Geek Confessions & Blasphemies

ccesarano wrote:

I feel like people just go into a Tarantino moving expecting the wrong things.

I just expect something interesting and not quite like other stuff while simultaneously being heavily inspired by older genre entertainment.

It can be referential and break rules but it has to work as a film in it's own right. Some do and some don't for me. The inspiration is best when it's subtle with something fresh and cohesive on top.

I enjoyed parts of the Kill Bills and Inglorious. Really liked Pulp Fiction and Death Proof.

trueheart78 wrote:

Not a fan of Tarantino.

I wonder what your thoughts would be if you watched Reservoir Dogs with the mentality that it is a modern Shakespearean tragedy.

As far as I'm concerned, Jackie Brown is still his best film.

kuddles wrote:

As far as I'm concerned, Jackie Brown is still his best film.

You might not be wrong. I did love that flick.

ccesarano wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

Not a fan of Tarantino.

I wonder what your thoughts would be if you watched Reservoir Dogs with the mentality that it is a modern Shakespearean tragedy.

Doth that also imply that I should not only have read Shakespeare, but also enjoyed it?

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

I prefer sci-fi/non-fantasy pen and paper games instead of D&D clones. By proxy, I will always choose to not play D&D if I have the option. There's only so many trolls and goblins I can kill with my elven rangers before it gets boring. Maybe I've just not found the right gaming groups, or I'm tired from the stereotypical adventures.

Stargate is a stupid show. Only the movie was good.

I find it strange that people seriously like Labyrinth, and not in a "Haha, Bowie crotch!" sarcastic way.

Vrikk wrote:

Stargate is a stupid show. Only the movie was good.

I agreed until I watched SGU. That show was great. I appreciated SG1 and SGA more after it. But I still had to start late in the run, as the early episodes were brutally bad.

Mainly, you are right. But I wouldn't lump SGU in with it, as it was SG done right.

trueheart78 wrote:
ccesarano wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

Not a fan of Tarantino.

I wonder what your thoughts would be if you watched Reservoir Dogs with the mentality that it is a modern Shakespearean tragedy.

Doth that also imply that I should not only have read Shakespeare, but also enjoyed it?

Heh, not really. I was just curious since it was a sort of realization I came to after having watched the film recently.

Vrikk wrote:

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

What you are describing is one small, optional aspect of M:TG. There are numerous ways to play including many that likely fit your lifestyle/playstyle.

trueheart78 wrote:

Not a fan of Tarantino.

...now I have to give you that look at the next Cinci S&T when I recognize you as the guy who doesn't like Tarantino.

I feel like people just go into a Tarantino moving expecting the wrong things.

Lots of tense and engaging conversations between characters leading up to a gun or sword being drawn and things going to hell. Over and over. Chapter markers will let you know when we're about to be back to talking. Repeat until lights come back on in the theater or the credits roll on your TV. The end.

Vrikk wrote:

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

I actually think the design elements of M:TG are generally sound but the business model makes it a hugely annoying thing to actually be involved in. I think there's room for competition here which eschews the "collectible" aspect.

I prefer sci-fi/non-fantasy pen and paper games instead of D&D clones. By proxy, I will always choose to not play D&D if I have the option. There's only so many trolls and goblins I can kill with my elven rangers before it gets boring. Maybe I've just not found the right gaming groups, or I'm tired from the stereotypical adventures.

(I copped to hating fantasy a while back, but amen)

Stargate is a stupid show. Only the movie was good.

It's definitely stupid. And I'm not sure the movie was good.

(I watched a lot of it anyway, since "stupid" can still be "fun," but I wouldn't ever claim that it was "good.")

I find it strange that people seriously like Labyrinth, and not in a "Haha, Bowie crotch!" sarcastic way.

I hated it but I do think I know why some people like it, especially young women (my sister and mother love it to this day). Specifically, there's the young female lead who solves her own problems, and the Bowie junk might have been a nice bonus.

I prefer sci-fi/non-fantasy pen and paper games instead of D&D clones. By proxy, I will always choose to not play D&D if I have the option. There's only so many trolls and goblins I can kill with my elven rangers before it gets boring. Maybe I've just not found the right gaming groups, or I'm tired from the stereotypical adventures.

