provided some fair fire support. Actually fantastic fire support for Tyranids. My Marine ally was dependable and solid, taking few casualties, but bringing his bike and character heavy units where they were most needed, and his Scout snipers providing some nasty cover fire. Even the Grey Knights showing up did little to halt our advance. Hormogaunts are NASTY against S3 T3 units. Their sheer speed makes up for their lack of "oomph". And whatever they didn't take out, my Patriarch did. It was a solid, fun game.
It was followed up by a quick game of Magic where the Witch Hunters player took the day with his green megamonster/token beastie deck. He got revenge and played a damn solid game of Magic.
I picked up the Chaos Daemons codex while there and now I REALLY want to start up a Tzeentch army. I already have a Lord of Change.
For my starter 1000 point army, my initial expenditures would be as such:
3 5 man Pink Horror squads. (20 dollars a squad, 60 bucks total, 120 points a squad, 360 points total.)
3 Screamers of Tzeentch. (40 dollars for a 5 Screamer squad or 30 for a 3? Yeah. Look to the future. 48 points for the squad.)
2 Daemon Princes. (35 dollars each, 70 bucks total. 170 points each, or 340 total.)
Points: 748.
Cost: 170 dollars. (At Warstore 20% off it would be 136 dollars.)
Once I add in my Lord of Change (250 points), I have a solid 1000 point army that can go to 1030 max.
If I need to do a higher point army I split the force with my Chaos Marines. Later expansions would probably include more Screamers (at least another 40 dollar box), another Daemon Prince (35), and trio of Flamers of Tzeentch (15 bucks, 35 points a model.)
90 more dollars (72 Warstore) and it would add 387 points total to my army (counting the 2 extra Screamers from the first 1K.).
Not the greatest value add on mind you, but it would add flexibility and usefulness.
Whenever they release the Blue Scribes HQ model I could hit a solid 1500 with a few guys left over. If I keep them all on square bases it means I also have a small extra Warhammer Fantasy army as well.
I was thinking about getting into Field of Glory, but the odds of anyone else buying into the game (even with 48 plastic Roman or Celts for 30 bucks an army box) is rare right now, and the models haven't even been released yet.
With my cutting down on gaming purchases, as long as I do the army slowly and don't buy the whole blasted thing in one week, I could have myself a nice Chaos Daemon army to support my Chaos Marine army. I play 40K the most of any game and despite the game's flaws and Games Workshop being run by a bunch of tools, I love it the most beyond almost any other tabletop game I play.
With my AT-43 armies nearly complete, I can do it. Its just gonna take most of the summer to do. Maybe a unit a week, or every other week at MSRP from Sarge's since I play there. So a month and a half if I buy one unit a week.
Man, why did I buy the Chaos Daemons codex? My love for the darker powers is too overwhelming...
Last Wednesday was the first actual gaming day I had. And it was a pretty darned good one. Went down to Sarge's and got in a 2 on 1 40K game. 750 points of Tyranids (me) allied with 750 Space Marines versus a 1500 point Witch Hunters force.
Turn 1 went to the Sisters, whose excellent setup allowed their heavy bolters to kill off most of my Genestealers. Their commander (Saint Celestine I think? The one that keeps coming back to life with 1 wound at the cost of Faith Points..) took a few more out with flamers, leaving me REALLY worried as close to 33% of my army points died in a single shooting round. Then she charged and my two surviving Genestealers and one angry Patriarch (Its officially a Broodlord, but it will always be a Patriarch to me!) made short work of her. My Hormogaunt brood charged in to a big squad of Sisters Repentia while my Zoanthrope, Warrior Brood, and Biovore provided some fair fire support. Actually fantastic fire support for Tyranids. My Marine ally was dependable and solid, taking few casualties, but bringing his bike and character heavy units where they were most needed, and his Scout snipers providing some nasty cover fire. Even the Grey Knights showing up did little to halt our advance. Hormogaunts are NASTY against S3 T3 units. Their sheer speed makes up for their lack of "oomph". And whatever they didn't take out, my Patriarch did. It was a solid, fun game.
It was followed up by a quick game of Magic where the Witch Hunters player took the day with his green megamonster/token beastie deck. He got revenge and played a damn solid game of Magic.
