The Latest Gamer Meme: How Many Do You Own?

Since the announcement, and release at Gen Con, of Hobby Games: The 100 Best there has been a running meme where gamers list which games within the 100 they own and/or play. Never one to give up an opportunity to brag regarding my gaming and gaming collection, I thought that I would join in the fun.

The format that has become common in this meme is to take the full list of 100 games and italicize those that one owns and italicize and bold those that you both own and have played. I won't be doing that. I want to add some brief thoughts as to what I think of those games I own, and/or have played, so I will be doing several posts instead of the one.

Today, I taking the first 15 games and later posts will cover the remainder of the list.

1. Bruce C. Shelley on Acquire: I picked up the most recent edition of this classic Sid Sackson boardgame when it was part of a liquidation sale at a local Wizards of the Coast store, back in the day. In the years that I have owned the game, I have yet to open it. From what I have read, and heard, about the game, I am doing myself a great disservice. I fully plan on playing this game, when and if I can convince my gaming group to take another weekend off from roleplaying.



2. Nicole Lindroos on Amber Diceless: As a "how to" guide for gamemastering a roleplaying game, this product is amazing. As an actual roleplaying game itself...yawn. It is a great setting, and the bidding war during character creation is genius, but the "whoever is better wins unless player/gm are super-creative" system of resolution is kind of a cop out. If you have a great GM of a particular breed, this is a great game. If you have a great GM of a different breed or an average GM, this game can be awful. All of which is a pure product of the rules. To be honest "better person wins unless it advances the story or meets GM/Player whim" isn't a game system, it's storytelling guidelines. Once Upon A Time is as much a roleplaying game as Amber. That said, let me re-emphasize that the gamemastering techniques section of the rulebook were, and are still, ground breaking.



3. Ian Livingstone on Amun-Re



4. Stewart Wieck on Ars Magica: This was the first real "story driven" rpg I ever played. The system was simple when it needed to be, technical when it needed to be, and arcane when dealing with magic. The games that are "legacies" of Ars Magica are legion, all the Storyteller books for example, yet most lack the simple fun of this game. This was another game with a great section on GM-ing.



5. Thomas M. Reid on Axis & Allies: This is the game, more than any other, that made me like wargaming. It isn't the most robust of wargames, but it is easy to play and understand and translates its subject well into rules format. Sure it takes hours to set up and possibly days to play, but I have some fond memories of this game. Memories which are only surpassed by my Broadsides and Boarding Parties memories.


Tracy Hickman on Battle Cry: Prior to playing this game, I imagined that all wargames needed to take a long time to play, but the Command and Colors system utilized in this game proved me wrong. The rules are simple and swift, the game almost takes longer to set up than play, and you can simulate numerous battles of the Civil War in an afternoon. This game is why I bought Battlelore.


6. Philip Reed on BattleTech: My parents would have been happier if I hadn't discovered this game my Junior year of high school. Between work, baseball, and BattleTech, I didn't spend a lot of time with family. I still have yet to play the game with miniatures instead of cardboard stand ups though.



7. Justin Achilli on Blood Bowl: The most recent edition, especially whatever digital rulebook is currently available, might be the most balanced and fastest playing version, but give me the crazy Second Edition with the Astrogranite gameboard and the crazy expansion books any day of the week. I want to roll numbers, not symbols. I just think the second edition did a better job of conveying the background and feel of the game, and that's why I keep coming back.



8. Mike Selinker on Bohnanza



9. Tom Dalgliesh on Britannia: I'm still waiting for a chance to play my beautiful Fantasy Flight Games edition.



10. Greg Stolze on Button Men: A game you can play anywhere, at anytime, like while wandering through the convention halls? I'm in. This is a simple game to play that is just great, cheap, silly, fun.



11. Monte Cook on Call of Cthulhu: Universally accepted as the "best" horror rpg. This is more due to the source material (and the excellent written adventures) than the rules, though those are serviceable. The one innovation that set this apart from games before it, and which has been poorly imitated later, is the addition of sanity rules by which player's characters can go mad, mad, mad I tell you. Not a great game for "campaign" play, but if it were would players ever actually be able to feel the "fear" that ought to be a part of a horror game?