As I discussed with a friend, the DM makes the game. Also, if you only ever play an elven ranger, then you're only experiencing a small aspect of the game. Roll a cleric or a barbarian or something! But yeah, I quit playing in college due to the gaming groups on campus all being lumped together and basically just doing dungeon crawling day in and day out. Got to be boring, especially when a few of the DMs didn't know how to effectively manage difficulty and thought two mid level mummies against a 5 person party of level ones was a good idea. Keeping in mind he had no idea what we would even roll when we started, but still bad design from the lot of them, just haven't found a group to play with since.

Vrikk wrote:

I find it strange that people seriously like Labyrinth, and not in a "Haha, Bowie crotch!" sarcastic way.

There is a bog in it that farts.

iaintgotnopants wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

I find it strange that people seriously like Labyrinth, and not in a "Haha, Bowie crotch!" sarcastic way.

There is a bog in it that farts.

I occasionally make reference to it, I don't believe I've ever actually sat through the whole thing in one sitting once and am not particularly interested in doing so.

Jayhawker wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

Stargate is a stupid show. Only the movie was good.

I agreed until I watched SGU. That show was great. I appreciated SG1 and SGA more after it. But I still had to start late in the run, as the early episodes were brutally bad.

Mainly, you are right. But I wouldn't lump SGU in with it, as it was SG done right.

I would agree with Jayhawker on this one, and feel its solely due to John Scalzi being attached to SGU as a Creative Consultant for the whole run.

SixteenBlue wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

What you are describing is one small, optional aspect of M:TG. There are numerous ways to play including many that likely fit your lifestyle/playstyle.

Ayup. I may have sold off my collection last summer, but if I ever get back in, it'll be for drafts only and selling the cards at the end of the night. I have no intentions of ever collecting again. But for those who are collecting, the thought of Commander and Archenemy sound interesting.

Demosthenes wrote:
I prefer sci-fi/non-fantasy pen and paper games instead of D&D clones. By proxy, I will always choose to not play D&D if I have the option. There's only so many trolls and goblins I can kill with my elven rangers before it gets boring. Maybe I've just not found the right gaming groups, or I'm tired from the stereotypical adventures.

As I discussed with a friend, the DM makes the game. Also, if you only ever play an elven ranger, then you're only experiencing a small aspect of the game. Roll a cleric or a barbarian or something! But yeah, I quit playing in college due to the gaming groups on campus all being lumped together and basically just doing dungeon crawling day in and day out. Got to be boring, especially when a few of the DMs didn't know how to effectively manage difficulty and thought two mid level mummies against a 5 person party of level ones was a good idea. Keeping in mind he had no idea what we would even roll when we started, but still bad design from the lot of them, just haven't found a group to play with since.

As someone who runs a weekly 4th ed game for college students - THIS.

I don't care much about setting - I'll take whatever comes my way - but having 5 players staring at me going "so what's happens to us next?" without any personal involvement or character development is just maddening.

So glad I'm wrapping this campaign up over the next 3 weeks.

gore wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

I actually think the design elements of M:TG are generally sound but the business model makes it a hugely annoying thing to actually be involved in. I think there's room for competition here which eschews the "collectible" aspect.

+1

M:TG is a wonderfully strategic and exciting game to play. But it's also an atrociously expensive and/or annoying game to keep up with. As much fun as the idea of participating in a draft or a tournament that has an updated banned and restricted listing of cards and expansions, all that is too daunting and demanding for me and everyone else I know who used to play. The right way to play M:TG nowadays is just to have a bunch of cards available, from any sets and expansions, and to have friends build whatever decks they want from them.

Keithustus wrote:
gore wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

I actually think the design elements of M:TG are generally sound but the business model makes it a hugely annoying thing to actually be involved in. I think there's room for competition here which eschews the "collectible" aspect.

+1

M:TG is a wonderfully strategic and exciting game to play. But it's also an atrociously expensive and/or annoying game to keep up with. As much fun as the idea of participating in a draft or a tournament that has an updated banned and restricted listing of cards and expansions, all that is too daunting and demanding for me and everyone else I know who used to play. The right way to play M:TG nowadays is just to have a bunch of cards available, from any sets and expansions, and to have friends build whatever decks they want from them.