I picked up the Chaos Daemons codex while there and now I REALLY want to start up a Tzeentch army. I already have a Lord of Change.
For my starter 1000 point army, my initial expenditures would be as such:
3 5 man Pink Horror squads. (20 dollars a squad, 60 bucks total, 120 points a squad, 360 points total.)
3 Screamers of Tzeentch. (40 dollars for a 5 Screamer squad or 30 for a 3? Yeah. Look to the future. 48 points for the squad.)
2 Daemon Princes. (35 dollars each, 70 bucks total. 170 points each, or 340 total.)
Points: 748.
Cost: 170 dollars. (At Warstore 20% off it would be 136 dollars.)
Once I add in my Lord of Change (250 points), I have a solid 1000 point army that can go to 1030 max.
If I need to do a higher point army I split the force with my Chaos Marines. Later expansions would probably include more Screamers (at least another 40 dollar box), another Daemon Prince (35), and trio of Flamers of Tzeentch (15 bucks, 35 points a model.)
90 more dollars (72 Warstore) and it would add 387 points total to my army (counting the 2 extra Screamers from the first 1K.).
Not the greatest value add on mind you, but it would add flexibility and usefulness.
Whenever they release the Blue Scribes HQ model I could hit a solid 1500 with a few guys left over. If I keep them all on square bases it means I also have a small extra Warhammer Fantasy army as well.
I was thinking about getting into Field of Glory, but the odds of anyone else buying into the game (even with 48 plastic Roman or Celts for 30 bucks an army box) is rare right now, and the models haven't even been released yet.
With my cutting down on gaming purchases, as long as I do the army slowly and don't buy the whole blasted thing in one week, I could have myself a nice Chaos Daemon army to support my Chaos Marine army. I play 40K the most of any game and despite the game's flaws and Games Workshop being run by a bunch of tools, I love it the most beyond almost any other tabletop game I play.
With my AT-43 armies nearly complete, I can do it. Its just gonna take most of the summer to do. Maybe a unit a week, or every other week at MSRP from Sarge's since I play there. So a month and a half if I buy one unit a week.
Man, why did I buy the Chaos Daemons codex? My love for the darker powers is too overwhelming...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Some short thoughts on D&D 4th edition.
What do I feel about the newest, hottest thing?
My perception of 4th is a shameless, soulless money grab designed to emulate MMORPGs, which really aren't RPGs at all. I'm not even sure MMORPGs could be considered akin to cybersex to RPGing's actual sex. (If nobody minds the comparison. I guess this would make games like Fallout "self love" and console RPGs making out with your pillow.)
D20 was well intentioned, but turned out to be complicated in all new ways compared to older D&D systems, and mostly became adventures in how to make the most munchkin character and tactical wargames where maybe some RP broke out from time to time. It wasn't freewheeling and it seemed to encourage BY THE BOOK ONLY play ala early 80s Gary Gygax in Dragon articles. (The dirty little secret of AD&D is almost nobody actually played it by the book.)
Honestly as a gamer it makes my heart sink that D&D seems to have such a stranglehold on the market and that whatever new edition comes out immediately becomes the big dog, with people praising it to no end. (Though 4th hasn't had as much of it as 3 got. Maybe if 3.5 was never released it wouldn't look like so much of a money ploy?)
I just don't understand new D&D being the king at all. And I don't understand why new editions of games are all the rage. If you already loved the game you were playing, did you really need a new version? Do you have that much money burning a hole in your pocket so you want to rebuy what you had already, maybe in a form that's not as good anyhow?
I guess I will just shuffle off to oldie places like Dragonsfoot or wherever people like a wide variety of games. Too bad they are few and far between, both on the Internet and real life.
No wonder why I barely play RPGs anymore. I'm kind of sick of even feeling like an outsider in niche hobbies. I like RPGs but don't like current D&D. I like comic books but am not a huge Marvel or DC fan. I like electronic RPGs but I don't think Final Fantasy is anything better than ok. I like cartoons and anime but mostly like stuff with giant robots or more adventurous, cerebral fare. I like miniatures wargaming, but loathe painting. I like videogames but cannot stand (or at the least have a mild distaste for most of) EA Sports, Real Time Strategy, MMORPG, First Person Shooter, or that GTA Gangster game nonsense.
