tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58725799573997581822024-03-18T21:58:27.053-07:00razordullAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-30190734608537157692016-02-20T04:54:00.001-08:002016-02-20T04:54:45.483-08:00Blood Rage and Warrior Knights reviews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170216/blood-rage" target="_blank">Blood Rage</a> (released in 2015, published by CoolMiniOrNot) and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22038/warrior-knights" target="_blank">Warrior Knights</a> (originally released in 1985 by Games Workshop and then cleaned-up and re-released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2006) are two games that at a glance seem very similar. Both have elements of area control, some type of worker placement, collecting and playing cards, and miniatures. They are also both about war. Or are they...?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppwQZBK4bYj_hBkqc8c6v6tsejR2uSdhg6iGbFQMeYP33P-3Wf5yTb8jNgJJIsPr6VhCu0DAUmkvO6ofT9T7yjwbw4Brab37M5D_yxH9BjSb9MUCRExx-_mjz6H6mBX9bOMS0xMhTVCU/s1600/warrior+knights+box+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhppwQZBK4bYj_hBkqc8c6v6tsejR2uSdhg6iGbFQMeYP33P-3Wf5yTb8jNgJJIsPr6VhCu0DAUmkvO6ofT9T7yjwbw4Brab37M5D_yxH9BjSb9MUCRExx-_mjz6H6mBX9bOMS0xMhTVCU/s320/warrior+knights+box+art.jpg" width="320" /></a>Warrior Knights is considered by many to be a classic Ameritrash game. That is to say it focuses on direct conflict between players, has a ton of colourful components, and has a strong theme. You hire armies, conquer and fortify cities, send your nobles on crusades and sponsor expeditions to distant and exotic lands. The game is played until either one player controls half of unrazed cities on the board or all the influence tokens have been claimed. Gathering influence also strongly depends on controlling as much cities as possible as each city - at the end of the round - provides some influence tokens to the controlling player. Meanwhile players also jokey for positions such as Head of the Church and Chairman of the Council to get additional powers. The game features a rather unusual way of resolving player actions and triggering different major events. Each player has a deck of cards and every card represents a different action (or actions) that a player can take on his turn. In the beginning of each round, each player selects six cards that will go into three stacks (so two cards into each stack), as well as two secret neutral cards that will go into each stack as well. Then each stack is shuffled and resolved one card at a time (so the first stack must be resolved first, then the second and then the third). It creates an interesting dynamic whereby each player knows which of his actions will happen, but it not completely sure WHEN the actions will happen or in which specific order. Now, these cards are further divided into three categories: Taxation, Assembly and Levying (I may be wrong about the name of that last one). When enough cards have been played in either of those three categories, a special phase occurs (Taxation, Assembly or Levying - duh!). This might be good for some players (yay! I finally get some money!) or bad for some players (crap! I have to pay my troops and I don't have enough money!), so that's a pretty interesting, but at times very frustrating mechanic. Meanwhile there are also interesting things happening like voting for different laws, jockeying for offices that upgrade your nobles, sponsoring expeditions that might bring a big financial reward (or fail utterly and waste your investments), or sending your armies across the sea on crusades.<br />
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What Warrior Knights does well are its often unique mechanics. I haven't seen some of its mechanics, like turn order resolution and special phase triggering, in any other game. The Council phase where players can vote on different laws, offices, private motions and so on is also very interesting and has clearly influenced other FFG games like the Game of Thrones board game. The other thing that Warrior Knights does very well is that for such a sprawling board game there is very little downtime for the players. The turns can be resolved quite quickly and you're always paying attention because either your card gets drawn, your opponent's card might trigger a special phase in which you can participate, or a neutral card that affects everyone is drawn. So unlike some other 'heavy' board games, Warrior Knights actually resolves player turns quite quickly.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWK8tOPQqNsqM77uruMUXvw8kHY1XEaack4G99Qh-ntfgiQ8dJmXjOnUpNFF-P-CyixKOP6_op7bOgh8DmZ4ZblSftX2XUlln3FdQ-pv6-akg3o6ZbyPSW6NZy8zMudc-3m-w0i7ate4Q/s1600/20160212_154557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWK8tOPQqNsqM77uruMUXvw8kHY1XEaack4G99Qh-ntfgiQ8dJmXjOnUpNFF-P-CyixKOP6_op7bOgh8DmZ4ZblSftX2XUlln3FdQ-pv6-akg3o6ZbyPSW6NZy8zMudc-3m-w0i7ate4Q/s400/20160212_154557.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My not-so-winning strategy focused on expanding overseas on various crusades.</td></tr>
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However, there are some rather significant problems with WK that prevent me from recommending this classic wholeheartedly. For one the manual is (as is typical with FFG) atrocious and there are many rules that you'll have to look up an FAQ or errata for on FFG's website. Some rules flat out contradict each other, many terms are used interchangeably or are not defined at all and many examples of play in the manual contradict the rules. Another HUGE problem in my opinion is that it's very hard to actually plan in Warrior Knights. Put the wrong card in the wrong stack and you're going to waste that turn and not even get that card back for a while so you can play it again. Get your card drawn at the wrong time and you might not reap the benefits of your action. Maybe you were hoping to get some money so you could hire more troops or pay the troops you already have, but another player snagged the troops you wanted to hire, or even worse the Wages phase had been triggers and now you have to pay your troops but you haven't gotten your tax money yet and now your entire ROUND is ruined! The other problem is that it is so easy for one player to snowball the game, especially if the player in the lead also grabs the title Chairman of the Committee. In these type of games, such as Risk, Forbidden Stars, Game of Thrones or even Munchkin (especially Munchkin!), usually if one player is doing very well the rest of the players will gang up on him/her, but in WK it is more difficult to do due to how the map is laid out and the fact that you can only field up to 4 armies and the defenders usually have an advantage. Furthermore, a role of the Head of the Church is actually actively penalized because the Head of the Church has to constantly spend actions to gain Faith tokens to spend on either avoiding negative events or gaining positive events and that limits the scope of the game for that player (until another player decides to snag that title - which apparently doesn't happen all that often). Finally, we played a 4 player game and the game finished just as the almost all the cities got claimed. It was a very anti-climatic conclusion and our game actually featured very little combat between players. I freely admit that I finally triggered an actual war with another player more out of boredom than out of some winning strategy. So there you have it, Warrior Knights is a war game that has a lot of fascinating political intrigue but not a heck of a lot of actual fighting, combined with frequently confusing rules.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlybWxUhwhZrLqYF3UlCihyphenhyphen4SBlYqsF2mhNINXXuhwIqwKZX0qoPzO8ix4Y-SLPFeTalaNsQAXp4dZMu5Rbp5TG-1ArAsW5y4ySkdcUEB-fMCMr2zIJEpflw_ASTaBBaD5M45RYF_NW_E/s1600/blood+rage+box+art.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlybWxUhwhZrLqYF3UlCihyphenhyphen4SBlYqsF2mhNINXXuhwIqwKZX0qoPzO8ix4Y-SLPFeTalaNsQAXp4dZMu5Rbp5TG-1ArAsW5y4ySkdcUEB-fMCMr2zIJEpflw_ASTaBBaD5M45RYF_NW_E/s320/blood+rage+box+art.png" width="320" /></a>One would think that Blood Rage, by contrast, would be even more furious and, well, bloody than Warrior Knights. But you'd be wrong! A-ha! Gotcha! Indeed, Blood Rage - one of the best-selling and critically-acclaimed games of 2015 - has a very strong theme of combat and Norse mythology, but underneath its raging exterior is actually a very calculating excellent Eurogame. You see, while you may be fooled by the absolutely gorgeous and hugely varied miniatures (it is published by Cool Mini Or Not after all), at its heart Blood Rage is a game of area control, worker placement and card drafting. It has gorgeous art and minis (seriously, the minis are amazingly awesome, each clan has three unique miniature sculpts as well as a ship, then there are five neutral heroes and four gigantic monsters), but these are just trappings for a game that combines some of the best game mechanics of the last few years.<br />
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The game is divided into three Ages (basically rounds), and each round proceeds in the same way. Players take actions such as paying and placing their minis on the board, playing Quest cards (secret objectives akin to Ticket to Ride), moving their minis around the board, pillaging (more on that in a bit) or playing different upgrade cards to differentiate their clan from other players. Then the players discard any remaining unplayed cards (except one that they can keep for the next age), then they score points for their secret Quests and then Ragnarok wipes out one of the random provinces on the board along with any minis that are in that province. However, that last one is actually a good thing as any troops that are wiped out in Ragnarok actually score points for their owners, they go to Valhalla and then you get them back in your pool. There are really two main mechanics in Blood Rage. One is placing your warriors in different provinces on the board and then pillaging the province. Now, when you declare pillaging, other players who have troops in adjacent provinces can come and join your pillaging with their troops provided there is space in the province-to-be-pillaged. This allows for some devious play where you bait the other players to move their troops into a province you really have no interest in so that you can pillage a province that they are no longer adjacent to. It also creates for some hilarious situations as a pillage announcement (inevitably done in a loud and booming voice) sucks in everything like some kind of rage-powered tornado. In a pillage, the players each select a battle card face-down and then reveal them simultaneously and resolve the effects. However, to prevent snowballing, the winner discards the card he played, while the losers get to keep theirs! Brilliant! Furthermore, the winner's minis are now in that province while the losers' troops go to Valhalla and there are many secret objectives for being the one to send warriors to Valhalla, or having the most warriors to Valhalla, and there are clan upgrades that give you points if your troops (or any troops) go to Valhalla during a pillage. So deciding where and when to pillage, and deciding if you'll actually gain more by losing the battle is very important.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjO_Z074XvZkuQFOmh-nW8RdSY5Sz7atqVuEP2itP0ltZNEVdRKtO26io6h5l21cP3X7g34IEvHgmk6IfxOv-NKPhN058V4HzhODkO7dQEbXpGyu6iHek4-QMpQO8ZXN0y-VlFFgCP4Q/s1600/20160204_134201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjO_Z074XvZkuQFOmh-nW8RdSY5Sz7atqVuEP2itP0ltZNEVdRKtO26io6h5l21cP3X7g34IEvHgmk6IfxOv-NKPhN058V4HzhODkO7dQEbXpGyu6iHek4-QMpQO8ZXN0y-VlFFgCP4Q/s400/20160204_134201.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We are uhhhh pillaging something, Probably.</td></tr>
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The other mechanic of note is drafting cards. Each player gets 8 cards at the beginning of each age, picks two, then passes cards to the next player, receives cards, selects 1 card and so on until each player has 8 cards. Then he discards 2 cards face down. That way each player has a rough idea of what cards will be played during the Age, what secret Quests and battle cards might be floating around the table. Ideally each player will try to draft a good mix of upgrades, quests and battle cards, and it's a good idea to base your strategy around a particular god. You see, most cards are themes around different gods and each god provides a clear strategy to pursue. Tyr is all about big numbers in battle, Odin is all about leveling the playing field by indiscriminately wiping all most of the warriors participating in a battle, Thor is all about winning the battle, Heimdall's cards are centered on sneaky 'play out of your turn' situations, while Loki is all about losing battles on purpose. Each Age has a different deck to be drafted so that players' abilities in battle, upgrades and quest rewards become progressively more powerful with each Age.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYc5AFxEPa8xNeJ9ZXtaPm9hHkSxumz4oonNM3QhgHN175XNTL879UmmKAQnsPjelK1LvXBJe-o7Jz1A30xnKkbjfct1BeoWbg7BorgfCDPrBkNZLR7xpBhyphenhyphenaxheXrv7bHXTCj40gRa_0/s1600/20160204_154801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYc5AFxEPa8xNeJ9ZXtaPm9hHkSxumz4oonNM3QhgHN175XNTL879UmmKAQnsPjelK1LvXBJe-o7Jz1A30xnKkbjfct1BeoWbg7BorgfCDPrBkNZLR7xpBhyphenhyphenaxheXrv7bHXTCj40gRa_0/s400/20160204_154801.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blood for the Blood God! Victory points for the victory throne!</td></tr>
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There is much to recommend about Blood Rage. It's gorgeous, has interesting mechanics. It is actually quite fast-paced and there is very little downtime. The pillaging mechanic and card draft mechanic are very fun. Moreover, there is a ton of replayability because the provinces that start the game razed or the provinces that will be destroyed in each Age are randomized, and the rewards for pillaging are likewise randomized. There are already quite a few small expansions for the game that I can't wait to get. If I had any negative things to say about the game it would have to be two complaints. The first complaint is that a new player is at a disadvantage because he wouldn't have a good idea of what cards become available in each age and his drafted deck wouldn't be as powerful. Fortunately after just one playthrough the players grasp deck drafting mechanic very easily and form an idea of what cards are available. The second complaint is the big disconnect between theme and mechanics. The game has a very strong theme, but it's still a Eurogame at heart. Some people who are drawn in by the theme might be put off by the type of game it actually is. Personally however I have now played Blood Rage more than half a dozen times and I can't wait to play more!<br />
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P.S. I tried to make a semi-drunken unboxing video of Blood Rage. I hope to put it up soon! I apologize in advance!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-79054828049474290212016-02-16T12:02:00.001-08:002016-02-16T12:37:35.027-08:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Warning: long post to follow! So I've been making my way through all the Best Picture nominees this year, and as excited as I am to see both The Martian and Mad Max on the list - two sci-fi movies filled with science and explosions respectively - I still have to concede that The Big Short may deserve the best picture award.</div>
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Bridge of Spies is a bit too understated and too comfortable of a movie - it tells a good story, but it doesn't tell it in a particularly interesting way, and the performances are really not the best compared to previous performances by the cast. I found myself discretely checking the time during the film, and the typical Spielberg pay-off at the end felt forced if you consider that the Cold War went off for decades still and nothing really changed significantly. It was one of the weakest Spielberg movies in my opinion and there were many other films in 2015 that were much more deserving of a nomination.</div>
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Mad Max is a marvel and maybe my favourite film of the year, filled with great spectacle and performances but it is uneven in its pacing and story. Its symbolism is rather heavy-handed and gradually grows tiresome as the film winds down. I won't go into how it should've been titled "Imperator Furiosa" as many people claim, it is a Mad Max movie through and through. It is a surprisingly feminist film so that could be another important consideration in nominating it (and I feel that's a good thing by the way). I'm very happy to see it get the nomination, but its story, basic and sometimes nonsensical as it is, don't make it a serious contender in my opinion.</div>
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The Revenant is an extremely raw and demanding film, but it is trying too hard to be a Terrence Malick film while it should be its own film. The actors and crew do an amazing and incredibly demanding job but Revenant feels too much: too much machismo, too much faux-New Age, too much post-colonial critique, too much forced symbolism (how many times does Leo get symbolically reborn in Revenant? I lost count). Does Leo deserve best actor award or Tom Hardy best supporting actor? Absolutely. But whereas Inarritu's Birdman was sly, witty, subversive, with an engaging meta-critique of the genre -a real high-wire act - The Revenant is at times too bombastic, too serious, too ponderous.</div>
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Spotlight I enjoyed a lot, it tells a very important story and it tells it well and it joins films such as All the President's Men or Zodiac as a great journalistic film. But although it has a great script and performances, visually it is boring to watch - it is very conventional and mostly feels like a TV show. It is filled with medium cut-and-reverse shots of people talking with each other and doesn't do much effort to stage and shoot the scenes in ways that could be far more interesting (I admit that I have been binge-watching Every Frame a Painting lately so that might skew my opinions). It could work very well as an HBO miniseries allowing some characters and subplots to develop further. TV is not a bad thing, TV has been consistently great in the last decade, but I would like to see the camera and editing work hand in hand with the great performances and the script and Spotlight just doesn't do that.</div>
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The Martian is excellent. It's a great adaptation and it's a very fun film. But it is uneven, which becoming apparent through multiple viewings. There is no doubt that Matt Damon pulls off a great performance, but I can't pinpoint any particularly noteworthy moments from the rest of the cast. One half of the movie is Matt Damon's character's YouTube diary (which he totally carries off because everyone loves Matt Damon), the other half is a rather cliche "bring 'em home alive" astronaut movie. It is all great fun, the humour is excellent, and there are some nail-biting action scenes, but it's just too uneven to be the best picture in my opinion. Great sci-fi adventure film and a big huzzah for portrayal of scientists and engineers and astronauts though.</div>
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Room. This movie is more painful to watch in many ways than Revenant's 2+ hours of raw physical agony, because its pain and tragedy is of a whole different order. It wrings unforgettable performances from its actors and demands so much from the audience. On raw actor performance power it should win. But, and this is my totally subjective and personal opinion, I always wish and hope that best picture awards (Oscars or otherwise) should go to films that have something important to say or something new to say using the unique strengths of the media of film. Sometimes we get that, and sometimes we don't (*cough* Titanic *cough*). Room is a film about surviving the unthinkable and love, but its story and message is not unique - its performances are.</div>
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Brooklyn. I thought Brooklyn was OK. I could watch Saoirse Ronan any time, and I'm a big fan of Nick Hornby (sue me, High Fidelity is one of my personal favourites), but I cannot for the life of me understand what Brooklyn is doing on the Best Picture nominations. It has some very lovely and charming performances, but it's not a particularly interesting film and it doesn't have anything particularly interesting to say. Maybe I'm the wrong audience for it, but for me it was mostly forgettable.</div>
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OK, so Big Short. What Big Short does is essentially take the 2010 documentary "Inside Job" (which was already excellent and won an Oscar) and dials it to 11. Both it and Spotlight tell very important stories, but where Spotlight falters on using its camera wisely to help tell the story, The Big Short uses camera and editing confidently, doing with it things that most TV shows would not even attempt to do. Unlike "The Wolf of Wall Street" which I absolutely despise (a great performance by Leo notwithstanding) as basically glorifying the Wall Street life style (yes, it's trying to show us how evil and greedy those people are but the lesson seem to be that if you commit financial fraud you'll be super rich and basically get away with it in the end), "The Big Short" is raw in its anger and cynicism that the 2007/2008 economic meltdown happened, that it was basically designed to happen, and that basically no one who was responsible for it was punished. It has some great performances and even if it does falter once or twice towards the end in its pacing, it never loses its focus. And the way it uses music is just great! It's very insidious in how it uses music and interpolated cuts to both prime the audience for each scene's payoff and to keep the audience uneasy (watch carefully the scene where Steve Carrell's character talks to a couple of mortgage brokers in Florida - it's honestly a masterpiece of a scene for so many reasons I could go on abot). It is a Film with a capital F, it does something that only the medium of film can do successfully. It tells an important story and it does it incredibly well through performances, cinematography, sound and editing. In my opinion it best fulfills all the criteria of a Best Picture.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-58961297622031802522016-02-04T14:05:00.004-08:002016-02-04T14:06:54.871-08:00Dubai: Impressions and Tips<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Having just returned from a Dubai vacation I'm naturally full to the brim with experiences and impressions, but I thought I'd focus on some overall impressions and some tips for new visitors to Dubai while they are still fresh in my mind.<br />