A draft doesn't need to concern itself with banned/restricted cards. Or literally anything but playing the game. That's the entire point.

SixteenBlue wrote:
Keithustus wrote:
gore wrote:
Vrikk wrote:

I think Magic: The Gathering is one of the stupidest, dullest, most corrupt game ever created. I don't know why people love it. Be forced to buy a new deck every week/two weeks? Have to retire old cards because they are "banned"? Only get good if you devote all your free time to fitting into extremely clickey social groups? Shun almost all other card games because MTG is the biggest/only one that hobby shops carry? No thank you.

I actually think the design elements of M:TG are generally sound but the business model makes it a hugely annoying thing to actually be involved in. I think there's room for competition here which eschews the "collectible" aspect.

+1

M:TG is a wonderfully strategic and exciting game to play. But it's also an atrociously expensive and/or annoying game to keep up with. As much fun as the idea of participating in a draft or a tournament that has an updated banned and restricted listing of cards and expansions, all that is too daunting and demanding for me and everyone else I know who used to play. The right way to play M:TG nowadays is just to have a bunch of cards available, from any sets and expansions, and to have friends build whatever decks they want from them.

A draft doesn't need to concern itself with banned/restricted cards. Or literally anything but playing the game. That's the entire point.

The problem with a draft, from an outsider point of view, is that you really need to know the format you're playing in.

When you open your first pack, you have to know how the 15 cards you see stack up against the 200 you don't see. You have to know what kinds of strategies are strong in the format, which may change several times a year. If you see a situationally useful card in that pack, you have to know how often the situation tends to come up in the format you're playing. If you see a mid-quality removal spell, you need to know how it stacks up against the other removal spells you are likely to see in the rest of the draft. If you see something that might work as part of a combo, you need to know what the odds are of drafting the other cards it needs.

Draft requires you to make snap decisions about the value of the cards you see, and you can only know the cards' true value in the context of the whole format, and Wizards refreshes limited formats with hundreds(?) of new cards every year.

That turns out to be a lot more than just playing the game.

Drafting is cool, but it's a style of play that kinda requires you to keep on top of things. Plus, it's a high-stakes style of play, because if you make a mistake at the beginning of the evening with your early draft picks, all of the games you play are likely to suck.

Thanks grobstein. I would just have said drafts suck because they cost money. M:TG was the gaming industry's first IAP, before we even had apps.

On a related note, maybe Netrunner's new-found popularity is because whereas the game was originally released (1996) as a collectible card game, the 2012 edition is standalone. Btw: when you heard Rob Zacny share his first impressions of playing Android: Netrunner at some convention in the middle of last year, were you thinking to yourself as I was, this game sounds like something I've already played?

The above 5 or 6 posts only go to prove why I don't play M:TG. It's just too much.

I know I didn't state it before, but I like the game. I know how to play, and over the years I've owned collections off and on. But the learning curve, upkeep, and overall intensity of staying involved in the game ensures no one but the hardcore players stay around.

I also have no way of finding casual players to plop down and play with since the only place to find card gamers near Baltimore is going to the hobby stores... where previously mentioned hardcore players hang out. They all know cards and their abilities simply by the art work from 10 feet away. Do I want to play with them when I have to read and remember every card? Nope!

[size=10]Anyone wanna play Legend of the Five Rings...?[/size]

Keithustus wrote:

Thanks grobstein. I would just have said drafts suck because they cost money. M:TG was the gaming industry's first IAP, before we even had apps.

On a related note, maybe Netrunner's new-found popularity is because whereas the game was originally released (1996) as a collectible card game, the 2012 edition is standalone. Btw: when you heard Rob Zacny share his first impressions of playing Android: Netrunner at some convention in the middle of last year, were you thinking to yourself as I was, this game sounds like something I've already played?

If I ever get back into M:TG, it'll be with drafting. I've got no problem dropping $8-$10 for a few hours of fun, and then selling back my cards at the end of the night.