Sometimes I wonder if its my own brain sabotaging me.
My perception of 4th is a shameless, soulless money grab designed to emulate MMORPGs, which really aren't RPGs at all. I'm not even sure MMORPGs could be considered akin to cybersex to RPGing's actual sex. (If nobody minds the comparison. I guess this would make games like Fallout "self love" and console RPGs making out with your pillow.)
D20 was well intentioned, but turned out to be complicated in all new ways compared to older D&D systems, and mostly became adventures in how to make the most munchkin character and tactical wargames where maybe some RP broke out from time to time. It wasn't freewheeling and it seemed to encourage BY THE BOOK ONLY play ala early 80s Gary Gygax in Dragon articles. (The dirty little secret of AD&D is almost nobody actually played it by the book.)
Honestly as a gamer it makes my heart sink that D&D seems to have such a stranglehold on the market and that whatever new edition comes out immediately becomes the big dog, with people praising it to no end. (Though 4th hasn't had as much of it as 3 got. Maybe if 3.5 was never released it wouldn't look like so much of a money ploy?)
I just don't understand new D&D being the king at all. And I don't understand why new editions of games are all the rage. If you already loved the game you were playing, did you really need a new version? Do you have that much money burning a hole in your pocket so you want to rebuy what you had already, maybe in a form that's not as good anyhow?
I guess I will just shuffle off to oldie places like Dragonsfoot or wherever people like a wide variety of games. Too bad they are few and far between, both on the Internet and real life.
No wonder why I barely play RPGs anymore. I'm kind of sick of even feeling like an outsider in niche hobbies. I like RPGs but don't like current D&D. I like comic books but am not a huge Marvel or DC fan. I like electronic RPGs but I don't think Final Fantasy is anything better than ok. I like cartoons and anime but mostly like stuff with giant robots or more adventurous, cerebral fare. I like miniatures wargaming, but loathe painting. I like videogames but cannot stand (or at the least have a mild distaste for most of) EA Sports, Real Time Strategy, MMORPG, First Person Shooter, or that GTA Gangster game nonsense.
Sometimes I wonder if its my own brain sabotaging me.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday Game Reports
This Tuesday was just myself, MagicDrew, and 9IN. It became the DAY OF STUPID GAMING. Many games played, most of which were on the low end of the complexity scale.
We started off with All Wound Up by Twilight Creations. You set up a cemetery course for your wind up zombie figures to run. Players play and bid cards to make their zombies move, hopefully in the direction you want them to go. 9IN won this one pretty easily. I now want another set and want to make actual 3d courses to run lots of zombies through instead of the generally iffy cardboard maps. Sometimes the zombies get caught on the edges when moving from board to board, and the game sort of demands a nice fun layout.
This was followed up with Don't Break the Ice! Yes, the old kid's game where you have to tap out ice blocks and not be the sucker who lets poor Mr Bear fall through. Jenga is clearly the lame adults version of this. Except this game is less snooty, and the little plastic ice blocks look REALLY good. They could have miniatures wargame uses I think. I forget if 9IN or MagicDrew won this one.
Then to continue the silly, Strolling Bowling. I got it at clearance at Wal Mart for 5 bucks, remembering fondly the game as a child when my then into bowling dad had it. Basically you have a wind up bowling ball on hoppy feet I have named MR. BOWLIEMAN who tends to go wherever the hell he wants. Though an impassioned plea by me actually made him start cooperating with me. I still came in last, and 9IN won this one. Its a hoot. If you can find this for 10 bucks or less, its a must buy. Its simple silly fun. Grab a bowling scorecard from the net and print it, and stick it in with the game that fits in its little plastic shell/bowling lane and keep it with your travel gaming stuff. You never know when you will need a quick, fun game to play.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arepeejee/294656920/ (Someone else's picture of MR BOWLIEMAN. He does not love you. But you must love him or to the gutter you will land!)