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Dubai is a very tourist-friendly city, everyone speaks or understands English and all signs are in English and Arabic, and you'll also notice many signs in Russian as well. It's a very multicultural and open city, but it's still a Muslim country so there are a few things to keep in mind. One being that it's hard to buy alcohol outside of hotel bars and night clubs. The other is that stores and such open a bit later on Friday than usual. Also, government offices and most government-run museums close at 2:30 so plan accordingly.<br />
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Getting around Dubai is very easy thanks to an excellent public transportation city. Don't get an Uber in Dubai! I've found that the taxis are very cheap, the drivers have all been very polite, and none have tried to cheat me unlike the taxi drivers in Doha. Also, getting around the city using the Dubai Metro is very cheap and very fast. 7 dirhams will get you to, or close to, most of the notable tourist and shopping locations such as Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, and so on. To use the buses however, you need to get a bus card at one of the major bus station and then you can load money on it at the machines available at every bus stop (big or small). I only used the taxi three times while I was in Dubai, relying on public transport to get around and I didn't waste much time doing so. Oh yeah, when getting on a metro watch out for women-only entrance and the Gold VIP entrance. I'm not even joking.<br />
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Because it's so easy and fast to get to places using public transport don't be afraid to go out of Dubai City to find a cheap good hotel. You can find good cheap hotels as far away as Jumeirah 3 or out in Deira and still be able to go to Dubai downtown easily and cheaply.<br />
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Speaking of downtown, it's totally worth it. I'd say plan at least a day to spend just in Dubai Mall and nearby attractions. Dubai Aquarium in the mall is only 100 dirhams to go in and I personally enjoyed it. Burj Khalifa can be entered from the mall, and I highly recommend either booking the tickets online ahead of time or going up to the counter and booking them for later in the day. There's always a huge line waiting to get in and don't count on being able to just waltz in whenever you want. Also to note, you can go up to the 124th and 125 floors for I think 120 dirhams, or you can do the VIP treatment and go up to the 148th floor for 300 dirhams. The latter experience is still worth it, you don't need to stand in line waiting for your turn to go up, instead you get to relax in a nice lounge and get coffee and snacks (provided with the ticket), then go up and experience the amazing view with being plied with more drinks and snacks. Hey, chances are you'd only want to go up once anymore so might as well live a little. :)<br />
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The fountain show right outside the Dubai Mall is also unforgettable, but I also enjoyed a much more quiet nearby souq Al Bahar and a little park nearby as a way to wind from the busy and loud mall. Speaking of souqs, definitely try to get to some of the city's souqs to experience a less glamorous but also interesting side of Dubai. What I did was take the Metro to Al Fahidi station, got off, explored the excellent historical village, little museums and art galleries, the Al Fahidi fort and museum. I love this part of the city, it was especially charming and full of character. Then for just 1 dirham I caught a water taxi to go across the Dubai Creek to the older part of Dubai. Skip the Al Fahidi souq, it's really just a cheap indoor mall and not a souq at all, but definitely check out the Gold souq, Spice souq and Bur Dubai souq. They do get tiresome because of very pushy criers and salesmen offering Rolexes, Kashmir scarves, suspiciously cheap smart phones and less legal wares, but they do have character.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4IzAqygOJP3tygUN_-lfWu_tBViOOvPvORcg6rD73mDejHNekjy-LdbnZP0l_R09LTi0_vvgS5zQaoiQ6nvOkywE42aBYzPnbTdYPvS4f-s4HlkbdV63sw4EDpVGwYu7foSQmuLyTks/s1600/20160202_192900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4IzAqygOJP3tygUN_-lfWu_tBViOOvPvORcg6rD73mDejHNekjy-LdbnZP0l_R09LTi0_vvgS5zQaoiQ6nvOkywE42aBYzPnbTdYPvS4f-s4HlkbdV63sw4EDpVGwYu7foSQmuLyTks/s320/20160202_192900.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
To unwind, I highly recommend Jumeirah public beach and in fact the entire Jumeirah (Jumeirah 1 that is) neighbourhood. It's a quiet beachside middle-class and small business neighbourhood, very lovely, lots of bike and running paths, you get to see pretty amazing Grand Jumeirah Mosque and the public beach was very lovely. I went on a weekday around noon and it was empty save for a couple of families and a few joggers and the water was lovely. Word of advice, if you see the famous Burj Al Arab tower in the distance (that's the famous super-posh hotel that's shaped like a sail and has golf courses on the roof) don't even bother to go see it. You can't get close it, you get stopped by security and you can't actually go inside unless you are a guest at the hotel or have an invitation. Don't bother spending your time and money.<br />
<br />
Lastly if you are a geek and want to do some shopping or just geek out, I highly recommend checking out Kinokuniya in Dubal Mall, and Battlezone in Jumeirah. <a href="http://www.battlezone.me/" target="_blank">Battlezone</a> has great staff, great playing spaces for miniature, board game, and CCG gamers, and very reasonable prices (by Gulf standards).<br />
<br />
Anyway, I really enjoyed my time in Dubai, I did have to spend quite a lot on entertainment and shopping, but I found that transportation and food were cheaper than I expected. Great city to visit!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-47469151886506930992016-01-25T07:20:00.003-08:002016-01-25T07:25:42.849-08:00How to introduce games to beginners<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last few gaming sessions it fell to me to introduce relatively new players to games they've never played before. Of course explanation of the rules was in order, but I think there's a much more important part of the introduction that's going to set how the game is going to go - selling the game.<br />
<br />
It's not a surprise to anyone who plays boardgames or has seen the filled to the brim shelves of a boardgame collector or a serious games store that many boardgames look intimidating. The size of the boxes, or the unappealing art, or titles that suggest ponderous industrial machinery <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fB8jfESstTtDTIqvJgI1Kr0dXXGlSXQXcc8m1uPdzrkkXE8S2wOvteVtv52PFEfEyhx3_hGgAJd0_Vb82P6H26z9WF2ZitrEbc3AN2htlJAj3xgtccxY3BDy2OA3lx3LV7xlfCNDspw/s1600/age+of+industry+box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-fB8jfESstTtDTIqvJgI1Kr0dXXGlSXQXcc8m1uPdzrkkXE8S2wOvteVtv52PFEfEyhx3_hGgAJd0_Vb82P6H26z9WF2ZitrEbc3AN2htlJAj3xgtccxY3BDy2OA3lx3LV7xlfCNDspw/s320/age+of+industry+box.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Doesn't he look like he's having fun?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
may turn players away from what could actually turn out to be a really great experience. So selling a game involves both convincing players that it can be a fun experience and setting the mood of the game. So what I like to do when introducing a game isn't to throw out a bunch of terms like "it's a worker placement game" or "it's an area control game", or to immediately launch into a rules explanation ("in this game we are going to be collecting resources and then trading them!") but to describe the theme of the game and what the players are supposed to play as (not what they DO in game vis-a-vis moving tokens or playing cards, but what their characters/nations/merchants/whatever are doing in the game). So here are some evocative (or at least somewhat evocative) ways that I described some fun introductory games to new players.<br />
<br />
<b>Pandemic:</b> there are viruses spreading unchecked! We are a bunch of scientists working together to cure those viruses before the human race is doomed!<br />
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<b>Puerto Rico:</b> we are governors of New Spain lording over towns and plantations, competing to see who can build the best city and send the most goods to Spain!<br />
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<b>Francis Drake:</b> we are English privateers sailing to the Spanish Main and then burning and looting right through it for a chance to win the favour of the Queen!<br />
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<b>Orleans:</b> we are French lords and we are building the best damn Medieval society we can! (this can also work for Castles of Burgundy)<br />
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<b>Race for the Galaxy (or Roll for the Galaxy):</b> we are developing our own unique galactic civilizations and creating an epic space opera.<br />
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<b>Galaxy Trucker:</b> we are building awful rickety spaceships, loading them up with goods and then racing them. Horrible hilarious things will happen to our ships!<br />
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<b>Lords of Waterdeep:</b> we are a scheming cabal working against each other to control a city from the shadows. We are going to send a lot of adventurers to their doom!<br />
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This tells the players the theme and get them interested. Now arguably the gameplay is more important than the theme (there are some really theme-less or bland-themed games with amazing gameplay, and some games with great theme but crappy gameplay), but the theme is what gets the players interested in trying the game in the first place.<br />
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The second thing I do is compare the boardgame to a video game or a movie or a book or a TV show that the players are familiar with and that invokes the <b>mood</b> of the game. Instead of comparing to another boardgame, compare it to Firefly (Galaxy Truckers or Xia), or Battlestar Galactica (Battlestar Galactica game or Resistance), or Apocalypse Now, or Hunger Games or Lord of the Rings and so on. When I bring up this comparison I also try to point out WHO in this movie/book/video game the players represent ("so some of us are going to be like humans, and some of us are going to be like Cylons"). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYcqPgX6mjTlpqXfMhPacUn-hfUGPLza7VEsZ6ncNEiQesNpVILabUYrP1f_4-GkFz_oYNKNMYMC7K_xLvQW5iYp4iAmiCDQImFuJ-W3l9_TJP-X_qjiGDm8MNaRJsCW616AOEmTMKZ8/s1600/resistance+game+cards.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCYcqPgX6mjTlpqXfMhPacUn-hfUGPLza7VEsZ6ncNEiQesNpVILabUYrP1f_4-GkFz_oYNKNMYMC7K_xLvQW5iYp4iAmiCDQImFuJ-W3l9_TJP-X_qjiGDm8MNaRJsCW616AOEmTMKZ8/s320/resistance+game+cards.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I know at least one of you is a Cylon. I mean government spy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It gets players invested not in the gameplay mechanics but in what the game is like - what the experience promises to be. Why do I think setting the mood is important? Because that's what's going to carry the game. Introduce the game as something silly and fun and that's the mood that'll prevail at least with some players. Introduce the game as full of intrigue, paranoia and secrets and players will be more likely to mistrust one another. Mood makes people play a role (you could almost say ROLE play...?) and immerse themselves in the game. For example in Puerto Rico you build plantations and warehouses and put things on ships. Hardly immersive right? And yet, right off the bat the players - once properly introduced to the game - started playing the roles of a corrupt governor, scheming merchant, declaring vendettas against each other (even though the game doesn't have any overtly aggressive mechanics) and it was just FUN!<br />
<br />
The last thing I do in the introduction is give an example of something cool that a player can do in the game. Long before explaining the actual rules I can tell the players "Oh yeah, and you can totally double-cross people or totally play it straight and still win" or "you can marry the King of France and then have him assassinated and it's GREAT!" or "you can summon this huge monster that can kick everyone's ass!" I believe that what people get excited about in a game isn't necessarily the actual winning but other things you get to do. You can accumulate victory points in nearly every boardgame nowadays so there needs to be something else cool about your game to get players (especially new players) excited. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-R6JdphCvu36EhOzAWw7EtxyMRzJno-YNAVxXumACFHMhWequFJAQRN57mNvSagaw_rLAYGDnE_EESqcecZv0TcmJZotoRUbfTdl12incna20YtEiGzPXSIXRjunaE1ZBB9t7HDVnRo/s1600/victory+points.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5-R6JdphCvu36EhOzAWw7EtxyMRzJno-YNAVxXumACFHMhWequFJAQRN57mNvSagaw_rLAYGDnE_EESqcecZv0TcmJZotoRUbfTdl12incna20YtEiGzPXSIXRjunaE1ZBB9t7HDVnRo/s320/victory+points.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sometimes I get hard thinking about victory points." Said by no one ever.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I don't think that people get excited about play Monopoly (although I don't know anyone who does get excited about playing Monopoly) because they get to roll dice and the object of the game is to bankrupt your friends. They get excited because they get to hold big wads of cash and plop hotels down and gleefully tell someone to pay their rent for a change. So single out one cool thing you can do or have done in the past in the game and tell new players about it. It will also give them a potential strategy to think about when they start playing and I think that's more important than explaining every single rule in minute detail.<br />
<br />
So TL;DR for introducing a game to new players:<br />
A. Tell them who they are playing in the game and what is the theme of the game.<br />
B. Compare the boardgame to a book, movie, comic book or TV show that has a similar theme.<br />
C. Tell the players what cool things they can do in the game.<br />
<br />
What do you think? What's the best way to "sell" a game to new players?</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-14128142562259459762016-01-16T22:37:00.002-08:002016-01-16T22:38:40.683-08:00Why I am worried about Tom Clancy's Division and you should be too (if you're a gamer)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lately I've been on a huge first-person shooter binge, sinking a lot of time into Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 (which I am enjoying immensely much to my surprise, but maybe that's another blog post) as well as a few old-school shooters (like Republic Commandos, Counterstrike 1.6 and the first Jedi Knight), and a bit of time with Star Wars Battlefront (which - thank God - I didn't buy, but borrowed from a friend instead). This coincided with a huge amount of information dropped about one of the most anticipated AAA games of 2016 - <a href="http://tomclancy-thedivision.ubi.com/game/en-us/home/" target="_blank">Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's The Division</a> (and you can see a bunch of collected game media impressions <a href="http://kotaku.com/oh-hey-a-bunch-of-people-played-the-division-1753203712" target="_blank">here on Kotaku</a>). You might also enjoy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpPLATt94n0" target="_blank">this impression</a> by a very popular YouTuber AngryJoe.<br />
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I was tentatively excited about The Division when it was first announced. It looked like a blend of persistent world MMO, with heavy shooter elements, some MMORPG-style abilities, and a bleak near-future apocalyptic story, all set in a 1 for 1 recreation of New York. Since then the game received its share of controversies, suffering form delay after delay, clear visual performance downgrades (at least on consoles - there has been no footage of the game running on PC in an unscripted setting) and confusion regarding what this game is supposed to be. However, with the media embargo regarding hands-on impressions lifted (as witnessed by the links above) a lot of that confusion has been clarified. On the other hand it also got me worried about the game quite a bit.<br />
<br />
The first thing that's got me worried is how hard most game media journalists who have played The Division are trying to both make The Division sound like Destiny ('it's just like Destiny you guys! But you're fighting hobos and looters with realistic guns, instead of fighting aliens with sci-fi magical guns!') and NOT make The Division sound like Destiny ('it's nothing like Destiny other than both are shooters with RPG stats and damage numbers!'). So that's a first warning sign as they (game media and Ubisoft) are trying very hard to sell the game to both fans of Destiny and those who either hated it or never tried it (for the record, I still haven't played a single minute of Destiny and doubt I ever will). Granted, The Division was announced before Destiny actually came out, but it's still weird to see how much effort is spent on fitting The Division into the meta-narrative of the evolution of shooters and RPGs on consoles.<br />
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The second thing that makes me doubt the game's staying power is that there doesn't appear to be a huge variety of enemies or environments. You're shooting hobos, looters, criminals, what looks to be rogue cops and army dudes, some weird hazmat-wearing flamethrowing guys and so on. You're shooting them with real-world guns and using near-future but perfectly plausible tech (rolling micro-drones, personal radar systems, etc.) but you are essentially just shooting people with your gun. In games like Call of Duty that's totally fine because: a) the single-player campaign is usually quite short and ends before it gets too repetitive, and b) when playing matches where you shoot other people with your guns, personal skill, map awareness and knowledge of the game count for far more than the stats on your gear and the DPS of your gun. So there needs to be some kind of a greater incentive (both in terms of loot and in terms of narrative) when 'shoot people with guns' is dropped into an MMO-esque RPG. Destiny achieves it (to my knowledge) with having many different-looking worlds, big variety of instanced missions or dungeons (so that you're not just shooting people or the same race of aliens all the time), big variety of enemies and just big visual shifts between areas. The Division appears to have none of that at this moment. You're fighting in urban areas and you are shooting people all day long. It's kind of weird to see that a boss in a mission is some guy named Rudy (or Joe or whatever) but he still looks like the rest of the hobos around him while acting like a giant bullet sponge as if he was a raid boss from World of Warcraft or Destiny. It just doesn't seem like the Division would be able to sustain my interest for too long. Now, maybe the developers are a lot smarter than this, and maybe New York is just the FIRST stage and there are other cities or locations you travel to later on in the game, and maybe later on some weirder enemy types get introduce (robots, or infected or something) and they are just keeping this under wraps. However, given Ubisoft's previous track record with story telling and keeping surprises under wraps I find this difficult to believe.<br />
<br />
Then there's the whole loot gathering and crafting progression. Basically I have no time or willpower to play another MMO. Even if, as the developers claim, most missions in The Division can be completed in under an hour. The point is that all of the gameplay videos released recently (see links above) show that the game progression is hugely dependent on gathering or crafting increasingly better loot. It's the same grind as in WoW, FFXIV or (as I am told by hardcore Destiny players) in Destiny and I have no time or patience for that. Especially if, as the developers and game journalists are constantly stressing, The Division will be a kind of game you'll want to play with friends. If my friends outpace me in terms of gear and levels, what am I supposed to do then? Also, I just find gear grinding to be very boring.<br />
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The other big concern for me is the tone. The cut scenes, the environment, the music and the ambient dialogue all paint this grim Tom Clancy-ish setting which is utterly at odds with the focus of the game on loot, DPS and shooting a bunch of people. So you're supposed to be restoring law and order in New York in the wake of a deadly epidemic and breakdown of society, but it seems that the primary motivation of the players is to get better guns and gear. Woo! I got a better scope/backpack/gun holster/laser sight! In other words, I feel like there's a big disconnect between what the game is about and the actual gameplay. Also, this disconnect between the narrative and the gameplay coupled with modern day realistic setting raise some rather ugly questions. The looters you shoot in the early stages of the game all wear "urban" clothing (read: African American hiphop influenced fashion), the National Guard elements helping you seem uniformly heroic, the US government (in a typical Tom Clancy military fiction fashion) generally means well and is prepared in some fashion and that society in the absence of the long arm of the government will inevitably break down. But you know, all of it is just an excuse to shoot a whole bunch of people with realistic guns.<br />