I'm a much bigger fan of games where the mechanics are around deck building/drafting, like Dominion, Penny Arcade: Gamers vs Evil, and Ascension, and the concept of a living card game (such as Game of Thrones, or Netrunner) also intrigues me.

Although I haven't had a chance to play it yet, a draft cube variant of M:tG is pretty much the only form I'm interested in. Realistically, Duels of the Planeswalkers is the perfect fit for someone like me, with a small buy-in, and minimal time commitment necessary for deck optimization. That brings the game back to the mechanics, which are a ton of fun.

I prefer sci-fi/non-fantasy pen and paper games instead of D&D clones. By proxy, I will always choose to not play D&D if I have the option. There's only so many trolls and goblins I can kill with my elven rangers before it gets boring. Maybe I've just not found the right gaming groups, or I'm tired from the stereotypical adventures.

I don't know if I've ever played in a group that actually had an elven ranger, let alone one that both had an elven ranger and faced off against actual trolls and goblins. That's a terribly cliche and boring way to play, I'll say. Among my most memorable D&D moments were these:

Fighting a calzone golem (yes, a golem baked in an oven and made with foodstuffs)
Negotiating a contract with a town of singing mushrooms
Chasing a masked rapier-wielding troll over the rooftops of Waterdeep
Sailing with a diamond-cutter ship over a glass sea towards the tomb of a long-dead pharoah
Racing living, sentient golems towards a magical illegal forge (which made living, sentient golems, natch)
Breaking a lizardman siege of a small town using the power of songs
Ending a century-long curse by entering a castle that only appears during a solar eclipse

I'll agree offhand with the general consensus: the material is what you make of it. Non-fantasy stuff has the advantage of making you think out of the box by default, but there's no reason why you can't have a mage Spell-Off with wands at high noon in a desert town.

I'd also recommend looking for settings that allow for some creativity. I know they just released an Iron Kingdoms roleplaying game using its own rules set, but if you don't feel like learning a new system I highly recommend looking up the 3rd Edition Iron Kingdoms books if you can find them. Such a fantastic setting that seems to offer a lot of possibilities for long-running campaigns in cities alone, without ever having to ever enter a dungeon.

Also, if you like Dark Souls, then Ravenloft is the campaign setting for you.

Vrikk wrote:

I also have no way of finding casual players to plop down and play with since the only place to find card gamers near Baltimore is going to the hobby stores... where previously mentioned hardcore players hang out. They all know cards and their abilities simply by the art work from 10 feet away. Do I want to play with them when I have to read and remember every card? Nope!

GWJ play date? I drive up to Baltimore all the time. You should come down to the DC area for game nights. There are tons of groups for board games around here. As for Magic, I'd have to actually open up my CCG bin in the garage and see whether I actually have any cards left. I know I have at least one silly deck. Plenty of other CCG sets: Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, etc.

ccesarano wrote:

I'd also recommend looking for settings that allow for some creativity. I know they just released an Iron Kingdoms roleplaying game using its own rules set, but if you don't feel like learning a new system I highly recommend looking up the 3rd Edition Iron Kingdoms books if you can find them. Such a fantastic setting that seems to offer a lot of possibilities for long-running campaigns in cities alone, without ever having to ever enter a dungeon.

Hey, the IKRPG system isn't that hard to get into if you've been playing Warmachine/Hordes for a while...

And you get to make an arcane gun mage gobber

How is it for those of us that HAVEN'T played their miniatures game?

ccesarano wrote:

How is it for those of us that HAVEN'T played their miniatures game? :P

I believe that attack and damage exactly like the mini's game.

Attack: Attribute + 2D6 vs Defender's DEF
Damage: Defender's ARM - (POW + 2D6), roll 1D6 for damage allotment on the life spiral

Where DEF is Defensive ability (think about it as the Dex-side of D&D's AC), ARM is Armor (this of it as the Armor-side of D&D's AC), and POW is Weapon Power.

The preview PDF is still up on Privateer's site, but doesn't cover making skill checks or attacks :/

I hate Bobba Fett. He's such a tool. He got retconned into not complete uselessness, but he's just garbage. Why is he a fan favorite?