12. Steven E. Schend on Carcassonne: I am still waiting to crack open my copy of this game. Though I hear it is one of the great "gateway" games.



13. Jeff Tidball on Car Wars: The summer after 8th grade had my friends, and me, blowing the living snot out of one another in our post-apocalyptic automobiles. I couldn't watch Mad Max without immediately wanting to play a follow up Car Wars game.



14. Bill Bridges on Champions: You wouldn't know it from the current edition, but this game was once much easier to learn than D&D. Champions was the first superhero rpg I ever played, and it has set the benchmark against which all others are governed. I believe that earlier editions were more free-form and left more room for on the fly creativity. The current rules set has become very "granular" and players often take a "What is on the character sheet is what you can do approach" that wasn't emphasized in older editions. That said, this is still a great game and the best "war game" simulation of super heroic combat ever crafted. As far as playing it as an rpg, I take mine Mutants and Masterminds (though it is becoming a little to granular) or DC Heroes (my favorite superhero rpg) now. But I have to say...those days of Rob saying, "Meanwhile...back at the ranch--Pachew, Bang, Pachew," those are priceless.

The Trojan Horse: Could it really have worked?

A friend of mine and I often discuss whether the Greeks actually could have used a hollow wooden horse to trick the Trojans as depicted in the Iliad. My friend firmly believes that no one would be dumb enough to fall for this trick, but if the video below is any indication lots of people might be dumb enough to fall for it. Though it appears that the descendants of the original Trojans have learned their lesson and that the Australian military are wise to Greek tricks as well.

Hat tip to Got Medieval via Unlocked Wordhoard.

What You Should Watch/Read/Play

Tonight's episode of Geekerati, themed "What You Should Watch, Read, and Play," will feature an interview with James Lowder who edited Hobby Games: The 100 Best for Green Ronin Publishing. James will discuss the upcoming book, which will be released on September 15th, and give us some thoughts on what he thinks we should all be watching, reading, and playing, as will all of our regular panelists. Give a listen and see what we think, or give us a call at(646) 478-5041 during the show.

The show starts at 7pm Pacific and airs for an hour. You can listen to an archive of the episode approximately 20 minutes after the show airs, this is largely due to our "bonus footage" conversation which makes the recorded show last 20 minutes longer than the aired show.

More Print Periodical Woes and Some Good News Too.

Before I write about a couple of items that I think are great news for those who like games etc., I would like to point out that we have another casualty on the print periodical front. My last post was about the future of print newspapers. In it, I mentioned that Premiere magazine and Disney Adventures had been canceled and would likely only exist in digital format.

I didn't mention, though I should have, that both Dungeon and Dragon magazine ended publication this month in an event that caused great stir in the gaming community. I should have mentioned Dungeon and Dragon if only to point out that when magazines with circulations over half-a-million are going digital only, it should not have surprised gamers that Dungeon and Dragon (who have a much lower circulation) should move to that format.

That said...it appears that Inquest Magazine, the magazine for the collectible card game hobby, is also closing its shades with no word whether it will go digital or not. There are a lot of great things about this here digital revolution, but watching all these magazines fold up isn't one of them.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS.

There are several games coming out in the near future which make me absolutely giddy.

First, there will be a new edition of the Tales of the Arabian Nights boardgame. Z-Man Games will be releasing the new edition some time next year. Tales is one of those crazy games which cause ridiculous bidding wars on ebay. The game can cost upwards of $200.00, on a good day. I remember playing this game with my friend Roger Frederick a couple of times and marveling at how much fun we had.

Second, Fantasy Flight Games will be doing new versions of Cosmic Encounter and Borderlands as well as a Twilight Imperium adaptation of the old Avalon Hill Dune boardgame.

If only I had unlimited time to play games.

Oh, and the Solomon Kane roleplaying game will be shipping this October. I really can't wait for this gem. I wish I was one of the lucky few who purchased it at Gen Con.

Newspapers and Magazines...Paper or Electron?