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Finally, Ubisoft is rather notorious for dropping post-launch support for titles that have no sold so well or that have lost a lot of player base post-launch due to various issues (poor story, buggy gameplay, poor performance). For example Watch_Dogs or Assassin's Creed: Unity. I pity anyone who had bought a season pass for those games because both games have received very little support post-launch. Ubisoft seemed to have dropped both like a hot potato and resolved to never ever speak of them again. Heck, I seem to recall even some sort of apology for Assassin's Creed Unity (and the excellent Assassin's Creed Syndicate seems to have swept Unity aside as a true next-gen Assassin's Creed). Basically, if<br />
a) The Division fails to sell the number of copies that Ubisoft is hoping for, and/or<br />
b) The Division fails to sell the number of season passes that Ubisoft is hoping for, and/or<br />
c) The Division fails to retain the number of players post-launch that Ubisoft is hoping for<br />
Then I am not holding out much hope for the post-launch support or Ubisoft's willingness to invest into the future of the game. Ubisoft needs to realize that MMOs and MMO-style games need constant post-launch support and that no online games come out of the game perfect. WoW didn't start out with 10 million subscribers, FFXIV has not become the huge commercial and critical success until Sony made the gutsy move to first shut down the game, then completely rebuild it, and then provide big monthly updates and an enormous expansion.<br />
<br />
So what would make me pick up The Division after it launches (because I sure as shit ain't pre-ordering it or picking it up on day 1)? One, the launch has to be smooth - some server issues are expected, but it better not be a complete shit show. Two, the game needs to feature more than just New York - other cities or at least non-urban environments are a must for me to avoid the tedium. Three, the grind for decent gear should not take as long a time as FFXIV or Destiny. Four, Ubisoft needs to be very clear upfront as to what future additions (via season pass) will hold and approximate dates when they will come out. Five, they seriously need to add a persistent clan option and more social support. For a game that's supposed to be enjoyed with other people it's surprising to me that it has such limited emotes, no clan support, and awkward grouping.<br />
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Then again, maybe it'll be an amazing game from day 1. :P</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-54913368042116337322016-01-03T10:04:00.001-08:002016-01-03T10:05:57.171-08:00My favourite games of 2015 and the rest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
2015 was a great year for games. The different "Top 10 games of 2015" by big-time Youtubers and games media showed just how amazingly diverse the good games of 2015 have been. Sadly, I haven't had the time to play all of the best games of 2015. Partly because of lack of time, partly because I moved to a country with a rather spotty Internet connection, and partly because League of Legends took up so much of my time (although that is no longer a case, LoL and I have had a falling out, but more on that later). So this is the list of games that I played this year and enjoyed most of all. It is in no particular order although one game in particular stood out among the rest for me this year.<br />
<br />
<b>Starcraft: Legacy of the Void</b><br />
The final episode of Starcraft 2 and the game that brought the huge Starcraft story to a close, Legacy of the Void was not a perfect game, primarily because of its story. It simply was not a good story or a great ending to one of my favourite sci-fi games. However, what it lacked in story it made up in amazing mission design (seriously, the missions in Legacy of the Void were some of the best-designed Starcraft missions ever), bringing back a lot of the older units from the first game as well as all the new units, the huge amount of customization in the campaign, and of course the changes to the multiplayer. In particular, Legacy of the Void introduced coop multiplayer missions and online character progression tied to those missions and I just can't get enough of them! They're an absolutely fantastic way to play Starcraft 2 with friends and not feel totally out of your depth.<br />
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<b>Hand of Fate</b><br />
This little virtual deck-building game came out of nowhere and I've enjoyed it greatly. You play as an adventurer playing a card game of life and death against, well, death itself (personified as the mysterious dealer). The dungeon you progress through is a deck of cards, your gear is a deck of cards, as are different abilities, potions and so on. The story is surprisingly good, the hack-and-slash combat (into which the game transitions when you land on a combat encounter card) is quick and satisfying, the deck building elements are fantastic, and for a virtual card game Hand of Fate is a surprisingly atmospheric game. Can't get enough of it, and it can be played in very short sessions if pressed for time.<br />
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<b>Assassins' Creed Syndicate</b><br />
Could this be the game to unseat Black Flag as my favourite Assassin's Creed game? Quite possibly, because as cool as pirate ships are, having your own Victorian train might be just as cool, and instead of one lovable roguish protagonist you get two - the twins Jacob and Evie Frye who have fast become some of my favourite video game protagonists yet. The city of London and its outlying areas are absolutely gorgeous, navigating the very vertical city with the aid of Batman-style grappling hook is super fun, the missions and side activities are very varied, and I love all the Victorian literature references and running into famous Victorians (Darwin, Marx, Nightingale, the list goes on). In addition to this, the present-day meta story of Assassins infiltrating the Templar corporation of Abstergo is nowhere near as intrusive as in other games (even in Black Flag the present-day sequences could be quite tedious) and is presented mostly in short entertaining cutscenes. The vehicle combat and barge hopping are also just fantastically fun. The music in this game is stellar, I could just listen to it all day long. The combat can be rather wonky at times, but this game really redeemed the Assassin's Creed series after the Unity disaster.<br />
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<b>Rocket League</b><br />
This game. This. Fucking. Game. Rocket League is one of the reasons why I virtually quit League of Legends. It is incredibly fast. Each match lasts 5 minutes and doesn't outstay its welcome. I never really get mad at stupid plays by my teammaters because: a) the match is over very quickly, b) I can very easily drop the match and find another one in less than a minute, c) I'm just as terrible as they are. Moreover, it has a lot of customization including the ability to create your own team and season and play it with bots or with your friends. It's got a good variety of maps and vehicles. Vehicles, paintjobs and other cosmetic elements are unlocked very quickly. And it's a game about playing football (the non-American one) with cars that are rocket powered and go VROOM really well! What's not to like! I could spend 5 minutes playing it, or a few hours, it doesn't stop being fun either way and rewards flashy play and skill as well as occasional dumb luck. I have it on PS4 and on PC, so that no matter where I am I can play it!<br />
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<b>Pillars of Eternity</b><br />
I love Baldur's Gate. I love Baldur's Gate 2 even more. I love Icewind Dale almost as much. And I love Planescape Torment most of all. So when along comes Pillars of Eternity, a game made by the folks who worked on all the games above, featuring the same kind of gameplay but with a better UI and smoother graphics, set in an intriguing completely original setting I knew I was going to like it. But Pillars of Eternity blew me away. Sure, the combat did start to feel repetitive and more than a little frustrating towards the end, but the writing, the story, the amazing characters you meet, the setting and the music just knock it out of the park! Add to it a pretty great huge expansion that came out the same year as the game, with another expansion on the way, and Pillars of Eternity is a huge and rewarding RPG.<br />
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<b>Dying Light</b><br />
I don't like zombie games. I don't enjoy shooter games as much as I did. I'm not a huge fan of Far Cry style games. But man, take all these things together, throw in the BEST first-person parkour ever (yes it's better than Mirror's Edge - get over it!), awesome day-night cycle mechanic and a huge sprawling city to explore and somehow Dying Light had me hooked. The story and most of its characters were cliche and the twists could be seen a mile away, but the gameplay and attention to detail more than made up for it. During the day, Dying Light is a fun open-world shooter and free-running simulator. But during the night, Dying Light turns into a terrifying and slow survival horror experience - it's so so so great! Plus, the developers have been releasing a steady stream of updates, free and paid DLCs, new levels, expansions, challenges and so on. My favourite zombie game of all time.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Rebel Galaxy</b><br />
I love Firefly. I love big capital spaceship combat. I love grungy ZZ Top-style country rock (it's a guilty pleasure). So along comes a game that has a huge sprawling galaxy to explore, trade with, or blow up, that has a kickass soundtrack, pretty great capital ship combat, and some entertaining characters. And this ships you can buy and customize look great and handle very differently. It might not quite have the sprawl of Elite: Dangerous, but it has a better story, better trading mechanics, looks almost as good, and I enjoy its combat a lot more. Really didn't see this game coming, but it won me over.<br />
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<b>Witcher 3</b><br />
This is my game of the year. Plain and simple. I sunk more hours into it than almost any other game this year (or maybe ever). I love the Witcher novels, the first two games and I'm vested in the series but Witcher 3 surpasses any and all expectation. This is a game where many of the sidequests have a better story and more interesting characters than all of Fallout 4 (more on that game in a bit), nevermind the epic and supremely well-written main story. The characters, voice acting, music, crafting, combat, monster hunts, the ridiculously huge yet detailed world combine to create the best open-world RPG ever made. And I haven't even played the first expansion yet (which I have on good authority has a story just as awesome as the main game itself) because I just keep completing sidequests in the main game and constantly find something new! Oh and CD Projekt might be one of the best developers and publishers, giving away a ton of great free downloadable content, and making the season pass both very cheap and ridiculously packed with goodies if the size of the first expansion is any indication. Game of the year and a permanent spot as one of my favourite games of all time.<br />
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<b>Games I wish I'd played in 2015 but will play in 2016!</b><br />
I really want the new Tomb Raider but it is a delayed exclusive for X-Box One and since I don't have one of these I'll have to wait. I greatly enjoyed the previous Tomb Raider reboot game and this one looks even better.<br />
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Tales from the Borderlands. I'm one of those strange people who liked the setting and story of Borderlands series more than the actual gameplay. I don't know what it is, but I liked the off-beat humour, the characters and the colourful setting a lot more than just shooting thousands of dudes so I could pick up a better gun. Tales from the Borderlands strips away the gunplay and adds in more humour and characters and world-building. I just picked it up during the Steam holiday sale and would love to just sit and finish it in one day.<br />
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And speaking of interactive movie-like narrative games, Life is Strange is another game I want to sit down with and finish off in one day. The story sounds pretty interesting, I really dig the music choices, and I like the vibe this game exudes. Plus I actually really liked the game studio's last game Remember Me (even though a lot of people didn't) so I definitely want to throw money their way.<br />
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Mad Max. Vehicle combat?! Nuclear wasteland?! Vehicle customization?! MAD MOTHERFUCKING MAX?! The game caught a lot of flack of mainstream games media, but the player response has been overwhelming (my favourite Youtuber TotalBiscuit even put it on his Top 2015 Games list) and it just looks badass.<br />
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Soma. I've been doing my best to avoid spoilers about this game because a lot of people agree that its story is a total mindfuck and it does survival horror really really well. It is also supposed to be shorter than Alien: Isolation - a game I really enjoyed but could finish due to some interminable stretches towards the end. Soma has that intriguing mix of existential and body horror, science fiction and philosophy I like, so it's definitely on my list of games to finish.<br />
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Undertale. It's totally not my style of games, but supposedly it really subverts the genre and the story and characters are supposed to be unforgettable. I hope I'll enjoy it.<br />
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Warhammer End Times: Vermintide. I actually have this game. I played this game. I enjoyed this game. But with my terrible Internet connection and huge time zone difference between me and my friends I just can't play this game at the moment. I really hope 2016 will be different.<br />
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<b>2015 Games That Disappointed Me</b><br />
No bigger disappointment for me was Fallout 4. It was a brilliant game in many ways and I still played 100+ hours of it but in the end it left me drained, exhausted and not having much fun. Its main story started out really well only to take some predictable turns and peter out towards the end. Some of the companions were very interesting and awesome in their own right, while others were less so. The gunplay was much better than Fallout 3 or New Vegas. What made this game such a disappointment was that this game is not really Fallout. Let me be absolutely clear - this game is not an RPG, it may be set in the Fallout universe but it is not a real Fallout game. Where are the huge dialogue trees and non-combat options and huge variety of ways to solve encounters? Fallout 4 has basically two main ways of interacting with the world: shooting it up and occasionally pressing E (or whatever controller button you're using). In terms of its narrative and non-combat options it's actually a step back from Fallout 3 or New Vegas ans a massive leap back from the brilliant design of the first two Fallout games. Eventually I grew tired, frustrated and angry at the game, I just didn't want to shoot another super mutant or raider or mirelurk or whatnot so I could get some special named gun. I was done. Maybe with some mods to address the game's most glaring issues and some DLCs to inject more quests (and let's face it - Fallout 3 had some AMAZING expansions so I know Bethesda can deliver) I might come back to it.<br />
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Star Wars Battlefront. Almost as big a disappointment as Fallout 4 was Star Wars Battlefront. HOW COULD YOU FUCK THIS UP SO BADLY? I found myself asking the game. Look, it captures the feel of being in Star Wars really well - the sound, graphics, attention to minute details of the setting, that's all great. Where it completely falls apart is the gameplay. It's basically a squad-based shooter, but it's actually taking a step backwards from the shooter evolution. Its gameplay has NOTHING interesting to recommend itself. The guns don't feel very distinct from each other. It doesn't have a cover system. It barely has any vehicles - a Battlefield/Battlefront game with no vehicles?! What heresy is this?! The iconic heroes are either too weak or too powerful. The weapons and some of the upgrades are not balanced at all. The respawn system feels positively medieval and encourages spawn camping. The progression is a tedious grind. There aren't even that many maps or modes AND NO SPACE COMBAT! Such a fail. Glad I didn't actually buy it, I only borrowed it for a couple of weeks.<br />
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Total War: Attila. Hey, at least it's better than Total War: Rome 2, amirite? No, seriously, it is better, it's actually a pretty good game. The horde mode added quite a lot to the gunplay, while playing as the decaying remnants of the Roman Empire felt very distinct and interesting in its own way. The problem was that Total War: Attila did not fix the huge problems that players had with Rome 2. This was a golden opportunity to fix some of the big issues (wonky diplomacy, boring character progression, major AI issues, a world map that was far too big, etc.) and that opportunity was squandered. Plus it introduced a whole bunch of new units but most of them felt very bland or like a reskinning of older units. Total War: Charlemagne is supposed to be much better but I'm going to wait for a deep price cut before picking it up - fool me once, etc. etc. etc.<br />
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Civilization: Beyond Earth: Rising Tide. My disappointment with this game can be partly attributed to awful technical issues I've had with it. While my laptop can run Civilization V with no problems, Beyond Earth and Beyond Earth: Rising Tide have been very difficult to get going on my computer. Rising Tide introduced the ability to build and exploit sea tiles, four new factions, hybrid affinities, artifact gathering and a bunch of other stuff. The problem for me was that it didn't fix AI issues, the new ocean options (units, techs, wonders, etc.) are very overpowered, and the new diplomacy system - while much better than the crap we got in Beyond Earth - was still not that great. I feel like with must one more expansion or a couple of DLCs Cvilization: Beyond Earth will become really good, the game we know it can be. It's just not there yet.<br />
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League of Legends. This is a game I played more than any other game except maybe Civilization 2 and 5 and Baldur's Gate 2. I still like League. Or at least I still like the idea of League. But with massive changes introduce post-Season 5 it's just not a game I enjoy playing all that much. I don't like the new champions or the direction that Riot is taking with reworking the older champions. I really don't like the new vision system. I don't think the newly reworked Masteries are well balanced. But most of all, I think League of Legends lacks certain quality of life factors that I've gotten used to in other competitive multiplayer games. Where are the replays like in Rocket League or Starcraft 2? Where is a built-in streaming support? Goddammit, all joking about horrible human beings playing LoL, where's the built-in voice chat or at least a Smite-like quick voice commands to communicate with the team better? Stop putting out more and more skins and chroma packs and other bullshit like that and modernize the game! More than anything, the lack of these quality of life factors has driven me away from LoL.<br />
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Well that's that for 2015! I am cautiously looking forward to 2016! New Final Fantasy and FF7 Remastered! Tom Clancy's The Division (here's hoping it'll be better than Watch_Dogs)! A new Homeworld game (even if this one's not in space)! Hopefully Star Citizen will finally be out! I predict that some of these are going to be pretty disappointing, but there will be enough great games to make up for this. Happy New Year's everyone!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-22580987134545701832015-12-27T02:44:00.001-08:002015-12-27T02:45:23.925-08:00My favourite TV shows of 2015 and the rest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
2015 continued the era of great TV all around. I didn't watch all the shows that I was interested in, but I also managed to watch some shows that I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did. My favorite TV shows of 2015 in no particular order are:<br />
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<b>Daredevil</b><br />
Although I wasn't a big fan of the actor playing Daredevil, the terrific supporting cast, amazing action sequences, and the Kingpin casting kept me coming back. It was a great origin story combined with some social commentary and a street-level view of the Marvel universe in the post-Avengers timelines. Can't wait to see the second season.<br />
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<b>The Man in the High Castle</b><br />
When I heard that Amazon picked up the adaptation rights for Philip K. Dick's amazing alternate history novel of the same name I was very skeptical. Previous Amazon shows were not my cup of tea. However, this show is amazing for so many reasons. The world-building is astounding and scary, the plot is sufficiently different from the book that it kept me wondering as to what was going to happen next. The show took its time to introduce new characters and relationships and explore the world rather than concentrating on action and plot all the time. It also showed an even darker and more fearful America than the one we have today, and makes a point about intolerance, hatred and fear in America today. Great show all around.<br />
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<b>Mr. Robot</b><br />
A show I didn't expect to like very much, Mr. Robot instead shows hacking in a very realistic and well-researched way with a great cast and a story with some very unexpected twists (although the big twist about Mr. Robot's identity I saw coming a mile away). Absolutely gorgeous and unexpectedly dark show. I can't wait for the second season.<br />
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<b>Better Call Saul</b><br />