The next actual tabletop game was Deluxe Yahtzee. Another game I want an extra copy of (Making Strolling Bowling the only one on the list I don't have need of a second set for actually..) because it has some damned useful components. If you don't know how Yahtzee works go to Wikipedia and come back here. I bought this set for my dad a couple years ago because I remember it being one of the few games my parents actually played together. My dad never even opened this one. Well, he is no longer with us, and I have made use of it once before. Its a fun game of chance with lots of probability odds to play with. I came in second with 9IN continuing his game domination run. I am impressed with the Deluxe set as the dice are really nice pretty gold see through sparklies, the dice cup is nice faux leather with felt inner lining, and the dice tray is pretty decent. IIRC, it originally retailed for 15 bucks. Any game specialist store would charge that for the tray or cup alone.
We finalized the night with Dr. Mario on the Nintendo Wii. Its only got 2 player local multiplayer (that I can tell anyhow) which is a shame, but its as fun as its always been, though now its got a few new modes, and obviously looks better than the NES original. Plus you can use your Miis so Rufus got to battle Lenin with pills. Yet again, 9IN won, utterly dominating even though he had never played any Dr. Mario before. Eventually I got good enough to give him a solid fight though. Well worth your 10 bucks on WiiWare.
Sadly, turning on my Wii showed me how many games on their service I need to buy. Some because I have always wanted to play them, some because its more convenient to play them on the Wii than my old consoles. And many more because game saves on pre flash memory systems all eventually die when the batteries finally give up the ghost.
We started off with All Wound Up by Twilight Creations. You set up a cemetery course for your wind up zombie figures to run. Players play and bid cards to make their zombies move, hopefully in the direction you want them to go. 9IN won this one pretty easily. I now want another set and want to make actual 3d courses to run lots of zombies through instead of the generally iffy cardboard maps. Sometimes the zombies get caught on the edges when moving from board to board, and the game sort of demands a nice fun layout.
This was followed up with Don't Break the Ice! Yes, the old kid's game where you have to tap out ice blocks and not be the sucker who lets poor Mr Bear fall through. Jenga is clearly the lame adults version of this. Except this game is less snooty, and the little plastic ice blocks look REALLY good. They could have miniatures wargame uses I think. I forget if 9IN or MagicDrew won this one.
Then to continue the silly, Strolling Bowling. I got it at clearance at Wal Mart for 5 bucks, remembering fondly the game as a child when my then into bowling dad had it. Basically you have a wind up bowling ball on hoppy feet I have named MR. BOWLIEMAN who tends to go wherever the hell he wants. Though an impassioned plea by me actually made him start cooperating with me. I still came in last, and 9IN won this one. Its a hoot. If you can find this for 10 bucks or less, its a must buy. Its simple silly fun. Grab a bowling scorecard from the net and print it, and stick it in with the game that fits in its little plastic shell/bowling lane and keep it with your travel gaming stuff. You never know when you will need a quick, fun game to play.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arepeejee/294656920/ (Someone else's picture of MR BOWLIEMAN. He does not love you. But you must love him or to the gutter you will land!)
The next actual tabletop game was Deluxe Yahtzee. Another game I want an extra copy of (Making Strolling Bowling the only one on the list I don't have need of a second set for actually..) because it has some damned useful components. If you don't know how Yahtzee works go to Wikipedia and come back here. I bought this set for my dad a couple years ago because I remember it being one of the few games my parents actually played together. My dad never even opened this one. Well, he is no longer with us, and I have made use of it once before. Its a fun game of chance with lots of probability odds to play with. I came in second with 9IN continuing his game domination run. I am impressed with the Deluxe set as the dice are really nice pretty gold see through sparklies, the dice cup is nice faux leather with felt inner lining, and the dice tray is pretty decent. IIRC, it originally retailed for 15 bucks. Any game specialist store would charge that for the tray or cup alone.
We finalized the night with Dr. Mario on the Nintendo Wii. Its only got 2 player local multiplayer (that I can tell anyhow) which is a shame, but its as fun as its always been, though now its got a few new modes, and obviously looks better than the NES original. Plus you can use your Miis so Rufus got to battle Lenin with pills. Yet again, 9IN won, utterly dominating even though he had never played any Dr. Mario before. Eventually I got good enough to give him a solid fight though. Well worth your 10 bucks on WiiWare.