In a recent article for the National Journal, William Powers discusses his thoughts on the current state of the "newspaper crisis." Are they here to stay or are they going the way of the dinosaur and the Stanley Steamer automobile. In the article, Powers briefly addresses the concerns of the newspaper fan and the newspaper employee and points out that:

Up-to-date information is the coin of the realm, and it's rare to meet a successful person who doesn't follow the news. They may not get it from the hard-copy newspaper, but most online news originates in traditional newspapers and newspaper-related organs such as the Associated Press. In other words, the basic product the papers produce still helps the fittest to thrive.

It might seem that Powers is waxing Pollyanna on us, but I don't think so. News is a commodity in the "information age" and will be for time to come. Whether that news is about sports, business transactions, or Lindsay Lohan doesn't matter. People want information.

But does that mean that they want to read the news on "paper?"

Eyewitness television news didn't kill paper, what about the internets?

Powers doesn't answer this question in his piece, though I expect he'll be writing about the future of paper as a medium soon, but he does mention that Rupert Murdoch is fighting to purchase the Wall Street Journal (one of the nation's leading bird cage fillers).

Powers seems to be hinting that paper may not be dead as paper, but then what does Powers think about the following?

Premiere magazine, which had a circulation of over 500,000, is now purely digital and has featured our friend David Chute.

Disney will cease publication of its 1,000,000 circulation strong Disney Adventures.

And while the Journal is a leader in print, it also has one of the best web interfaces of any news publication.

Which direction is the news going?

Will Mark Cuban's comments regarding bandwidth capabilities have any effect? In other words, do we need paper because we will lack bandwidth?

Comic Book Tombs

Following the concerns of George Miller, we here at Cinerati wonder, "Are comic books more than their cover art?" The L.A. Times Calendar section has an interesting story about a certain strain of collecting which is more about investment and less about enjoyment.

I have a small comic book collection that is contained in four or five boxes. At the urging of my wife, I've been considering two option. The first, I save them for my children to enjoy, i.e., consume. Or, I could give the age appropriate titles to a local boys and girls club for those kids to consume. By destroy, I mean rip out the pages, add their own commentary, use the book as a tracing guide, etc... I figure that if the kids actually get the joy of actually using the book then the comic would have served its purpose more fully than if it was laid down in a safety deposit box encased in plastic. Collecting for its own sake, without an appreciation of the thing collected, is a sterile and pointless exercise.

Weren't the pages in the books in Gatsby's library uncut?

My Thoughts on the Upcoming 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons

Minutes after Wizards of the Coast made the announcement that there would be a 4th edition of the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game last week, I received two emails from concerned citizens of the roleplaying community.

The first email came from my friend Eric, who plays in my weekly Eberron game and started playing D&D with edition 3.5, who wrote, "Who else thinks that we are all doomed now? I just hope it is not like SAGA edition of Star Wars." Eric and I have had several conversations since this email, more on those later, but I think that Eric's concern might be typical of the new fan (Eric has only been playing for about a year) who is about to witness some major changes in a game he enjoys playing.

The second email I received came from the online game store "Stiggybaby's." In case you were wondering, I don't typically buy my rpg stuff online. I usually buy from a very nice independent bookstore located in Glendora, where I work, but sometimes I want to get a product I overlooked and don't want to wait four weeks until the next shipment can come. "The Ferret," over at Stiggybaby's, wrote:

I will admit I am not too excited about it. My hope is that the game system will be an improvement, or that other companies continue to support 3rd /3.5. I am an old-school gamer, been playing some kind of RPG since the 70's, and have seen some of my favorites come and go over the years, Traveler and Twilight 2000 from GDW are prime examples. I have watched my beloved D&D go from a RPG with combat, to a combat game with Role-Playing.

"The Ferret's" view seems to me to be a more moderate view of the typical resistance that previous editions of D&D have received from long time fans. "The Ferret" uses terms like "beloved," "hope," and "old-school gamer" as a way to show experience, expertise, and an overall love of the hobby. These are traits typical of the long time fan. "The Ferret's" statement lacks the overly aggressive list of reasons why his or her opinion matters more than the average consumer. It also lacks an attack at corporate greed, which is why I say that "the Ferret" is displaying a more moderate view of the typical resistance/reluctance postings one might find on any of the rpg boards out in the interwebs.