I'm not a big Breaking Bad fan, but I always liked the character of Saul Goodman - the sleazy lawyer who has all ten of his dirty fingers in various criminal pies. I thought this show would be much of the same, but to my surprise it transcended my expectations in every way. This show is funnier and punchier than Breaking Bad, makes more of a social commentary on American justice system, features great cast, and its protagonist Jimmy (a.k.a. Saul Goodman) is a troubled but essentially good man (I think pun intended) who wants to do the right thing even when doing the wrong thing would be so much easier. I find him much more interesting and appealing than Walter White. Can't wait for the second season.<br />
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<b>Jessica Jones</b><br />
Another Netflix/Marvel show, where Daredevil is an origin story focusing on action, Jessica Jones is a story about what a retired superhero detective and focuses much more on investigations, personal relationships and dealing with trauma. It was quite a bit slower than Daredevil (a little too slow, there were a couple of episodes that could be easily condensed) and I didn't like all the subplots as much as the main plot, but the lead performances by Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones and David Tennant as Killgrave (maybe the best villain in TV or film all year as far as I'm concerned) carried the show. It also ends on a sufficient cliffhanger that I would like to see more.<br />
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<b>Broadchurch, season 2</b><br />
Speaking of David Tennant, I didn't expect to see a second season of Broadchurch made, but it was, and it was just as nail-biting as the first season. This time, the main plot involves both the aftermath of Season 1 when the killer is on trial, and David Tennant's character's past case and family. I enjoyed it as much as the first season and the ending was very satisfying.<br />
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<b>Mad Men final season</b><br />
I didn't think it was possible for Mad Men to ever finish, or at least finish in any way that didn't involve its protagonist's death but AMC pulled it off. Satisfying finale to a show that occasionally felt like it outstayed its welcome.<br />
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<b>The Expanse</b><br />
This show came out of nowhere. I was vaguely aware that Sy-fy was going to do an adaptation of this terrific sci-fi novel (first in the series) but I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. I'm only 4 episodes in but I'm completely hooked. This is a great hard sci-fi show with excellent casting, great visual effects that recall the best of Battlestar Galactica show, and a very interesting and brisk plot. I hope the rest of the season will be just as good.<br />
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<b>And the best show of 2015 for me was...</b><br />
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I watched one episode, then immediately another. Then I stayed up half the night to watch the entire show. Then I went online to see when the next season will be out. This show is the funniest show I've seen all year, but it also has great social commentary, and truly heartbreaking moments as well. And the performances by every member of the cast are perfect. This show stole my heart.<br />
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<b>Shows I wish I watched</b><br />
I still have to catch up on the last season of Hannibal and HBO's Show Me a Hero looks great as well. I hope to finish both before the slew of 2016 seasons start. I also didn't watch Season 5 of Game of Thrones. Why? Well, I heard that there are some parts now that go beyond book 5 (A Dance with Dragons) so I'd rather wait for the book, however long it takes, and then watch the season. Fargo is another show I really want to catch up on, hopefully I'll have the time to do so in the early 2016. Wolf Hall - an adaptation of a terrific novel by Hilary Mantel, is another show I'd like to try just to see if it's even half as good as the book. Master of None is a comedy show and I'm usually not big on those but I absolutely adore Aziz Ansari's comedy, so I hope to catch up on it eventually. Narcos is a show I've started to watch, but I'm only two episodes in and I'm not completely convinced if I really like it or not. iZombie also comes highly recommended by everyone I know who has seen it, so it's on my list as well, hopefully before the second season is out. And of course there's another season of Orphan Black I haven't seen yet. Finally, I've yet to watch the third season Vikings and that's something I need to fix ASAP! Because Vikings has consistently been amazing in the past! And I guess since we're on a topic of Vikings I'm mildly interested in The Last Kingdom - an adaptation of Bernard Cromwell's excellent historical books about the Viking invasions but from the perspective of the Saxons.<br />
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<b>Shows that disappointed me</b><br />
I really really wanted to like The Knick but I just couldn't get into it. For some reason I found it hard to keep track of the characters, the subplots didn't really interest me much, and the show just didn't grip me. Rectify - I just couldn't care about any of the characters of their drama, by the end of episode 2 I was bored stiff. I really wanted to like the second season of Penny Dreadful, and there are some great episodes in this season, but overall I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first season - the ending was also quite a letdown.<br />
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Next up, my favourite films of 2015!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-50944172465841717762015-12-22T13:09:00.000-08:002015-12-22T13:10:30.448-08:00Four games in four stories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This review post is rather late because I was both crazy busy and crazy lazy at the same time, and Fallout 4 came out and yeah, I'm out of excuses. Instead, I'm going to do a pile of mini-reviews at once. But we are going to do this as stories, because one of the things I love about board games (good ones anyway) is that each game is a unique story.<br />
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We begin in ancient times, on the coast of eastern Mediterranean, near the Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of... <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/177/advanced-civilization" target="_blank">Advanced Civilization</a>! There, on the banks of the Upper Nile, a small tribe begins its migration northward, pressured by population growth and hunger for victory points! And victory points, as any student of history can tell you, come from cities and luxury resources! They grew and prospered, spreading west into Africa and north into Sinai and Judea where they came into conflict with a migrating tribe of... the Blue People! (honestly, I can't recall what the actual name of the faction was - it was either Hittites or Asiatics, the point of the story is...) <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaao-HGN6YFFnVvduEwLY9x8-snX785Kyd7JD_vxMxt78OnA4PKHI6yHNRi3UyMnS5LKER7Yepyh4KENsF6abq38MzZSVb808xuijjfYjML9zrdnbVfrU_UoJCFfu9Gdb1MVOxEFPAs4/s1600/Advanced+Civilization+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaao-HGN6YFFnVvduEwLY9x8-snX785Kyd7JD_vxMxt78OnA4PKHI6yHNRi3UyMnS5LKER7Yepyh4KENsF6abq38MzZSVb808xuijjfYjML9zrdnbVfrU_UoJCFfu9Gdb1MVOxEFPAs4/s640/Advanced+Civilization+photo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My glorious Egyptian civilization. I felt like I did as well as I did mostly because of my starting location.</td></tr>
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The great Yellow People (a.k.a. Egyptians) rolled the Blue People, but then worked out a peace treaty and commenced lots and lots of trading in the hopes of creating sets of resource cards that could be used to create ever more glorious technologies like sail-weaving and pottery and yarn-making. So it went through several ages, more cities arose, more sets of cards were assembled, and the mighty Yellow People fleet kept the country safe for a few hours until we ran out of time and had to cut Advanced Civilization short. In brief, Advanced Civilization looks intimidating as hell and the rules are not well-written, but it's actually much easier than it appears. It's a game of area control, deck building, and negotiation, and it's a lot of fun at first; however, it outstays its welcome after the first two ages (I think there are four or five in total? I can't accurately remember). After the first age I've pretty much experienced all there was to the game and its mechanics. It's a grand game but it's not worth the 6-8 hour investment to actually finish it properly. I also felt that a big thing this game was lacking was some differentiation between the different civilizations other than starting location. Basically all civilizations are identical in every way and have access to the same technologies. That was quite a big flaw in my opinion.<br />
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We skip a couple of thousand years to the rainy shores of... <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240/britannia" target="_blank">Britannia</a>! There, a bunch of tribes live more or less peacefully. Doing their stuff. Welsh are welshing, Picts are picting, when out of the misty southern fog suddenly... A WHOLE CRAPLOAD OF ROMANS APPEARED! The Romans kicked some major butt, but couldn't quite conquer northern England (held off by the Brigantes) or Wales (held off by the Welsh). Eventually Romans were replaced by Roman Britannians who were promptly wiped out by invading Saxons and Angles. Meanwhile in the north, the Picts and Brigandians were stubbornly staying alive against invading Irish, Scots and remaining Caledonians. However, with the Welsh-Angle alliance holding Saxons down, it seemed like Britannia's troubles would soon be over. Even Brigantians mostly stayed in their hills. A few centuries passed by uneventfully (if by uneventful you mean Irish constantly landing on western shores and taking heads. Which is exactly what I mean by uneventful). When suddenly Vikings!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLTck96IVc_dPClPaqmoa2zXIEeN9jYSMir46Xj3dhDloVZsCkNUDwivuUMZUVtwF2Q794Nj6ZnL-sbLMKaXpoPrRMKZd7PglJgR2crj8DVEwr6p4R4qHxZVIaxIjSCGGmNhIjb-qjO4/s1600/The-Cast-of-Vikings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSLTck96IVc_dPClPaqmoa2zXIEeN9jYSMir46Xj3dhDloVZsCkNUDwivuUMZUVtwF2Q794Nj6ZnL-sbLMKaXpoPrRMKZd7PglJgR2crj8DVEwr6p4R4qHxZVIaxIjSCGGmNhIjb-qjO4/s400/The-Cast-of-Vikings.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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OK, they weren't this handsome, but close enough. The Norsemen, the Norwegians, and some other Scandinavians I can't remember now pretty much slaughtered everyone. Even the Picts, who managed to wipe out the Scots, were themselves finally wiped. Only the Saxons were holding on, stabbing the Angles in the back when they were invaded by Norwegians. When just as suddenly, the Normans landed and started killing Saxons like they were going out of style. Except William the Conqueror turned out to be William the Unlucky when he tried to take out the Saxon king, rolled like shit and died himself. Leaving the Norwegians to pick up the pieces and become the winners.<br />
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Basically in Britannia, players take on successive waves of invaders trying to take as much of provinces in Britain as possible while amassing as many victory points as possible (which is totally historically accurate - I checked wikipedia). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Angles are getting annihilated while Lille's Norwegians are burning everything in sight.</td></tr>
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If this sounds like Smallworld, that's because Smallworld was actually inspired by the original edition of Britannia (I played the 2008 FFG reprint). I quite enjoyed this game, it has a lot of replayability (there are a ton of different invaders to try and you don't always get the same invaders to control), it's actually very historically accurate so it's great for teaching Dark Ages history of Britain, and it's not a very complicated game. The randomness of dice rolls in combat can turn off some people but I enjoyed it in this game, and also it's not very easy to find. Personally I'd love to play it again a couple of times.<br />
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Staying in Britain, but almost six hundred years later, an ambitious English captain is hiring an intrepid crew, outfits his ship - The Golden Hind - with the finest cannons and sails, and stocks provisions for a trip to the Caribbean where riches and glory await. The captain's name? <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/140603/francis-drake" target="_blank">Francis Drake</a>. Even before he sets out, there is a great element of risk. Will he woo the Virgin Queen in hopes that she will grant him additional money and supplies? Petition for a chance to be the Admiral or the Governor of English possessions in the Caribbean? Attract more investors? Hire spies? And most importantly, should he sail ahead of his competitors who are likewise preparing for plundering voyages of their own? At last he feels ready to sail. He arrives in the Caribbean ahead of his competitors but sadly he didn't bring enough supplies so he focuses on trading for indigo and attacking the weaker Spanish outposts, while his competitors chase Spanish galleons and attack the great cities of Havana and Panama. Disheartened, the English privateer returns home to outfit his ship for a second voyage.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Francis Drake wannabes are ready to sail!</td></tr>
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" 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" 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Francis Drake is a pretty awesome worker placement game with a very strong theme. Actually it's two worker placement games in one. The first one is about outfitting your ship, but the way it's done is quite intriguing. The potential actions are laid out with cards in a row, but once you commit to a card you can't do an action on any of the previous cards in a row, you can only go forward, plus you are competing for actions with other players. The second worker placement game in Francis Drake is in voyaging to the Caribbean, attacking Spanish forts, towns and galleons, trading for goods and other shenanigans, in order to (drumroll please!) get victory points. This is done by placing disks with numbers, and as players stack those disks on top of each other, there's an element of bluffing. I really liked this game. More than Advanced Civilization or Britannia, this is a game that I would love to own.<br />
<br />
Thousands of years in the future, in a galaxy far away from England or Mesopotamia, a faction of religious dissidents sets out to usher in a new galactic renaissance, but only if the dice fall in their favor as they <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/132531/roll-galaxy" target="_blank">Roll for the Galaxy</a>! Finding themselves on the run, the religious dissidents make an alliance with other outcasts and separatists in the far away systems of the galaxy. Finding an extremely advanced lab, they research the secrets of nanotechnology which makes them an economic superpower in the long run. They construct great docks to carry their goods and their religious creed to the rest of the galaxy and finally bring about the great galactic renaissance of peace, prosperity and cultural growth that was spoken of in their prophecies.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglc-Wk1GDwOaP-zzx8FFFMEStw-YA6_UrQrTrhCFMUl5eCbsVAjDM-SJjTBGdhu07FAFVY0h2uAymhd9az5QpVEpnbn_NLI1GjjST2SfvQaTTOBv_BvsDYoOVLw1rYAe-Vg_LEN6PDsAU/s1600/Roll+for+Galaxy+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglc-Wk1GDwOaP-zzx8FFFMEStw-YA6_UrQrTrhCFMUl5eCbsVAjDM-SJjTBGdhu07FAFVY0h2uAymhd9az5QpVEpnbn_NLI1GjjST2SfvQaTTOBv_BvsDYoOVLw1rYAe-Vg_LEN6PDsAU/s640/Roll+for+Galaxy+photo.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Victory was finally achieved! With much nanotechnology and dice!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a 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" 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" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Roll for the Galaxy is a spiritual sequel to the super-popular and acclaimed Race for the Galaxy. Except, while I hate Race for the Galaxy, Roll for the Galaxy is marvelous in every way. Players roll dice, assign those dice to different actions, then buy different cards to advance their galactic civilization and achieve goals, then use their dice and cards to get more dice, and roll those dice, and oh God this feedback loop is too addictive! Unlike Race for the Galaxy, Roll for the Galaxy is much quicker, the new art is much better, you can easily see how well other players are doing, building a "deck" of dice and then rolling a whole bunch of them feels so much more satisfying. And just like Race for the Galaxy it lets you create your own personal narrative of a grand space opera. This is a game I'll be buying for myself the moment I have the chance.<br />
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So there we have it, four games. One venerable classic that turned out to be so-so, a delightful historic game with some replayability, a fantastic worker placement game with a strong theme and equally fantastic deck/dice building game. Soon, I hope to review Trains, Exploding Kittens and a couple of other new games. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-17926137829676422522015-09-24T04:23:00.000-07:002015-09-24T04:24:02.987-07:00A pile of Eurogames!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week was something of a Eurogame binge, having played three games:<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24181/imperial" target="_blank"> Imperial</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63628/manhattan-project" target="_blank">Manhattan Project</a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28720/brass" target="_blank">Brass</a>. In case you're not familiar with the term, Eurogames refer to board games typically designed and produced by European game designers and companies (but not exclusively so) that focus on non-zero sum victory goals (so definitely not Monopoly or Risk - think more accumulation of victory points or specific resources), creating and running efficient economies and competing for resources. Games like Settlers of Catan and Carcasonne are two of the best known examples of this genre. Two of the games I've played were very much typical Eurogames (Manhattan Project and Brass) while Imperial was unlike almost any other game I've played.<div>
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Imperial looks very much like Risk or Diplomacy at first glance. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYEkiXTys1kGVn_lcn9IFAautR1k2N2Ou7SMP2SA7q2dI5wXluyN8t_MZTjrpbxaRLJMJ6-QaXHtOxt5wVRyhiYGhLEpCO_Km8B6VfBT2s2i30TVU3uVk57qB7ANvWKfUTX35UEUtY5qc/s1600/Imperial+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYEkiXTys1kGVn_lcn9IFAautR1k2N2Ou7SMP2SA7q2dI5wXluyN8t_MZTjrpbxaRLJMJ6-QaXHtOxt5wVRyhiYGhLEpCO_Km8B6VfBT2s2i30TVU3uVk57qB7ANvWKfUTX35UEUtY5qc/s400/Imperial+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm running Germany into the ground and lining my pockets at the same time!</td></tr>
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There are European nations conforming to late 19th century borders, armies and fleets and money. However, this is where the similarities end. You see, the players aren't the nations, they are devious investors manipulating the nations from the shadows! A player who invests the most into a nation the controls what that nation does, but there's nothing preventing that player from also investing in other nations. Growing the nation's treasury through taxation and war and then raiding that treasure through bonds for all it's worth is quite a viable strategy! For example I started out in control of Germany, I quickly invested in Italy and seized control of Italy for a few turns, then spent a few turns without a country to control (but with plenty of cash and investments in most of the other countries) before once again controlling Germany. I ran Germany into the ground but it didn't matter - what mattered was how much cash I had (not the nation I controlled) and the value of the bonds I held at the end of the game. I'm only scratching the surface here because the game also features a very unique rondel which the players use to issue commands to their controlled nations, a simple but enjoyable combat system, and all sorts of other devious things one can do. On top of that it's a purely non-random game but one with a lot of depth. Imperial is definitely a game I can't wait to play again!</div>
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Manhattan Project is a quintessential worker placement Euro game with a few twists that made it far more enjoyable for me than very similar games such as Agricola. The players are countries competing to develop their own nuclear weapons. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3g4du5VfVh64q8nMfoGpJat6BkouPAr8HbCqLy4sIdaz1JTDVs83fjc3LjKRhrqLIFPMuQ3KmxUIpGPuSDNZ1kOecv9_DbnYcHthXKyLcCHPgj58Puz7WhsVmOHCvJ9YYMYwiZfFcr4/s1600/Manhattan+photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3g4du5VfVh64q8nMfoGpJat6BkouPAr8HbCqLy4sIdaz1JTDVs83fjc3LjKRhrqLIFPMuQ3KmxUIpGPuSDNZ1kOecv9_DbnYcHthXKyLcCHPgj58Puz7WhsVmOHCvJ9YYMYwiZfFcr4/s400/Manhattan+photo+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> My dinky personal playing space, only six buildings but at least I already have a bomb loaded!</td></tr>