Sadly, turning on my Wii showed me how many games on their service I need to buy. Some because I have always wanted to play them, some because its more convenient to play them on the Wii than my old consoles. And many more because game saves on pre flash memory systems all eventually die when the batteries finally give up the ghost.
Some random D&D game and forum thoughts
Over at the blog Grognardia, there was a topic about the problems of D&D. Meh. We all know Gary Gygax said some weird stuff in Dragon Magazine back in the day that totally doesn't sound like the kindly gentleman with the dark sense of humor many gamers have interacted with or heard stories about in the Internet era. Fine and dandy. However, the comments section (you know, that thing my blog doesn't really get. Maybe if it was less game diary stuff and I tried posting mini essays and all it would be different. But I am who I am.) people brought up things like "You old schoolers need to DEFINE what Original Dungeons & Dragons is", and how the retro crowd should stop hiding at sites like Dragonsfoot and the Knights and Knaves Alehouse and talk more at big sites like ENWorld.
This was my response with some basic info on why and how I got into Basic D&D and love it so much. I've probably posted in this blog why I love it so much before now, and I am sure I will do it again. Even if according to my Yahoo Group, MagicDrew loves 3.X D&D and is seriously meh on Basic. I keep trying to explain to my gamegroup our initial RPG campaign wasn't good because it was D20 D&D. It was IN SPITE OF IT. But for most of them it was their first RPG, or at least the first campaign and you always remember your first time, and usually think it was much better and more magical than it was.
Hmm.. I sorta explained it there a bit didn't I?
Interesting topic, though I am not sure the comments about DFooters or K&Kers going to ENWorld is an apt thing. Most forums turn into groupthink.
Try having a 4channer or Something Awful goon use their style of posting at RPGnet. Or vice versa. The style and mannerisms of those forums are set in stone, and would generally clash with the other place, for good or ill.
Its sort of why people go to those retro RPG sites in the first place. The more modern RPG sites are pro modern D&D and tend to be rather dismissive of the older games. (Or in ENWorld's case, probably any RPG that doesn't have the D20 logo on it and the magic words Dungeons and Dragons.)
People want to go to places where their line of thinking is at least on the same wavelength.
Of course this leads to forums like No Mutants Allowed and RPG Codex which seem to loathe anything Bethesda Softworks does with a passion. But if it makes em happy to be with folks who hold similar opinions even if an electronic RPG forum that is console oriented would find them to be completely bonkers (and vice versa!), who are we to judge?
(Except in amusing ourselves at THAT OTHER GUY'S expense?)
As to what version of D&D I would be all gaga over? Moldvay-RC Basic with some 2nd ed AD&D classes and stuff brought over.
When did I get this opinion? After 3.5 was released.
I didn't get my first tabletop RPG till 1988 and it was Runequest. (D&D wasn't permitted till 1990 or so. Thanks Pool of Radiance! )
Is it because its oldschool? No, though I do really like the older "feel" Moldvay and later on Mentzer would add. (And Elmore's B&W artwork. Sooo.. awesome..)
If being old is what mattered, my gamegroup's most beloved campaign and intro into D&D would have been AD&D 1st ed instead of D20. But I tried reading AD&D 1st, and the DMG was just full of ... well the kiddies of today would call it FAIL. I disagreed with almost every design decision on every page. (D20 has its own flaws that are just as bad, if not worse. AD&D's little secret is how few of the rules most people actually USED.)
Later on I would realize Basic D&D, which I got Red-Green boxsets for the NES ROB Robot and Gyromite was basically what I wanted all along. Simple and flexible enough for what I wanted to do, and close enough to AD&D 1 and 2 that I could bring all those lovely classes right over.
This was my response with some basic info on why and how I got into Basic D&D and love it so much. I've probably posted in this blog why I love it so much before now, and I am sure I will do it again. Even if according to my Yahoo Group, MagicDrew loves 3.X D&D and is seriously meh on Basic. I keep trying to explain to my gamegroup our initial RPG campaign wasn't good because it was D20 D&D. It was IN SPITE OF IT. But for most of them it was their first RPG, or at least the first campaign and you always remember your first time, and usually think it was much better and more magical than it was.