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They use three different types of workers (labourers, engineers and scientists) to take actions dictated on the main board as well as the buildings they can buy. Players have to accumulate resources such as money and yellowcake (un-enriched Uranium ore) and then refine uranium and/or plutonium, research different bomb designs, build said bombs, and then "load" them. Only loaded bombs grant victory points - money and other resources are only means to an end (building the bomb) and provide no victory points. So it's an exercise in creating the most efficient economic chains just like Agricola. But what Manhattan Project does differently is injecting a lot more direct competition and ability to interfere with the other players than most Eurogames have. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXoHgoqY47-DK0H5reaDt-tC7oMzC-iRyxGgEZmnfI9PVmGZbGZbTnnRBtbISavbszcWfyvBdYAb1oaY0wwv1knMe1Z4rtDQjmncPdCwZNZvyR_Ee54H1qSCUDabLp8SyP6uy5WeTq-g/s1600/Manhattan+Photo+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXoHgoqY47-DK0H5reaDt-tC7oMzC-iRyxGgEZmnfI9PVmGZbGZbTnnRBtbISavbszcWfyvBdYAb1oaY0wwv1knMe1Z4rtDQjmncPdCwZNZvyR_Ee54H1qSCUDabLp8SyP6uy5WeTq-g/s320/Manhattan+Photo+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Players can use espionage to send their workers into enemy's buildings denying their use, they can also build fighters and bombers to disable enemy buildings and disrupt their chains. There is a LOT of depth to the game, and I haven't even tried the hydrogen bomb rules or the expansion, but I have already enjoyed it a lot more than Agricola. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the theme as being entirely appropriate, but then again Archipelago is one of my top favourite games and it's a game about the brutal colonization of Polynesian islands by Europeans...</div>
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Finally, Brass was a game I was very dubious about, since it's designed by Martin Wallace known for very heavy Eurogames and whose game <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/36888/after-flood" target="_blank">After the Flood</a> I didn't particularly enjoy. On the surface there is little to recommend Brass - it's a game about industrial development in Lancashire in the second half of the 19th century, and it's butt ugly to boot (just look at it!). <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpby0Z20jEK4yrwNSD494k6WefbCMU3GwsgWEy7YPIcDgpOnn0NIB3BzF-O_ceq1ZQu-23zV5rMhLl8MpOkI5fpNciCHBhYdYftfqyOEw_eI0YaaAsq2byvWSUhIP9Och8woYsZDkfSM/s1600/Brass+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpby0Z20jEK4yrwNSD494k6WefbCMU3GwsgWEy7YPIcDgpOnn0NIB3BzF-O_ceq1ZQu-23zV5rMhLl8MpOkI5fpNciCHBhYdYftfqyOEw_eI0YaaAsq2byvWSUhIP9Och8woYsZDkfSM/s320/Brass+photo.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
It also features one of the worst-written manuals I've ever seen. However, we played a few practice turns first, slowly figured out the rules and played a proper game, and surprisingly we had a blast! Players play two cards per turn that dictate where the players can construct buildings or what type of buildings they can place. At the same time players are trying to accumulate money and to spend the coal and iron from their mines or from the separate pool of resources. The game has two phases - a canal phase and railroad phase. During each phase players have access to different buildings, the costs are different, and some locations only open up in the railroad phase. Almost everything gets wiped out after the canal phase (this seems to be Martin Wallace's calling card just like After the Flood) so the players have clear choices between trying to make as much money in the canal phase or to lay groundwork for even bigger expansion during the railway age. There is a lot more to this game but suffice to say I greatly enjoyed it and anyone who likes Powergrid will find a lot to like here as well, provided you can get past the awful manual and visual design (I found some tiles very hard to read because of a poor choice of colour contrast).</div>
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Anyway, three new games and I can't wait to play all three of these again! Definitely a big hit with me!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-57946227314474745072015-09-12T13:06:00.001-07:002015-09-12T13:08:36.376-07:00Mage Knight and After the Flood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It only took me two weeks after moving to Doha, Qatar to find a board gaming group. Meetup is pretty amazing for finding people for whatever hobby or past time you're looking for. The group I joined (link <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Qatar-Wargaming-Boardgaming-Group/" target="_blank">here</a>) plays every week, Simon is a very gracious host with a very large playing table, a very large collection, and a fantastic view of the Pearl. So if you're in Doha and you want to play some board games give a shout. Anyway, on to the reviews.<br />
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We decided to play two games that two of the players have never played before: Vlaada Chvátil's Mage Knight (2011 edition) and Martin Wallace's After the Flood (a 2008 game). I'll start with the latter however as that was the one we played first. After the Flood is set in ancient Mesopotamia and covers about 2000 years of history with the manual being full of wonderful historical information and trivia about the setting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioN1-X2bjdYlmVYzjRZoX3lRoH6SNBT8cs48VS59O-FIhwoLiGpVpjNhKsNbbqiye0RGgIwUSPmJVFbBXaZzr9o77Iv98vQPuq2TyeDmqVoDJmtPPnwAGZ6z15RYv8z6PpVXyOytMLUdk/s1600/after+the+flood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioN1-X2bjdYlmVYzjRZoX3lRoH6SNBT8cs48VS59O-FIhwoLiGpVpjNhKsNbbqiye0RGgIwUSPmJVFbBXaZzr9o77Iv98vQPuq2TyeDmqVoDJmtPPnwAGZ6z15RYv8z6PpVXyOytMLUdk/s320/after+the+flood.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture courtesy of Dice Tower</td></tr>
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At its heart, After the Flood is a worker placement, area control game. Workers are used to generate basic resources and to claim areas where these basic resources can be upgraded to progressively better and better resources. At the end of the game if you have the most workers in a given area you score the victory points for that area. Armies are used to deny areas to the enemy, sack enemy cities, or in lieu of workers when trading resources. Cities can also be upgraded for massive victory point boosts. The game has several unique mechanics to handicap the lead players, for example if one player passes the other players can keep taking turns but every turn they subsequently take requires them to throw away some of their resources. Also, the game is broken up into five turns and on turns 2 and 4 a great deluge (or as the game called it Decline Phase) occurs which wipes out most of the workers off the board, effectively resetting it. In each turn new empires open up for players to raise their armies in so you're constantly planning one or two turns ahead, looking to see where you will be able to raise armies and control vital resources. The other noteworthy thing about the game is that it is designed precisely for three players. Three shall be the number of thy counting, and the number of thy counting shall be two. Not two, not four, not two to three or two to four, three. This makes it a bit weird. So what I liked about it was the whole process of building an effective economic engine to steamroll your empire to victory. The way different resources provided different bonuses (such as upgrading your army or building a bigger army or giving you more workers or upgrading cities) was very well managed. I also rather liked the look of the board and the pieces although many people online apparently complain that the game looks boring - I don't agree, it has a clean aesthetic with Mesopotamian feel and the areas are very clearly delineated. However, would I recommend After the Flood? Well, no. And there are three big reasons for it. The first reason is how combat is resolved. Basically it's like Risk, but only the attacker rolls the dice and the probabilities are HEAVILY skewed in the favour of the attacker (7+ if your army has no upgrades, or 5+ if it is better equipped than your opponent, that means that even when you don't have equipment you'll be killing the enemy 50% of the time). Building enormous army of doom to completely disrupt your opponents' plans seems too easy and the dice rolling is too random and feels out of place in an otherwise Eurogame design. The other reason is that there isn't much replay value to it. It's quite clear what gives the most victory points from the start so as long as you try to occupy areas that produce certain resources (particularly Lapis Lazuli and gold) you'll be able to place more workers and have better armies than your opponents. Finally, After the Flood is - like Monopoly or Risk - a game where you can usually see who's going to win the game by the end of turn three, and yet it takes two more turns to make it a <i>fait accompli</i>. If it wasn't for these reasons I'd definitely recommend it. It was enjoyable enough for a 1.5-2 hour game, but nothing I'd really want to play again. Games such as Samurai, El Grande or Archipelago (my personal favourite) do the same thing but much better.<br />
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The other game we played is the esteemed Mage Knight, currently sitting on number 8 at Board Game Geek, which is quite a remarkable feat considering the competition. Mage Knight is a fantasy quasi-RPG game with tile-laying and heavy deck-building mechanics. Each player contains a hero and his or her entourage of followers, exploring randomly revealed tiles. They fight marauding orks and dragons, explore tombs, dungeons, monster lairs, and if you're feeling a bit more evil also storming wizard towers, forts and even cities (although cities may require more than one player to work together). Hero's basic and special abilities, spells, and artifacts are represented by a deck of cards that gradually grows throughout the game, and most abilities and spells have a basic effect that doesn't cost anything and a special effect that costs mana. Mana is generated randomly by rolling a bunch of dice, and it can also be acquired as crystals or tokens by going to certain locations on the map or playing certain cards. So it's also a resource management game as well. OK, to be honest I would do the complexity of the game a grave injustice if I tried to summarize it so just go and watch the excellent (and hilarious!) review of Mage Knight by Shut Up & Sit Down crew <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhXNCSoZsA" target="_blank">here</a> to get a better sense of the rules. Let's just say that there are so many little systems all working together in ways you only begin to appreciate (and develop an awe for) towards the end of the first game you play. There are just so many options you have but the game never throws them all at you at once, instead slowly giving you the tools and awareness as the game progresses. And just look at it! It is one of the most gorgeous games I've ever played! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3C7z-NBEirh16yB9oCw4kUPt9UV5KNgIqSly0xewQhAFT7fpVIrp5-36AWAaRqVhbOoLlhuYSm1Kv-G5Bgyv9IzScPzKU0TwwCgm2uHnMplRkmi2MLvZfb_NYD4WYj5LZZkop-O_ivVw/s1600/mage+knight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3C7z-NBEirh16yB9oCw4kUPt9UV5KNgIqSly0xewQhAFT7fpVIrp5-36AWAaRqVhbOoLlhuYSm1Kv-G5Bgyv9IzScPzKU0TwwCgm2uHnMplRkmi2MLvZfb_NYD4WYj5LZZkop-O_ivVw/s400/mage+knight.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of Amazon.com</td></tr>
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The production value definitely justifies the rather steep price tag. The heroes are decently fully painted minis, the art on tiles and monsters and cards is excellent, the cities are heroclix like bastions and the way the tiles fit together... Unnnnnghhhhhh.<br />
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OK, but is it actually fun? Well... The design - both gameplay and artistic - is amazing, but there are definitely a few hurdles that made the first time I played Mage Knight a somewhat frustrating experience. So what were they? One is that since the map is randomly generated moving around can be quite frustrating and very slow, especially at the start. There are too many impassable barriers (at least in the early game before you acquire various spells of flying and such) that make moving about rather tedious. The other is a problem endemic in deckbuilders such as Dominion: the curse of an enormous chain of cards being played on one turn, and if the player plays the cards in the wrong order from the one s/he intended then they usually start the chain anew. Turns where a player took ten or even twenty minutes were not uncommon. There is also an enormous amount of rules to digest - if everyone already knows the rules then the game runs a bit faster but even so, there's already a huge errata and FAQ online for the game that the players need to be familiar with. The other problem is endemic to all of Vlaada's games (except for his party games) and that is a horrible manual. A lot of spelling errors, referring to the same concept by two different names throughout the manual, lack of a decent index, the way related rules are not always grouped together into logical categories, all make learning Mage Knight much more frustrating than it should be. Even after playing it for the first time I'm not altogether sure that we played it correctly, and I still can't easily tell you all the different ways in which victory points are scored. Lastly, most deckbuilding games contain some form of mechanic whereby you can 'trim' your deck or starting cards to make room for better cards. Mage Knight does not and I often found that I wanted to prune my deck of certain cards permanently but there was no way to do so. Maybe one of the expansions for the game (there are two currently out I believe) introduces this, but the base game certainly does not. However, despite these shortcomings, Mage Knight is the game I would definitely want to play again and again, to try out different heroes (each of which feels very different to play it would appear!), to try out different paths to victory and just to see more of it! I feel like during the first game we barely scratched the surface of different special abilities, spells and artifacts and that's just the base game!<br />
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So there you have it: one solid if unremarkable game, and the other an occasionally frustrating but clearly very promising experience!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-49700681592420513442015-07-20T19:25:00.001-07:002015-07-20T19:26:00.375-07:00Forbidden Stars and Dead of Winter review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The two more recent games I've played were Forbidden Stars (Fantasy Flight Games) and Dead of Winter (Plaid Hat Games). I've gotten a couple of sessions on each, but both games have a lot of depth so this review is more of first impressions based on those playthroughs and pouring over the manual.<br />
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I'll start with Dead of Winter since that's the one I played first.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievuKR9txNio5AS_uZGP4L_I8PW0MHaFWoXcqDiZ9f_yY1LVLpMqzSDiKzRK0oMGclrKm0_zx8uogPxVb4g8GurFp7JZRsX_rNBX7O1e6gmsUYHaKuxoUTE1sZ7YkMZO9XizWz3OwD7pM/s1600/Survivor-Odysseys-Dead-of-Winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievuKR9txNio5AS_uZGP4L_I8PW0MHaFWoXcqDiZ9f_yY1LVLpMqzSDiKzRK0oMGclrKm0_zx8uogPxVb4g8GurFp7JZRsX_rNBX7O1e6gmsUYHaKuxoUTE1sZ7YkMZO9XizWz3OwD7pM/s320/Survivor-Odysseys-Dead-of-Winter.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image thanks to Meeplemart</td></tr>
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What is Dead of Winter? It's a semi-cooperative board game of surviving the zombie apocalypse, scarcity, the weather and other humans. The players must work together to loot buildings, kill zombies and resolve potentially catastrophic events every turn. The players begin with three random survivors (each with different statistics, story, and a few random items) and go from there, trying to resolve crisis cards that come up every round (gather this much food, medicine, etc.), while also working towards their own personal secret goal that may or may not put the other survivors (that's the characters controlled by players) in danger. Furthermore, there are also helpless survivors (represented by tokens) that cause a drain on the supply of food of the colony and attract even more zombies. The game is absolutely gorgeous and evocative, there are tons of characters each with a special ability and her own stats and backstory represented by a stand-up cardboard figurine. The characters range from politicians, educators, police officers, criminals and soccer moms to the more bizarre like a drunken mall Santa Claus or a stunt super dog. What impressed me about the game was its strong adherence to theme, the production of the components and the art, and that cooperative/backstabbing dynamic going on. However, did I like the game as much as the hype led me to think I would? Not quite, because of how random it is. Not in the sense that everything hinges on a die roll (although the exposure/wound/death die is important) but in how random many scenarios and crossroad cards (those are events that happen on each player's turn) seem to be. Many crossroad cards might be drawn and just dumped into discard because a certain condition isn't met. Scenarios for the overall game range from those rather easy to complete (kill that many zombies) or nearly impossible (survive this many rounds while also making sure you have this much food and oh! More zombies than usual spawn!). Basically how fun the game is really depends on what random scenario, crises, characters and crossroads cards you get. To me this makes Dead of Winter's fun factor inconsistent, so I hesitate to recommend it. Also, with just two players the game ran by fairly quickly, about an hour per session, I'm not sure how much fun I would have with 4 players in the game - especially if the scenario is particularly brutal and might even be (thanks to random die rolls and card draws) unwinnable.<br />
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Forbidden Stars is another massive board game from Fantasy Flight Games, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupRRt5Q61Lj8BNV_VDLGl5aeftCcTA8IrpHjpuX0qJeQGn2LF5EZOPlac-YuCBZjY436pDN9wYi1yoBcZFjd4YjHJBuNRXcwOJ9e0sp6xRCvKL6J0tiMgEg9sd2EtRExWZLPAc_tB9DI/s1600/fs01-sample.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjupRRt5Q61Lj8BNV_VDLGl5aeftCcTA8IrpHjpuX0qJeQGn2LF5EZOPlac-YuCBZjY436pDN9wYi1yoBcZFjd4YjHJBuNRXcwOJ9e0sp6xRCvKL6J0tiMgEg9sd2EtRExWZLPAc_tB9DI/s1600/fs01-sample.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image thanks to Boardgamegeek</td></tr>
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It's a 2 to 4 player game of area control and rolling a crapload of dice (as Warhammer demands) to determine who will control 3 objectives first. The game is played on a random map (assembled from 6 to 12 massive and GORGEOUS tiles - seriously, I just sat there and poured over the art on the tiles for a good ten minutes, it's that beautiful!) and it's basically a free-for-all between Space Marines, Chaos, Orks and Eldar. Each faction starts with some ground units, ships, buildings, basic deck of combat cards, and objectives that they need to acquire. The kicker is that your opponents decide which sector of space your objectives are. You want to attract the enemies to a particular sector? Place their objectives there! You want to keep them away from your homeworld? Place their objectives as far away as possible! Players issue commands using tokens placed face down (like in FFG's excellent Game of Thrones board game) but players stack the face-down tokens on top of each other and these are then resolved from top to bottom allowing players opportunities to bluff, double-bluff and triple-bluff opponents. Throughout the game players spend different resources on upgrading their forces, constructing cities, factories and bastions (to protect against orbital bombardments of course!), upgrading their order tokens and upgrading their combat deck. Now combat is quite fiddly and time-consuming and that's a major drawback. Players roll dice, call in reinforcements, then play three combat cards from their hand which might add to their attack, defense, morale or do special actions. It took us a while to figure out how combat is supposed to work, and to be honest it takes too long to play out each battle. So in a 3-4 player game, that means 1 or 2 players are sitting out and twiddling their thumbs for a while when combat starts. Another major drawback is that the rules are scattered between two different booklets and some rather crucial pieces of information are not explained up front leading to a lot of confusion. There are also a LOT of rules and some mechanics seem too fiddly (this is a FFG game after all). There's also the price of the game, it's veeeeeeeery expensive and you could probably pick up Twilight Imperium (3rd edition) for the same price and have an even more epic experience. Finally, while I found that Forbidden Stars has a lot of depth and replay value (each faction plays very differently and there are 4 factions to learn) what it does lack is an element of alliances and diplomacy that other games in the similar vein might offer. It's always a free-for-all and there's not much reason or opportunity to make alliances. Similar games such as Cosmic Encounters, aforementioned Twilight Imperium and Game of Thrones have that extra dynamic, that extra spice that Forbidden Stars lack. Still, if you want a much better game than risk and don't mind spending the cash, it's still a very satisfying and deep experience.<br />
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So TL;DR version: Dead of Winter has the potential to be fun but it depends on your luck. Forbidden Stars is very good if you're willing to read a lot of rules, put up with long combat rounds, and not looking for any kind of diplomacy.<br />
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Next I hope to review the reprinted and updated Fief: France 1429!<br />
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P.S. Follow me on Twitter @akritchever and Google+ +Arseni</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-12157922006129759052015-06-04T05:51:00.003-07:002015-06-04T05:51:19.341-07:00Ramez Naam's "Nexus"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Mini-review/rant of Ramez Naam's "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_%28Ramez_Naam_novel%29" target="_blank">Nexus</a>" - the first book in a cyberpunk, transhuman, singularity, sci-fi trilogy. Naam has some amazing ideas about emerging technologies and the ends to which people would put them. He can also write great action and has a great sense of pacing (which is beginning to be sorely lacking in modern sci-fi). However, he can't write interesting or believable characters for shit. All of the characters are walking tropes with very little about them f</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, 'lucida grande', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">or the reader to get interested in. The hacker with the heart of gold, the guild-ridden veteran, the government agent with a Past, the heartless bureaucrat. The other problem with the book is more political in nature. Naam belongs to a peculiar subset of tech geek libertarians - the singularitarian techno-fetishit transhumanists (phewph, quite a mouthful), and he has an axe to grind with everyone who thinks technological progress should be controlled. Personally I consider myself an optimist when it comes to future technologies, but Naam presents technological progress as a stark Us (the good hackers, libertarians, "information wants to be free" types) vs. Them (the bad nasty government that inevitably turns authoritarian), and that dichotomy starts to get tiresome pretty quickly. It ignores the fact that most of the important inventions that make Naam's setting possible have been made thanks to overwhelming government sponsorship - not the plucky V.C. types like Musk or Anderseen or whoever. His worldview (at least as presented in the novel) is too dualistic and naive. I hope the second book will present a more nuanced look at the ramifications of technologies that emerge at the end of the first book, and not boil it down to "technology good, governments bad".</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-69631777674883907982015-05-05T19:21:00.000-07:002015-05-05T19:21:01.127-07:00Dogs of War: A quick review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Just wanted to throw out a quick review of <a href="http://cmon.com/dow.htm" target="_blank">Dogs of War</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture courtesy of Board Game Geek</td></tr>
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, designed by Paolo Mori, published by Coolminiornot, and originally funded through Kickstarter, because it's a great game, albeit with not a lot of lasting power. This is a game by a European designer, it does have some Eurogame sensibilities, but it combines it with the quality of pieces and directly competitive cutthroat gameplay of North American games. The game is played out over the course of four rounds, each round the players (3 to 5 players, 4 or 5 players is best) buy soldiers, then play soldiers and captains (a soldier must be played with a captain and the number of captains the player gets is fixed each round - although opportunities to gain new captains exist, more on that in a bit), to support 1 of 6 noble houses. Now, each player controls a mercenary company that secretly supports one of the houses, but you don't have to support any particular house, so that adds more intrigue to the game. Each house is accompanied by an "Order of Battle" card which is randomized every round. When you play a captain, that captain is placed on a sport on this Order of Battle card which grants the player immediate bonus (extra money, extra troops, extra captains, victory points, etc.) but no one can they go on the same spot (going other spots on the same Order of Battle card is fine though). Players can support the same House, improving its chances of success, or throw down armies in support of opposing houses. So like the Game of Thrones game, there is a constant tug-of-war over which house has a higher battle score, which particularly desirable spots on Order of Battle cards (6 are in play in every round) are occupied and which aren't, and players are constantly at each other's throats. Combined with the fact that each mercenary company has its own special power, and also a deck of Tactics cards that let players perform some sneaky moves (one card is simply titled Betrayal - you can switch sides and even defeat your own captains thereby giving you more victory points!), there are lots of options and opportunities for players to claw their way back to the top.<br />
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What I really like about the game is how simple the rules are to explain and start playing, and yet <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture courtesy of Dice Tower News</td></tr>
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how much complexity exists in the game. There are so many different ways to collect victory points. Do you collect House influence tokens that are worth anywhere between -1 (yes, you can actually lose points) to 7 (depending on how well your House performs)? Do you hoard gold, tactics cards, or soldiers (all of which are worth victory points)? Do you throw down all you have to perform a crushing victory for a House and reap a bunch of victory points? Do you form lasting alliances, or stab a fellow player in the back just when he least expects it? Anyone who likes Risk, Game of Thrones, Coup, or Smallworld, would feel right at home. Another thing to like is how gorgeous everything looks. Each mercenary company has their own unique captain sculptures and those are gorgeous looking, the other components are sturdy and beautiful to look at. The manual is very well-written, the rules are very clearly spelled out, and half the manual is actually dedicated to the lore of the setting, the noble Houses, and the individual Dogs of War. I liked the writing and the illustrations are just amazing (reminded me a lot of Warhammer Fantasy with the more colourful palette of Cadwallon). Also, each game is quite fast once everyone understands the rules, a game of 3 players takes about 45 minutes at most.<br />
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It's not completely perfect however. For one thing, there are six Houses, but other than being a different colour, there is no difference between them. The Dogs of War (mercenary companies controlled by players) only number 5, I hope they'll come out with expansions to add more, or a way to customize the special ability of each company. Furthermore, with three players it's possible that the Houses players secretly support do not directly oppose each other, which leads each player to simply throw support behind her/her house every round, and no conflict thus arises. The game is better with 4 or 5 players, when it forces players to directly oppose each other. There are only 8 Order of Battle cards (6 random ones drawn every round), I feel like more Order of Battle cards or more variety of options on each of these cards would inject more variety that would add staying power to the game. Otherwise, I feel like a group that played Dogs of War 4 or 5 times would quickly play out the game's appeal. Finally, as great as the components look, the soldier and Tactics cards use this tiny card size format (I think Arkham Horror used them too) which is hard to handle and pick up, but that's a very personal preference. Other than these relatively minor problems, I highly recommend Dogs of War if you're looking for something that lasts longer than Coup, but shorter than Game of Thrones, and has the same cutthroat conflict gameplay.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-40818335334911802252015-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:002015-03-13T11:04:03.135-07:00Sid Meier's Starships - First Impressions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Spent some time with Sid Meier's Starships (once I got it working on my gaming desktop - it still crashes every few minutes on my laptop). I'm not refunding the game because I expect (as was the case with original Civ V and Beyond Earth) that it will get better, but not even the relatively-cheap price of $16 dollars makes this game worthwhile at this point. The fleet action grows quickly repetitive, because there simply aren't enough different options in combat or different components (there is Stealth, Sensors, Launch Fighters, Launch Torpedoes). Moreover, you could conceivably cram all of the different components into a big enough ship so there is little reason to build specialized ships. Heck, you can't even toggle between different weapon systems like lasers or plasma. There is a decent variety of different missions and maps but you can pretty much experience all of them in a single play through.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">There is no attempt at a story or even a kind of grand narrative of Civ games and the victory conditions are a joke: it's either a tedious slog to conquer every planet on the map, or to just click end turn a few dozen times so you can buy every science advance or build the required number of cities. There is no diplomacy to speak of - there is either a state of peace or war, there are no defensive alliances, trade agreements, sneaky gang-ups, or espionage. There is no science progression either - you just buy the science advances you want, and you can just buy all of them. Furthermore, planetary improvements do not have any kind of maintenance cost so there is never any reason not to build each improvement on each planet.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Basically there is no feeling of depth or strategy to the game because you can build every improvement, research every science, construct every wonder in whatever order you want on a single playthrough (something that would be impossible in Beyond Earth and nearly impossible in Civ V). It makes me wonder why the game even provides an illusion of choice when the choice of what to build does not even matter.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Then there are the minor annoyances about the game: you cannot rename your starships or planet. When you purchase a new starship you have no control over what kind of ship you will get. The civilopedia is a joke - it is devoid of any kind of background about the setting (I was one of those rare players who enjoyed reading all the entries in Beyond Earth civilopedia), so there is no interest in the universe. The starships are never permanently destroyed (they just have to be repaired between missions) so there is never any sense of tension. Go on, the game says, if you don't feel like being tactically clever just repair your ships and try the mission again and again and again until the AI makes a mistake or you have enough resources to upgrade your ships. Much of the art and sounds are recycled from Beyond Earth. The only factions in the game are human factions - would it kill them to put in an interesting alien race to play against? And the biggest gripe is that the game could still be a fun diversion if it had multiplayer (especially local hot-seat multiplayer since it's made for tablets) but there is NO multiplayer whatsoever - online or local.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">Despite all of these problems, there are some redeeming factors. The fleet battles are actually fun in small doses and feel like playing a board game. The art and graphics are very pretty, and it's fun to see how a starship grows and changes its looks throughout the game. The premise is neat and there is much potential in it. I hope Firaxis will make significant changes and/or drop the price.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-10594543800973305922014-01-01T21:14:00.002-08:002014-01-02T09:11:28.321-08:00RPGs and Boardgames for sale and to give away<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm moving and I have a bunch of RPGs and some boardgames that I no longer want to keep. Before I put them up on Ebay or on RPG.net or similar websites, I'd like to get offers for these or if you'd like to keep it (good homes only!). I'm deliberately not putting prices on these, let me know what you are interested in and how much you're willing to pay and we'll talk. All of these are in mint condition unless otherwise indicated. My contact information is at the bottom of this post:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Traveller Core Rulebook (Mongoose Publishing edition, MGP 3800)</div>
<div>
The Collected Book of Experimental Might</div>
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Iron Heroes (Malhavoc Publishing)</div>
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Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed</div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Roleplaying Game core rulebook</strike></div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Urban Arcana Campaign Setting</strike></div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Future source book</strike></div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Dark Matter Campaign Setting</strike></div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Cyberscape</strike></div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Future Tech</strike></div>
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<strike>D20 Modern Past source book</strike></div>
<div>
A Game of Thrones Boardgame (first edition)</div>
<div>
A Game of Thrones Boardgame: A Clash of Kings expansion (first edition)</div>
<div>
D&D 3.0 Oriental Adventures</div>
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AD&D 2nd Edition Al-Qadim campaign setting (very rare, mint condition, never touched)</div>
<div>
D&D 3.0 Book of Exalted Deeds</div>
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D&D 3.0 Book of Vile Darkness</div>
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D&D 3.0 Manual of the Planes</div>
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D&D 3.0 Monster Manual</div>
<div>
D&D 3.0 Dungeon Master's Guide</div>
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D&D 3.0 Player's Handbook</div>
<div>
Privateer Press Iron Kingdoms Character Guide (this is the D20 original edition)</div>
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Privateer Press Iron Kingdoms Lier Mechanika</div>
<div>
Privateer Press The Witchfire Trilogy Collected Edition</div>
<div>
World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game (D20 version)</div>
<div>
Shadowrun Third Edition core rulebook (used, cover is a bit scuffed)</div>
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Rifts Role-Playing Edition Core Rulebook</div>
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Weird Wars Blood on the Rhine source book (cover is scuffed)</div>
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay core rulebook (3rd edition)</div>
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Trigun D20 role-playing game</div>
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All Flesh Must Be Eaten core rulebook</div>
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Burning Wheel pack (the system book and the character guide book)</div>
<div>
Plus a whole bunch of No Quarter magazines and older (pre-4th edition) Dragon and Dungeon magazines</div>
<div>
Also various D&D miniatures, some were pre-painted, some are unpainted, some are painted by yours truly.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
If interested, drop me a line:</div>
<div>
akritchever@hotmail.com</div>
<div>
skype: arseni.kritchever</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-81197606512360086412013-08-23T10:21:00.001-07:002013-08-23T10:21:23.128-07:00Even more boardgames!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Another couple of weeks have gone by, so I have had a chance to try out a few more boardgames in the meantime. So in no particular order:<br />
<br />
<b>Sentinels of the Multiverse</b><br />
A fairly complex non-collectible card game, Sentinels of the Multiverse is not at all like the extremely popular deck building games (Dominion, Ascension, etc.) In Sentinels of the Multiverse, each player takes on a role of a superhero, all of which are thinly veiled DC and Marvel heroes. So there is a Batman type, Iron Man type, The Flash, and a few more original ones. The hero is represented by a deck, each card might be an action, a power, a piece of gear. The heroes are working together to defeat the villain, also represented by its own deck which cycles automatically - so it's very much a cooperative game. To complicate matters further, there is also an environment deck that might hinder or help the heroes and the villain. On each turn, a player can play a card, use a power (activate a card that's already in play) and draw two cards. The goal is to destroy the villain, which usually (but not always I believe) involves getting rid of his/her/its hit points. I definitely liked the art of the game, and the way the art and gameplay and card text reinforce the theme of the game - I had a lot of fun just kind of imagining the situations and the plot. On the other hand, it's hard to plan a strategy in this game due to the randomness of card draws, and new players (such as myself) will be uncertain of what their hero is capable of. Furthermore, the unfortunate truth about Sentinels of the Multiverse is that most of the time a player will be either spamming the same power every turn, or will pull off a dizzying chain of actions (some decks have cards that grant extra actions) that takes a while to resolve. It is still a fun game at times, but I'm not convinced that it is a good one.<br />
<br />
<b>Smash Up</b><br />
Another card game we tried is Smash Up. In this game, each player selects two decks and smashes them together. So I played Russian bear cavalry dinosaurs, another player played Ninja Wizards, another player smashes aliens and faeries together - you get the idea. After each player creates his deck, four locations are revealed and the players attack these locations to score victory points, in the process destroying, stunning, or moving around their opponents' cards. The art is hilarious, the premise is silly in a good way, and the game is fairly easy to learn and can be played quickly. Because the maximum hand size is 10 (I think), some planning ahead is possible. However, once again, new players will be at somewhat of a loss as to what their decks can be capable of, and will be unsure of what their opponents' cards do. There is also not a great diversity of cards within each deck, so expect to play the same cards over and over again (I have how many robot velociraptors?!). Finally, it seemed to me that some decks just had an unfair advantage or could consistently outplay other decks - maybe it was just the smashups we tried, I'd need to play it more to be sure.<br />
<br />
<b>Archipelago</b><br />
I love love love this game. It's so incredibly well designed, fun to play, and beautiful, with a great deal of replay value. In a nutshell Archipelago is a bit like a blend of Settlers of Catan, Agricola, Puerto Rico, and Game of Thrones. Phewph, that's a mouthful. What is actually is, is a game of exploration, worker and action placement, resource management and intrigue. Players explore an archipelago by placing huge hexagonal tiles which have resources and native huts on them. Native huts increase surplus population which makes buying workers cheaper, but also increases discontent. Players can use workers to harvest resources from the discovered tiles, or construct towns, ports, markets, and churches. The trick is that they can do so even on tiles that were explored by other players, and the other trick is that EVERYTHING can be traded in this game at any time. It may seem that other players are your competition, but then a crisis card gets drawn (yes, there are also cards) and suddenly everyone is scrambling to work together and trade resources to resolve a crisis, because if you don't then the number of rebels begin to grow. If the number of rebels is ever greater than the number of citizens constructed by the players, then EVERYONE LOSES. So you're working together after all? No! Because each player is given a secret card at the beginning of the game, each card has a condition for a game end and a secret winning objective. So you don't know what other players are trying to achieve, and to make things worse one of the players may secretly be a Sympathizer - if the rebels win, everyone loses EXCEPT the Sympathizer! He wins! The game creators call Archipelago a <b>semi-cooperative</b> game, and it very much is. There is no war, you can't construct armies, and yet the game is filled with tense intrigue, alliances and negotiations, and backstabbing. Plus, there are three different decks of objective cards - short game, medium game, long game. A short game can be completed in under an hour, a medium game can be completed in under two hours, and a long game can last as long as three to four hours. Because of these random secret objectives, no game is ever the same. And I'm just scratching the surface here, because there is so so so much more to this game: progress and character cards, market trend cards, domestic and international markets, wonders, and more! And did I mention how gorgeous the pieces are? Anyway, Archipelago is not a cheap game, but I think it's one of my most favourite board games now.<br />
<br />
<b>Galaxy Truckers</b><br />
This is a game I really really want to like, and maybe I will eventually. A lot of other reviewers and players rave about how fun this game is. The premise is that each player builds a haphazard spaceship out of spare parts and then races around the galaxy trying to collect and deliver cargo while pieces of the ship are being blown off by pirates, asteroids and whatnot. The game has three rounds. In each round the players will build progressively bigger and more complicated ships, by quickly looking through a huge pile of face-down tiles that represent engines, crew quarters, weapons, shields, cargo holds, etc. The catch is that they have a limited time to do so, and they're competing with other players for tiles. After the ship is constructed, players criticize each other's ships, trying to find flaws and mistakes - so your ship might lose parts before you even launch it! After all players agree on each other's ships, they are launched. Events are drawn from a pile of cards, these events might give cargo, or slow down the ship, or simulate attacks on the ship. After there are no more events, the players score their cargo (and other victory point conditions), and then start anew, by building a bigger, better ship. I can see how it can be silly fun - it's very much a 'beer and pretzels' game - and the randomization of events adds to the replay value, but it is also strangely unforgiving. Build your ship wrong, draw a particularly nasty event, have an unlucky dice roll, and you're screwed for the rest of the game. Maybe you can make it back in the next round, but it's unlikely. Unlike Archipelago where you never feel like you're falling behind everyone else and where you are constantly doing something and having fun, Galaxy Truckers can quickly turn boring and frustrating if luck and rules go against you. A lot of people really like this game, but I would not recommend it.<br />