Hmm.. I sorta explained it there a bit didn't I?
Interesting topic, though I am not sure the comments about DFooters or K&Kers going to ENWorld is an apt thing. Most forums turn into groupthink.
Try having a 4channer or Something Awful goon use their style of posting at RPGnet. Or vice versa. The style and mannerisms of those forums are set in stone, and would generally clash with the other place, for good or ill.
Its sort of why people go to those retro RPG sites in the first place. The more modern RPG sites are pro modern D&D and tend to be rather dismissive of the older games. (Or in ENWorld's case, probably any RPG that doesn't have the D20 logo on it and the magic words Dungeons and Dragons.)
People want to go to places where their line of thinking is at least on the same wavelength.
Of course this leads to forums like No Mutants Allowed and RPG Codex which seem to loathe anything Bethesda Softworks does with a passion. But if it makes em happy to be with folks who hold similar opinions even if an electronic RPG forum that is console oriented would find them to be completely bonkers (and vice versa!), who are we to judge?
(Except in amusing ourselves at THAT OTHER GUY'S expense?)
As to what version of D&D I would be all gaga over? Moldvay-RC Basic with some 2nd ed AD&D classes and stuff brought over.
When did I get this opinion? After 3.5 was released.
I didn't get my first tabletop RPG till 1988 and it was Runequest. (D&D wasn't permitted till 1990 or so. Thanks Pool of Radiance! )
Is it because its oldschool? No, though I do really like the older "feel" Moldvay and later on Mentzer would add. (And Elmore's B&W artwork. Sooo.. awesome..)
If being old is what mattered, my gamegroup's most beloved campaign and intro into D&D would have been AD&D 1st ed instead of D20. But I tried reading AD&D 1st, and the DMG was just full of ... well the kiddies of today would call it FAIL. I disagreed with almost every design decision on every page. (D20 has its own flaws that are just as bad, if not worse. AD&D's little secret is how few of the rules most people actually USED.)
Later on I would realize Basic D&D, which I got Red-Green boxsets for the NES ROB Robot and Gyromite was basically what I wanted all along. Simple and flexible enough for what I wanted to do, and close enough to AD&D 1 and 2 that I could bring all those lovely classes right over.
Painting. Why I hate it in a visual guide.
That back unit? About 5 hours for a basic flesh coat for the Night Goblins and the bases flocked. What a boring waste of time.
And then I can play AT-43 with these lovelies looking like this OUT OF THE BOX?
(My UNA forces being used as a Necromunda gang.)
I understand that some folks love to paint, and that is cool. But some of us hate this time wasting mess. But as the upper picture shows, even a rudimentary two color job with a flocked and painted base looks better than bare metal/plastic, or an unfinished base. I do plan on adding 2-3 colors and a drybrush highlight to the Gobbos eventually. I just have two more units to get to that level. Ouch.
And more AT-43 to scale with a Warhammer Night Goblin. Excuse my bad black coloring in of the Fire Toad's 01 designation, imma gonna change that soon.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Tuesday and Wednesday Game Reports Plus a Little Bit More
This previous week was a mixture of limited gaming on Tuesday, and a TON of gaming on Wednesday.
Tuesday was a little Solace on my iMac with Starfury, MagicDrew, and 9IN followed up by some Three Dragon Ante. Solace is basically a medieval version of Axis & Allies, albeit one with no air units and with a vastly improved balance between the two sides. We played it as a free for all, with me winning, taking MagicDrew out with some devastating cavalry unit attacks and running roughshod through an AI player and Starfury. Three Dragon Ante was a pair of games with me getting utterly demolished in the first game, and winning solidly in the next one.
Wednesday was the feast day. A late start, but the trip to Sarge's included myself, 9IN, and Pico, with Starfury meeting us there. A nice game of Necromunda was started up, but called with my Van Saar gang holding a tenuous lead. With it being a holiday week, comics come in a day late. Meaning the store had to close an hour early so the books could be picked up in the morning the next day. We did meet some interested people who might join into the Necromunda games while we were there though.
A dinner run and then it was back to my house for the old ICE Hobbit Adventure Boardgame. Its a rather simple and modestly fun boardgame based heavily around drawing cards to boost your Hobbit or give you monsters and events to deal with where you then try to take out the Dragon who is totally not Smaug. *Snicker* Pico won and I bailed out towards the end game. See there is actual player vs player opposition. But its done with riddle cards. You play a riddle card and the opponent has to have a riddle card with the answer on it. I had one card in my hand. EVERYONE took this to mean it was time to gang up on me and get the victory perks from winning. One of my items, money, or these special amulet type items.
Needless to say, there was no need for me to keep playing. My gaming rules include NOT PICKING ON THE WEAKEST PLAYER, so having this rule broken took what enjoyment I may have had out of the game. Its not cool. Whoever is on the losing end just feels belittled and has almost all their chances of winning removed to boot. While everyone should try to win, there comes a point where it should not happen.
After this was a 3 lap race of Formula De using 1 lap car sheets. It was a fair match, though most of us made some mistakes or hit some bad luck during the race. Pico ended up winning, 9IN came in second, Starfury third, and me fourth. I probably wasn't thinking all that clearly because of the last game and took too many risks. And once things got bad, I had to take more risks. Which meant I tended to screw up more. Usually given be being me I would have been lapped multiple times, but I actually pulled back into second place for a short time so for me that was pretty good. It was an early gearshift rules confusion that hurt me. 9IN read the rules to us as I had forgotten most of them (I waited for ThoughtHammer to get the game back in stock for at least 6 months. We have played it once in the near year I have owned it until now. Yeah.) and forgot to mention there were bad penalties for multiple downshifting. Oh well, its only a game and I learned from it. I can tell I played it MUCH better than the first game oh so many months ago.
Starfury is looking into a store that has more tracks for sale which are getting tough to come by so we might get a nice league going sometime. He also had some car issues and has gotten my old Ford Escort off of me. I now had money for a Warstore order to all but finish what I need for my AT-43 Therian forces, and some extra UNA forces, with the UNAs doing double duty as my Necromunda Van Saar gang, the Raiders of Sherwood. I ordered it Monday. It will arrive on Tuesday. WOAH.
Thanks to Ebay I have gotten a hold of 7 more of the old 2nd edition 40K Ork Stormboyz I need, bringing my mob up to 12. I just love those old WW2 German outfit inspired Orks with Rokkit Packs over the current Mad Max Orks we seem to be stuck with. The big green clown Orks were more fun somehow.
On that note this week is a Tuesday only gaming week unless I decide to schlep down to Sarge's even with the ever increasing gas prices. I've been playing 3 times a week and not doing anything but gaming and Internet. Very few projects are getting done, very few chores are being completed, and my DVR, DVD, and Videogame queue has gotten to the point I don't get much new. (Though with my current Saturday and Sunday no Internet sabbaticals I did FINALLY get through my DVR list and even a DVD disk.) Pico and 9IN are off to a Yankees game this week. This also delays our Warhammer Fantasy game another 7 days giving me more time to at least get all my Gobbos painted up in two colors and with flocked bases. Ok. I have around 50 Gobbos to paint their skin and do their bases so I might not reach my main goal. Painting is such a boring chore! It is a big reason I want AT 43 to do well. No painting, yet no collectible blind buy nonsense. But compared to how many Gobbos I had ready when I called Pico to war I have made MASSIVE inroads. Army built, figures assembled and organized, models assembled and base colors thanks to Krylon Fusion applied. Beats a bunch of unpainted plastics and metals in a bunch of big Ziploc baggies!
Tuesday was a little Solace on my iMac with Starfury, MagicDrew, and 9IN followed up by some Three Dragon Ante. Solace is basically a medieval version of Axis & Allies, albeit one with no air units and with a vastly improved balance between the two sides. We played it as a free for all, with me winning, taking MagicDrew out with some devastating cavalry unit attacks and running roughshod through an AI player and Starfury. Three Dragon Ante was a pair of games with me getting utterly demolished in the first game, and winning solidly in the next one.