<br />
Well, that's that. As I am returning to Toronto next week, I will be trying out new games at Snakes and Lattes instead, so hopefully I'll have time to do more mini-reviews soon!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-21953274043066646132013-07-31T09:56:00.000-07:002013-07-31T09:59:15.926-07:00Some boardgame reviews<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last couple of weeks I've been going to <a href="http://www.monopolatte.com/" target="_blank">Monopolatte</a> - a boardgame cafe that recently opened up in Ottawa (summer vacation is awesome that way!). We've tried several games, all but one of which was new for me, so I just wanted to throw out a brief review of each.<br />
<br />
<b>Lords of Waterdeep</b><br />
Although produced by Wizards of the Coast, and using their Dungeons and Dragons and Forgotten Realms brands, it was not at all the expected derivative adventurers-on-a-quest kind of game (like Talisman, Descent or Hero's Quest). Instead it is a surprisingly deep and fun resource management game. Each player assumes control of a faction and a leader (whose identity and goals are kept secret until the end of the game) trying to manipulate the city of Waterdeep and amass more victory points than the other players. At its heart it's a resource management and action management game that is quite close to Agricola in spirit and mechanics (but has much prettier art). Each player has a limited number of actions per turn, with these actions the player has to acquire resources (in the form of adventurers), intrigue against other players (by using special intrigue cards), construct buildings in the city that provide additional types of actions (Agricola style) for all players, acquire quests from a tavern, and then send out teams of adventurers (in other words spending resources) to complete the quests. There are a lot of pieces, and the setup takes a little while, but once we started playing it was very easy to understand and very fun. I would definitely play it again in a heartbeat. It worked quite well with 3 players, but would work even better with 4 or 5.<br />
<br />
<b>Ticket to Ride: Scandinavian Edition</b><br />
I've played Ticket to Ride before a bunch of times, so I knew what to expect. Players draw multicolored cards from a common deck (either face-down or from a pool of 5 face-up cards) that they then use to lay down cute little railroad wagons in an effort to complete railway routes from one city to another. Meanwhile each player has a number of secret goals to complete (link the following destinations together: Helsinki to Oslo, Konigsberg to Stockholm, etc.) that reap victory points at the end. It's a fun and easy and quick game. What Scandinavian edition does differently is that it adds the concepts of tunnels and ferries. Ferries require special locomotive cards to complete, while tunnels may end up being much more expensive to complete than they seem if the player constructing a tunnel happens to be unlucky. I can't say that either addition made the game more enjoyable than the standard version of the game, but it was fun enough. I would not recommend this version of the game, however, because it only supports 3 players. Get the standard edition of Ticket to Ride (U.S. or Europe).<br />
<br />
<b>7 Wonders</b><br />
Here's a game I really wanted to like, but doesn't quite deliver. Each player gets a random great wonder of the ancient world at the start of the game, and tries to complete the wonder and build his city (which will generate the resources to complete the wonder as well as earn bonus victory points in the process). There are three ages - each age has a different deck of buildings - and during each age the players will be able to play 6 cards from their hand. They can use these cards to generate gold, to complete stages of their wonder, or construct buildings. The trick is that after each player plays a card he then passes his remaining hand to one of his neighbours, so you can purposefully build a building you don't need in order to deny it to your enemy. To construct buildings and wonder stages players buy resources from their neighbours (i.e. other players), or have the resources generated by their existing buildings. At the end of each age there is also a special military conflict stage, which allows conquest-minded players to reap additional victory points by constructing military buildings that help during conquests but do not provide any other resources or victory points otherwise. All of this should be quite fun, except it just ends up not feeling like it at all. The game felt too random, with the constant passing of card hands back and forth it didn't seem like there is much room for deep strategy or planning, and it was easy to get completely stuck because a particular resource was unavailable. The production value is quite high (it's sooooooooooooooooooooo pretty), and maybe it's more fun with a larger group of players (it supports up to 7 players), but I'll give this one a pass in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>Alhambra</b><br />
This one's a classic boardgame, but I've only now tried it. It's quite similar in spirit and mechanics to another classic boardgame - Carcasonne. Players draw tiles and then try to assemble the most awesome palace complex (Alhambra). There are four types of money cards denoted by their colours that the players compete to gain, that they then will use to purchase tiles from a common pool. On each turn a player might buy a tile and put it into play, put a tile away from his board and into his reserve to use it later, put a tile from his reserve into play, or take money. It's very much about planning your actions in advance. There is also an element of a jigsaw puzzle and city optimization because the way you construct your palace has its own special rules, and it matters how the tiles are placed and fit together. Players score points depending one how many buildings they constructed of each type (there are pavilions, towers, gardens, arcades, etc.), who has the longest city wall, if anyone constructed a fully walled-in city, and so on and so forth. The set-up takes a while, but it's easy to understand and play, even though there are many paths to victory and quite a bit of depth to it. I can definitely see why it's a classic and many people would find it very fun, but it's not a game for me - I can't say I enjoyed Carcasonne, and I can't say I enjoyed Alhambra either.<br />
<br />
So there it is! Next time I hope I'll have a chance to play a few more games from my to-do list: Cosmic Encounters, Galaxy Truckers, and maybe even Twilight Imperium!<br />
<br />
Incidentally, if you live or visit Ottawa go check out <a href="http://www.monopolatte.com/" target="_blank">Monopolatte</a> - it's a very friendly and reasonably priced boardgame cafe, and they have a good variety of games. They're not quite as big as <a href="http://www.snakesandlattes.com/" target="_blank">Snakes and Lattes</a> in Toronto yet, but I hope they'll continue expanding! The staff is very friendly, and the food is cheap and tasty.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-88886928591336842802013-06-19T17:41:00.003-07:002013-06-19T17:44:23.142-07:00A Depressing Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Not that long ago I got into a spat over Harry Potter books. The argument was over the axiom that "Harry Potter books are great because they got kids to read again." There are at least three things wrong with view:<br />
1. It presumes that kids were not reading before.<br />
2. It presumes that the kids have continued to read after they've finished Harry Potter series.<br />
3. Therefore, the unspoken conclusion goes - thanks to Harry Potter children's literacy rates have gone up.<br />
On the surface, the ever-expanding Kids/Teens/Young Adult sections of your local book store seem to support this conclusion. But from where I am sitting, even this YA boom is more of a desperate attempt to recapture the Harry Potter phenomenon, rather than an indication of a massive surge of reading among the young people. And then there is this NPR article titled "<a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2013/06/11/190669029/what-kids-are-reading-in-school-and-out" target="_blank">What Kids Are Reading, In School And Out.</a>" Please read it.<br />
<br />
OK, done? Or did you just read the first paragraph? Did you just scroll to the end, hoping to find the talking points? If you read it through, then you are ahead of most young people I know. "But wait, the conclusion of the article directly contradicts you! The man said 'reading leads to reading' so reading Harry Potter must have led to more reading!" Not so fast, there is no guarantee that a young person will, upon finishing a beloved series, desperately seek out a new series. And even if s/he do, it will likely be on the same reading level, not a more complex one. Thus "Hunger Games", thus "Twilight", thus "I am Number Four", etc. etc. etc. The NPR article above seems to support the conclusion that American young people are reading below expected grade level when they bother to read at all.<br />
<br />
Lest you say "Well, it's American public education system! Of course that's the case!", the situation in Canada isn't much better. <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-552-m/89-552-m1997001-eng.pdf" target="_blank">Here</a>'s the conclusions of the International Adult Literacy Survey for Canada, conducted in 1994. This stands out: "[It] is particularly disturbing that a substantial number of Canadian adults scored in the bottom two levels on all three literacy scales. Although over 20% achieved Levels 4 and 5, over 40% were rated at the lower end of the scale at Levels 1 and 2, and of these, nearly 20% were at Level 1. These adults with low literacy skills are likely to see their future economic opportunities further eroded. Canada’s overall literacy ratings were comparable to the United States; however, a high<br />
proportion of our population achieved the lowest level of literacy in all three domains." (by the way, Singapore, Sweden and Finland are consistently the most literate countries in the world) 1994 is three years before the first Harry Potter book hit the stores. Let's suppose that in 1997, the kid reading (or more likely being read to) Harry Potter is 6-10 years old. In 2007, s/he would be 16-20 and would therefore be a potential participant in the International Adult Literacy Survey (people 16 and up are eligible). However, the next IAL survey was administered in 2003, and the next one is due either this year or the next one. However, comparing the 1994 and 2003 IAL survey, a very worrying pattern emerges. Some highlights (find the full report <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-617-x/89-617-x2005001-eng.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>):<br />
- Nationally, 48 percent of the adult population – 12 million Canadians aged 16 and over– perform below Level 3 on the prose and document literacy scales (about 9 million or 42 percent of Canadians aged 16 to 65). Level 3 proficiency is considered to be the “desired level” of competence for coping with the increasing skill demands of the emerging knowledge and information economy.<br />
- Overall, there has been little change in literacy performance between 1994 and 2003.<br />
- Contrary to expectation, the report finds little improvement in literacy proficiency since 1994. The new survey shows almost nine million Canadians aged 16 to 65 (12 million if Canadians over 65 are included) score below the desirable threshold of prose literacy performance.<br />
- The established patterns of literacy proficiency continue to prevail, with higher performance among the young and the educated.<br />
<br />
Hey, that last point is great, right? Young people are continuing to perform higher! Not so fast. The young people growing up in 1994 scored higher that year than the older people that year. But those people who were young in 1994 grew up in time for 2003, so shouldn't their earlier successes carry over into mature adulthood? Apparently not. Huh, that's strange. What it suggests to me is that this pattern will reemerge in the 2013/2014 IALS, and will not show any marked improvement in literacy despite the young people supposedly "reading again". While we are waiting for that survey to be administered and results compiled, evaluated and revealed, we can turn our attention to ALL - Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey. The last one was in 2008, and it uses identical questionnaires, data collection and statistical methodology as IALS, so the results are pretty much comparable. You can find the full report <a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-604-x/89-604-x2011001-eng.pdf" target="_blank">here</a> (scroll to pages 45-46 for the interesting stuff). You'll find Canada lagging only behind Norway and Bermuda for prose reading (so basically reading news and creative writing) and only behind Norway and Netherlands for document literacy rates. That's good news right? Nope, because unlike IALS which is administered on a truly global scale, ALL is administered only in select countries, and when stacked against other countries in the survey Canada is looking pretty good. The problem is that Norway has the lowest literacy rate among Scandinavian countries, and Netherlands isn't doing so hot compared to many of its European neighbours either.<br />
<br />
Clearly there has been no progress on the literacy front between 1994 and 2008, Harry Potter or no. Maybe education is to blame? Perhaps, except that since the devastating findings of the 2003 IALS more money, time and effort in education has gone towards raising the reading and literacy levels than anything else, save perhaps various technology-related courses. It's not matter of mismanagement either. There are specialized qualification courses for teaching reading and literacy that many teachers now take. There are many truly talented and intelligent teachers and academics studying and working on the problem. Reading is one of the overall curriculum goals across Canada, fostering reading and literacy is priority number one in most subjects. School libraries have never looked so good. Bookstores are brimming with books for young people. Heck, there are so many books available for free through regular libraries, ebooks, on tablets and phones. So why aren't kids reading more? Didn't they read Harry Potter? Didn't they get the memo that they're supposed to love reading now?!<br />
<br />
(OK, sorry I keep ragging on Harry Potter. It's nothing personal, it's just that this is the go-to book that people bring up when arguing that kids are reading again. Back in 1960s it was Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street. Same difference really.)<br />
<br />
On to anecdotal evidence and to come back full circle to the NPR article. This year I was blessed with many intelligent, hard-working and genuinely curious students. Vast majority admitted that they do not read books outside of the ones they have to read for school. One student, a pretty intelligent guy, admitted that he did not read any books in the last 3 years, <b>including</b> the ones assigned at school - he relied on Sparknotes, Yahoo Answers, wikipedia, and movies. I have two Grade 12 students, one Grade 11 student, maybe two Grade 9 and 10 students, who I see regularly reading unassigned books for enjoyment, or asking my advice on what would be a good book to read. With one exception they are reading books that are technically below their reading level, but at least they are reading! The rest grumble. Assigning 40 pages to read over the course of a week is a huge challenge. Lord of the Flies proved very challenging to a Grade 9/10 class. Catcher in the Rye was at best skimmed-through by a Grade 11 class. Great Gatsby was challenging to a Grade 12 class. For shits and giggles, after introducing the book I divided the class in groups and asked them to paraphrase and explain in their own words the first three paragraphs of the book (yes, it's the one with the convoluted 'secrets of wild and young men' passage). They couldn't, even though it wasn't written in German or Elizabethan English. Over the last three years I've taught (not counting Shakespeare obviously): Brave New World, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, 1984, Handmaiden's Tale, Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Frankenstein, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Wars, Oedipus Rex, Antigone, parts of the Odyssey, Huckleberry Finn, Ender's Game, and more. With most students and most of these books I saw the same story. Skim reading at best, heavy reliance on copied notes and Internet, complaints about the book being too challenging, incomprehension of vocabulary (sometimes really frightening gaps!), insistence on constant hand-holding through the book, lack of original thoughts about the book at all. Every year (or semester as the case may be) I conduct a little survey, asking students what they've read last year, what they've read during the summer, how much they read each week, what is their favourite book, and - what did they read when they were 6-10 years old. To that last question the answer is in 90% of the cases - Harry Potter. The answers to the rest of the questions are just depressing.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-53853004081776436542013-05-31T15:57:00.001-07:002013-05-31T15:57:45.082-07:00L'ennemi intime (Intimate Enemies) review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<a href="http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5657/21253856.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5657/21253856.jpg" width="240" /></a>An excellent and unflinching look into one of the most brutal conflicts of the 20th century - the Algerian War (although the French refused to formally call it a war), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825248/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Intimate Enemies</a> might be categorized as the Frenchversion of Platoon or Full Metal Jacket. Unlike most war movies it also maintains a surprisingly successful level of suspense more associated with film noir (the amazing music score might have something to do with that). It deals with many of the similar themes to aforementioned movies: the unwinnable war, the horrible brutality and dehumanization of the enemy, questionable 'ends justify the means' mentality of one's own side, resignation and bitterness of the common soldiers. Algeria was not merely a war of Algerian revolutionaries against French oppressions, more than two million so-called "blackfeet" - ethnic Algerians who supported the French - fought in the war as well. Both sides butchered and tortured civilians and prisoners alike - truly there were no "good guys". Intimate Enemies has all the military cliche characters that we might expect but still manages to make them seem like real people, and endow them with real emotions and real dilemmas. The French experience has much to teach us about other conflicts going on today: Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia. Intimate Enemies is now one of my favourite war movies, and the best movie about the conflict in Algeria since the excellent black-and-white "Battle of Algiers". It is now on Netflix in the foreign film category and I strongly recommend it.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-55955343275886136912013-05-26T21:05:00.002-07:002013-05-26T21:06:19.669-07:00French onion soup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I made a new recipe, something I always wanted to try - French onion soup! Now this version is an amalgamation of half-remembered tales, food network shows, and last-minute inspiration, but it turned out very well! Here we go:<br />
<br />
<b>Ingredients</b><br />
- 2 large onions, chopped into thick slices<br />
- two sticks of butter<br />
- one or two cloves of garlic<br />
- a splash of red wine or brandy<br />
- beef broth, approximately 600ml<br />
- Worcestershire sauce<br />
- four thick slices of bread (ciabatta or crusty French bread are best)<br />
- olive oil<br />
- about 300 grams of Emmental cheese, grated<br />
- salt and pepper to taste<br />
<br />
<b>Instructions</b><br />
1. Chop the onions and the garlic, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onions, sautee them until tender and the rings break up, but don't cook through yet. Add the garlic. Preheat the oven to 300C.<br />
2. Add the broth, Worcestershire sauce, and the wine or brandy. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes or so, then let simmer for 10 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste.<br />
3. Meanwhile slice the bread, drizzle olive oil on both sides, place on an oven tray and toast in the oven lightly until bread is just turning golden brown (on both sides). Remove from the oven.<br />
4. Divide the grated cheese into 8 equal parts. Spread 1 part of the cheese into the bottom of an oven-friendly bowl (flat bottom is best). You should have four bowls total (so you'll use up half of your cheese on the bottom of the bowls).<br />
5. Divide the soup mix equally among the four bowls, place the toast on top of the soup, then sprinkle with remaining cheese.<br />
6. Switch the oven to broil, place four bowls in the oven until the cheese is bubbling and becoming crusty. Remove carefully (the bowls will be very hot), garnish with fresh parsley to taste and serve immediately with a spoon and a fork.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