Wednesday was the feast day. A late start, but the trip to Sarge's included myself, 9IN, and Pico, with Starfury meeting us there. A nice game of Necromunda was started up, but called with my Van Saar gang holding a tenuous lead. With it being a holiday week, comics come in a day late. Meaning the store had to close an hour early so the books could be picked up in the morning the next day. We did meet some interested people who might join into the Necromunda games while we were there though.
A dinner run and then it was back to my house for the old ICE Hobbit Adventure Boardgame. Its a rather simple and modestly fun boardgame based heavily around drawing cards to boost your Hobbit or give you monsters and events to deal with where you then try to take out the Dragon who is totally not Smaug. *Snicker* Pico won and I bailed out towards the end game. See there is actual player vs player opposition. But its done with riddle cards. You play a riddle card and the opponent has to have a riddle card with the answer on it. I had one card in my hand. EVERYONE took this to mean it was time to gang up on me and get the victory perks from winning. One of my items, money, or these special amulet type items.
Needless to say, there was no need for me to keep playing. My gaming rules include NOT PICKING ON THE WEAKEST PLAYER, so having this rule broken took what enjoyment I may have had out of the game. Its not cool. Whoever is on the losing end just feels belittled and has almost all their chances of winning removed to boot. While everyone should try to win, there comes a point where it should not happen.
After this was a 3 lap race of Formula De using 1 lap car sheets. It was a fair match, though most of us made some mistakes or hit some bad luck during the race. Pico ended up winning, 9IN came in second, Starfury third, and me fourth. I probably wasn't thinking all that clearly because of the last game and took too many risks. And once things got bad, I had to take more risks. Which meant I tended to screw up more. Usually given be being me I would have been lapped multiple times, but I actually pulled back into second place for a short time so for me that was pretty good. It was an early gearshift rules confusion that hurt me. 9IN read the rules to us as I had forgotten most of them (I waited for ThoughtHammer to get the game back in stock for at least 6 months. We have played it once in the near year I have owned it until now. Yeah.) and forgot to mention there were bad penalties for multiple downshifting. Oh well, its only a game and I learned from it. I can tell I played it MUCH better than the first game oh so many months ago.
Starfury is looking into a store that has more tracks for sale which are getting tough to come by so we might get a nice league going sometime. He also had some car issues and has gotten my old Ford Escort off of me. I now had money for a Warstore order to all but finish what I need for my AT-43 Therian forces, and some extra UNA forces, with the UNAs doing double duty as my Necromunda Van Saar gang, the Raiders of Sherwood. I ordered it Monday. It will arrive on Tuesday. WOAH.
Thanks to Ebay I have gotten a hold of 7 more of the old 2nd edition 40K Ork Stormboyz I need, bringing my mob up to 12. I just love those old WW2 German outfit inspired Orks with Rokkit Packs over the current Mad Max Orks we seem to be stuck with. The big green clown Orks were more fun somehow.
On that note this week is a Tuesday only gaming week unless I decide to schlep down to Sarge's even with the ever increasing gas prices. I've been playing 3 times a week and not doing anything but gaming and Internet. Very few projects are getting done, very few chores are being completed, and my DVR, DVD, and Videogame queue has gotten to the point I don't get much new. (Though with my current Saturday and Sunday no Internet sabbaticals I did FINALLY get through my DVR list and even a DVD disk.) Pico and 9IN are off to a Yankees game this week. This also delays our Warhammer Fantasy game another 7 days giving me more time to at least get all my Gobbos painted up in two colors and with flocked bases. Ok. I have around 50 Gobbos to paint their skin and do their bases so I might not reach my main goal. Painting is such a boring chore! It is a big reason I want AT 43 to do well. No painting, yet no collectible blind buy nonsense. But compared to how many Gobbos I had ready when I called Pico to war I have made MASSIVE inroads. Army built, figures assembled and organized, models assembled and base colors thanks to Krylon Fusion applied. Beats a bunch of unpainted plastics and metals in a bunch of big Ziploc baggies!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
About Me
- Captain Rufus
- Southeastern CT, United States
- I like to play nerd games! I am a nerd! Join our nerd ways at https://www.facebook.com/groups/112040385527428/