P.S. Will post pics soon!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-35125697531412153202013-04-16T20:31:00.001-07:002013-04-16T20:32:51.989-07:00Let's blame those guys!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr8l778f9wyiiFycyiEzWZWYb9ZfhvC6v1p8XiS2hdknm7Qk2JyU4dJ3wpjA_A7RGWShUjiXaw6WAcLSGU_YBLmzWfU6-W7uLxyqsgesnnTGCscpwhBX1zNuuQUnsLf5pfeUNr0u6VewI/s1600/burning-american-flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr8l778f9wyiiFycyiEzWZWYb9ZfhvC6v1p8XiS2hdknm7Qk2JyU4dJ3wpjA_A7RGWShUjiXaw6WAcLSGU_YBLmzWfU6-W7uLxyqsgesnnTGCscpwhBX1zNuuQUnsLf5pfeUNr0u6VewI/s320/burning-american-flag.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admit it. You've already pictured the person holding the flag and he isn't white.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So the Boston bombing happened. And it's terrible, and I even personally know two people who were participating in the marathon that day (they are both unhurt and safely back home in Canada, thank whatever higher power that was watching out for them that day). Passions are riding high of course, and that's all proper and well, but the media circus is anything but. Let's put aside the movie-like tragic music that, first, CNN and then other networks, have been playing in the background of the scenes from the bombing. That's just wasted effort on their part. Instead, watch how the blame game hits the field running. The blast happened at around 2:50, at around 4 o'clock many news outlets were still reporting potential deaths at 10-12 and the number of wounded as unknown. By 5 o'clock (this is all EST by the way) I was reading how the authorities had a young man in custody and much was made how he was from Saudi Arabia and traveled through Saudi Arabia recently. Around 6 o'clock there was even still confusion whether a library in Boston was bombed as well, or if it was a fire, or if it was related, or if they found something in the library, or what, but CNN, MSNBC and Fox were already gleefully speculating as to the identity of the suspect and the fact (or was it really a fact at all?) that he was Muslim.<br />
<br />
By 9 o'clock the comments on news sites (and not so coincidentally my Facebook and Google+ feeds) were alternating between "Oh, my prayers are totally with them/Remembering the victims in Boston" (Really? Like a dozen people in my contact list all personally knew the victims in Boston? What a coincidence!) and "Let's bomb them whoever they are". The big implication being of course that the whoever-s were from somewhere other than America, most likely in more southern latitudes and more easterly longitudes, and decidedly not Christians. "Is this going to be one of those 'let's not be racist' posts?" you ask. Not at all. Watch closely.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/04/16/boston-bombing-saudi-witness-suspect-saudi-arabian-embassy/" target="_blank">The Saudi embassy quickly swung into action.</a> Full denial mode bitches! We're cooperating closely! The suspect is<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/injured-saudi-is-a-witness-not-a-suspect-in-boston-bombing/2013/04/16/791de708-a6ad-11e2-b029-8fb7e977ef71_story.html" target="_blank"> really a witness</a>! And he most likely is, and I even believe them. Speculation by the media gives way<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/boston-marathon-explosions/index.html" target="_blank"> to very public media mourning, celebrating heroes, and more water treading</a>. And of course we should all feel bad about what happened, and the people who helped the victims are heroes (or at the very least good human beings), but all of this must happen without pointing fingers at U.S.A.'s closest ally in the Middle East. Ha! And you thought it was Israel! 3 billion and change to Israel in 2012 ($30 billion spread out over a decade in total, and some of that is being clawed back). Meanwhile<a href="http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33533.pdf" target="_blank"> 11.4 billion USD sale of 84 F-15s to Saudi Arabia and a bunch of Blackhawk and Apache helicopers for another $5 billion USD to Saudi Arabia</a> in 2012, and probably another $20 billion in more military sales in the neat future. Care to guess how Saudi Arabia is going to pay for that? Oh, that's right, deep discounts for Saudi Arabia through U.S. International Military Education and Training program. How deep the discounts are? No one knows, although<a href="http://votesmart.org/public-statement/554855/#.UW4Rv7Wsh8E" target="_blank"> pointed questions have been asked in Congress</a>. And, well, the Saudis exports to the U.S. in 2012 were $47.5 billion USD, so they can easily afford the F-15s, and the Blackhawks and Apaches themselves if they need to.<br />
<br />
What does this have to do with Boston? Nothing and everything. Nothing, because probably none, or very few, of the victims of the blast were involved in shaping U.S. foreign policy, overseas involvements, and international trade. Everything, because the images of the victims will become part of the political and media circus, massaged and manipulated to suit the national interests. Yesterday, the knee-jerk reaction was to make much of the nationality and religion of the only suspect, because it's the default mode of post 9/11 world. Today, the knee jerk reaction is to do everything possible to either forget about the so-called suspect, or to make much of how much he and Saudis are cooperating, and to focus on the 8 year old boy's sweet school assignment, or the victims. Don't worry, it's business as usual.<br />
<br />
P.S. At least authorities<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-investigation/index.html?hpt=hp_t1" target="_blank"> aren't ruling out the possibility of domestic terrorism</a>. I hope no one has forgotten about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_mcveigh" target="_blank">Timothy McVeigh</a> yet? Or that the Westboro Baptist Church is already saying that <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram/articles/2013/04/16/boston-bombing-funerals-will-be-picketed-westboro-baptist-church-says" target="_blank">more violence will consume the nation</a> if homosexuality doesn't become a capital crime? Hmm, sounds like a threat to me. It's not like Muslim fundamentalists have a monopoly on violence you know.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-80529216502197679312013-04-02T20:36:00.002-07:002013-04-02T20:37:16.962-07:00There's a sucker born...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am genuinely curious - how many other professions are out there that do one or more (or all!) of the following:<br />
- demand you have a specialized university degree to get a job in the profession on top of your previous university education;<br />
- demand you pay fees to get member standing with a "professional college" of members (whatever that's supposed to be) after obtaining the said specialized university degree for the privilege of <u>applying</u> to jobs (protip: said college doesn't actually do anything for you aside from shiny glossy monthly newsletters and some library in some building somewhere in downtown Toronto, and of course the previously mentioned privilege);<br />
- demand that you volunteers as much of your free time as possible to basically work in your profession without pay in return for vague assurances of an interview at some later undetermined date;<br />
- demand that every year or two you spend 600-800 dollars of your own money on "additional qualification" courses without which you will never (or so you're assured!) get a job in the profession (note: you pretty much have to do this whether you already have a job in the profession or whether you're just trying to get one);<br />
- demand that when you do finally get that interview, and then hopefully that job, that you work part time for a few years (until a full-time position somewhere opens up), but continue to also do all of the above as well as pay union fees.<br />
<br />
So, my dear Ministry of Education of Ontario, Ontario College of Teachers, and various Ontario boards of education - this is why I do my best to dissuade any and all of my students, friends, relatives, and acquaintances from pursuing a career in public education in this country - it's a con game and the deck is stacked against the future graduating teacher. Teacher colleges are an incredibly lucrative source of money for universities - high return on investment, low cost (part-time profs and guest lecturers teach at Teacher Colleges), combined with steady cash flow (those additional qualifications are taken by tens of thousands of teachers every year without fail). They have zero interest in: a) matching the number of graduates to the actual jobs out there, and b) providing the future graduates with realistic expectations about their future jobs or lack thereof. So to paraphrase Ambrose Bierce:<br />
<br />
University (n.): An ingenious device for obtaining profit by creating unrealistic expectations.<br />
<br />
(For an actually brilliant and incisive examination of universities as the giant corporate profit machines and hedge funds that they are, check out <a href="http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2012/12/product_review_panasonic_pt_ax.html" target="_blank">this post by The Last Psychiatrist</a> - the entire entry is brilliant but for the specific discussion of the system and higher places of learning in it scroll down to part V)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-84628779166940243852013-03-30T22:26:00.002-07:002013-03-30T22:27:50.418-07:00The best thing about Dead Space 3 is that it's free.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
To clarify - it's not actually free, but because I bought the new Simcity and it had a rocky launch, EA gave the people who bought Simcity a free game to placate the customers. From a limited catalog I picked Dead Space 3 - in part because I really enjoyed the first game in the series, and in part because the alternatives were Battlefield 3 and Bejeweled. In hindsight Bejeweled might have been a better choice.<br />
<br />
To clarify further, I haven't finished the game yet, according to the helpful percentage complete dial on my saved game I'm almost halfway through. Great. Can barely contain my enthusiasm. Let me dial down the difficulty to casual so I could finish it faster.<br />
<br />
There we go, that's a little better. Of course I'll never get back an hour and a half of my time I lost when the game decided to randomly reset my save to a much earlier checkpoint. And I will not get back half a quotation mark key on my keyboard. The poor quotation mark didn't do anything to me, but I had to punch something in frustration and it was the closest thing. Rest assured gentle readers that despite being maimed the quotation mark still works. Watch, I'll demonstrate. ''''''''''' """""""""""<br />
<br />
Where were we? Oh yes, how much this game sucks. Please understand that it's not EA hate. I <b>never</b> hated on EA before and never understood the hatred that some people felt for this company (enough to <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/electronic-arts-worst-company-america-308302" target="_blank">vote it the worst company in America</a>). Oh sure, I was disappointed with Dragon Age 2, and The Old Republic was also a hit-and-miss experience. And I didn't hate the Mass Effect 3 ending as if it was puppy-killing/cancer-spreading Hitler like so many others; it left me shrugging rather than boiling in rage. But after spending 8 hours with Dead Space 3 I can now understand the EA hate.<br />
<br />
How I hate Dead Space 3? Let me count the ways. Maybe it's the toxic carry-over from a console port also known as "save checkpoints." Maybe 15 years ago when consoles didn't have hard drives we needed save checkpoints. But in this day and age not only don't consoles need it, but we don't need to port them to PC either!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
<br />
I think I almost broke my exclamation mark key as well.<br />
<br />
!!! No, still works. As I was saying, there are save checkpoints, and they're awful, and really spaced apart. Death will not set you back all that much, usually a room or two at most, but quitting the game in between the checkpoints could be (as I found out) nearly 20 minutes of gameplay lost. And then there are the aforementioned save game glitches that reset the savepoint I thought I was bound to, setting me back an hour and a half.<br />
<br />
Then there are minigames and quicktime events that suffer from one cardinal sin or the other. The former is the lack of explanation as to what my goal is supposed to be or the controls required to navigate the minigame. The latter is how arbitrary some of the events feel. Sometimes I would pass it with laughable ease, and sometimes (after a checkpoint reload for instance) I would fail the same event with no explanation why.<br />
<br />
The camera is a huge problem in Dead Space 3. A signature trademark of this game is that there is no HUD, instead it's projected from the character's body - in other words the character is seeing the same HUD as the player. Only because of awkward camera angles I literally can't see my HUD whenever I'm backed into a corner, or hanging from a cliff. Oh. A shuttle fell on me. I see. I had to press a key, but I couldn't see that I had to press a key because I couldn't see the HUD. Oh, I got killed because I ran out of ammo and couldn't see my ammo counter because of the camera. A neat, artistic, and immersive idea that at the same time fails the gameplay - that might describe much of this game.<br />
<br />
The game's been out for nearly two months. During that time EA has released many abominable DLCs for Dead Space 3 that add very little actual substance to the game - different suit skins, more largely cosmetic weapon components. During that time EA and the developer have also failed to release patches to some rather glaring and obnoxious bugs. In one room a panel was supposed to light up after I dispatched all the baddies that would allow me to progress. Only it did not light up and I had to redo the fight 5 times before the stupid panel would light up. It happened in other rooms two more times. Or you know, the game might just decide to arbitrarily take your ammo away with no explanation why. If there was a decent melee mode it wouldn't be such a crime, but unfortunately there isn't. Hope you like using the Half-Life 2's gravity gun ripoff!<br />
<br />
Then there is the mission design. To be sure there are spectacularly beautiful and intricate environments - the game is absolutely gorgeous even on my mid-range PC. But the mission design is utterly linear, and with the ability to customize and try out weapons however the players wants in a separate custom arena, I don't see why anyone would want to ever replay Dead Space 3 (except maybe for the coop missions). There is a series of rooms the player progresses through. When there is some big glowing objective you just know that monsters will burst through doors, windows, vents, floor, or thin air. Any horror quickly wears thin as the monsters appear right on cue and there are basically 5-6 monster types (plus human adversaries) using the same tactics in every encounter (except the human adversaries who take cover, throw grenades, and are actually more unpredictable and dangerous).<br />
<br />
The story would be very enjoyable and the game is very atmospheric, if it wasn't for some very hackneyed elements. I'm wearing an awesome armored space suit, using it to walk and fly in zero-G and in space (easily my favourite parts of the game), but when I hit the planet's surface suddenly I'm losing body temperature while wearing a suit that could easily protect me from the cold heartless vacuum of space. OK, sure, whatever. My idiot team members will sit in safety and comfort, and not only yell at me to hurry the fuck up while I'm knee-deep in monsters and low on ammo and medpacks, but on the rare occasion when they have to accomplish the task they will predictably fail at it and often place my life in danger! Clearly the level and mission designers were on the same team that designed Doom 3 and Aliens vs. Predator. And the protagonist's girlfriend dumped him too. It's like the game forces both the protagonist Isaac Clark and the player into an abusive relationship and charges money for the experience.<br />
<br />
The worst thing about Dead Space 3 is that you can see what could've been a masterpiece of sci-fi horror lurking under the surface. The combat is as strategic and enjoyable, the universe is interesting, the graphics are beautiful, and the atmosphere is terrific. The story is rife with cliches, but in an enjoyable way, and the protagonist is actually an interesting and sympathetic character (even if he is yet another dark-haired white dude). Too bad that everything else about it conspires to drown all the good things about Dead Space 3 in an acid bathtub of rage. Unless you get it for free or with a massive discount a year from now don't bother. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-51487198666876272962013-02-28T14:49:00.002-08:002013-02-28T14:49:45.787-08:00Making MeadSummary of a first draft of a rejected script.<br />
<br />
Picture dull plain suburbia. Our hero is a middle-aged history teacher Rob with an apathetic facebook games-addicted wife and a slacker son. We learn that they will soon adopt a dog from the pound for his son. One day he is hanging out with his brother-in-law, a security guard, when he witnesses a robbery of a liquor store. While one of the perpetrators is caught, the other gets away with a case of mead. Rob recognizes the other robber as his ex-student Terry, but does not identify him to the police, as he is intrigued by the concept of liquor store robbers stealing mead.<br />
<br />
The following day we see Rob having what seems like a heart attack. When an ambulance arrives, the paramedics inform Rob that his heart attack was really a bad heartburn and that he is otherwise in fine health. Shaken by the experience, and with a knowledge that he only has between thirty and forty years to live, during which time he has to somehow provide for his wife, his son and their future dog, he resolves that he needs to somehow supplement his teacher salary.<br />
<br />
Tracking down Terry, Rob offers him a deal. Before he became a history teacher, Rob was a brilliant historian who wrote his PhD in the history of brewing in medieval Scandinavia. He explains to Terry that the mead sold in stores is subpar and cannot compare to the properly brewed traditional mead. Using Rob's superior knowledge, and Terry's ability to procure ingredients [errrrr, figure out how and why later. Not important at this point], the two set up a home brewery in Terry's garage, because Rob's garage is too full and his wife doesn't approve of his brewing experiments. Together the two go into the underground home brewery business.<br />
<br />
Notes scribbled in the margin in author's hand:<br />
<i>So like, that's the pilot, right? L8r the two will provide mead to dangerous neo-Viking pagan bikers, make dangerous deals with the local white trash bootlegger gang, and take out the rival moonshiners using Rob's history knowledge. Think of something historical. Thirty Year War or some crap like that. Rob's marriage goes downhill as he tries to keep his mead brewing from his wife, but she doesn't care cuz Farmville. Have the brother-in-law try to like track down the illegal brewers or something.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Notes scribbled in a different, more forceful hand:<br />
<i>Script is crap but has potential. Like the teacher angle, but history?! Chemistry is edgier. Go with chemistry.</i><br />
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P.S. Moral of the story: chemistry teachers are more interesting than history teachers!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5872579957399758182.post-68517941725950846482013-02-25T20:03:00.000-08:002013-02-25T20:03:07.969-08:00Pfffffffffft Mondays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
To paraphrase W. G. Sebold: "Teachers and students regard each other across a gulf of mutual incomprehension." The teachers kind of remember what it was like to be a student, but can't believe they ever had this much energy or DRAMA!!! themselves. The students get a first dreadful inkling of what life is like after school. If you think about it, for most (maybe even all?) students, the teacher is greatest adult presence in their life outside of parents or guardians. Parents are parents, you don't pick them usually, and you're pretty used to their lives. So the outside adult world is in significant part influenced by the perception of the teacher, before a student gets a job of his/her own. However, I am constantly surprised by just how many misconceptions students have about a teacher's life, or what a teaching job is actually like. So here is my helpful guide to a teacher's life put into a perspective a student can understand - a student's perspective. Without further ado:<br />
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A teacher:<br />
- Does homework every day. For every subject. Usually before, during, and after school.<br />
- Does other people's homework too most of the time (that's marking for you the unitiated!)<br />
- Has cliques of his/her own. Yeah, we too have personal and sometimes irrational likes and dislikes and we too gossip in the cafeteria and the library!<br />
- Looks forward to every long weekend, holiday and vacation.<br />
- Manages to get by on the tests with a combination of luck, last-minute "OH SHIT I ONLY HAVE 15 MINUTES UNTIL CLASS" panic, and half-remembered snippets from a textbook.<br />
- Does a presentation every day. Usually for every subject. Yes, sometimes we too stammer, not maintain proper posture, have to look at our notes and avoid eye contact.<br />
- Usually hates gym. Unless s/he is a jock. Most of us still has that secret mounting horror when we enter gym. It's like ingrained in us or something.<br />
- Has people that get mad and him/her when his/her homework and assignments are not done. Except in our case grades = job.<br />
- Gets an urge to check his/her facebook, cellphone, text messages and email every 15 seconds. More often if there's DRAMA!!! or Farmville involved (substitute your own brand of poison for Farmville, be it sports, celebrity gossip, recipes, IKEA or DRAMA!!!).<br />
- Has mixed feelings about the other student body (except in this metaphor the student body is literally the student body). Yeah, guess what, we too can't stand the loudmouth in the back of the class, the know-it-all in the front, and we too can be creeped out by that one kid who does that thing with his nose and the pencils and a reindeer...<br />
- Gets detention as well. Typically if we give detention to others. Or if we didn't do our homework on time and now we have to cram it. Or if we have clubs or gym. Yeah, leaving school late sucks.<br />
- Has mornings when s/he wakes up and thinks up of different ways to fake a stomach flu, or high temperature or whatnot.<br />
- Has obnoxious demanding parents to deal with. Only in our case the obnoxious demanding parents are your parents! >^_^<</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07032103489424520533noreply@blogger.com0