Personally, as you might have guessed, I don't agree with either of these positions. I am looking forward to the new edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game. I have several reasons for this, but before I begin let me open with a long list of my grognard credentials. Only after I have verified that I am a legitimate "old-school" gamer, will I begin my reasons for excitement/hope for the new edition. I will put these comments in blockquote, so that those of you who don't require a full background check before going on the offense will be able to skip the next part.

I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons since the first Basic Set. No...I never played with the white/brown box set with the three little books. Since Ken St. Andre was unable to figure out how to play that rules set (which is why he invented Tunnels and Trolls), I don't feel to bad that 10-year old Christian was unable to understand when to use Chainmail and when to use the new "alternative" combat rules. Besides, Chainmail was even more arcane to my inexperience 10-year old mind.

In my over 26 years of gaming, I have acquired a very large collection of roleplaying games. If you look at my gaming shelves, you will find almost everything from Aftermath to Zir'An with a vast selection of D&D/AD&D in between. I own the "Cthulhu" Deities and Demigods and almost every superhero rpg ever published. Yes, I own both Supergame and Superhero 2044. I have played games for almost 3/4 of my life and I love my hobby.

Okay, now that I am back from establishing my credibility, I can begin discussing why I am optimistic.

The primary reason I am optimistic is because Wizards is trying to bring new people into the hobby. I want to be able to play roleplaying games, with new groups, for the rest of my life. Specifically, I want to play Dungeons and Dragons with new people for the rest of my life. I have made some great friends at the gaming table, most while playing D&D. When a publisher releases a new edition, it usually does two things. First, it brings in large sums of money from existing fans who upgrade to the new edition which keeps the company in business. This is good for the hobby. Second, it usually creates "earned media" in the press and creates word of mouth. This brings in new gamers which is also good for the hobby.

Why 2008 and not later? I can think of two quick marketing reasons. First, it is the 25th anniversary of the Dragonlance setting and the 20th anniversary of the first appearance of one of the best selling characters in all of fantasy literature, Drizz't. Those are two HUGE marketing reasons to do a new edition of the game. Wizards will be able to have three major media events surrounding their game in one year, and they won't even require the 700 Club getting upset. Though that wouldn't hurt their sales either. All that press can lead to new gamers coming in. New gamers who would feel far more comfortable buying three books, one each month from May through July, than they would looking at the library shelf of 3.5 edition gamebooks. That catalogue of books that gamers use as an argument why Wizards should wait before they put out a new edition, are exactly why Wizards should put out a new edition. The timing couldn't be better.



My next reason for being excited about the new edition, is that I am sick of playing "Monte Cook's" Dungeons and Dragons. I like the current edition of the rules, but it kept too much of the old and added too much of the new. One of the designers of the next edition of D&D described the way characters will work in the new game as follows:

The next topic comes down to the types of abilities characters will have. Each class will have per-day abilities, per-encounter abilities, and at-will abilities, each tailored to that class, role, and power source. That means the wizard never needs to pull out a crossbow again, which I was surprised to hear someone in the crowd say (followed by a cheer). That's been one of own favorite examples of a crappy experience playing D&D: Running out of spells and having to resort to your stupid light crossbow. Blech. No more!

You mean a fighter might not be useless after 5th level? Huzzah! They are incorporating ideas tested in Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords? Good for them. I'd really like to see how these changes work. One of my complaints about every other edition of D&D has been how little the game "emulates" the genre it is supposedly representing. The above descriptions makes it sound like mages will act like mages in fantasy novels and that fighters will act like fighters in fantasy novels. I couldn't be more excited.



Last, but not least, I am hopeful for the new edition because I have lived through so many editions of so many roleplaying games that new editions seem to me the norm rather than exception.

How many editions has Call of Cthulhu had? Officially six, but more like ten. The first edition lasted two years and the fifth edition lasted ten, but that's only if you don't count the 20th anniversary edition. Do CoC fans complain like D&D fans? Not that I have seen.

How many editions has Champions had? Five, but that's only if you don't count the "Revised Fifth Edition" as a new edition, then it's six. Do "Hero" fans complain? Nope, they are overjoyed because they know how tenuous the string their beloved game is hanging on is.

Tunnels and Trolls? Seven, but you can play with either rules set 5.5 or 7.0 and be current.

The list goes on and on with regard to games and new editions. Heck, I just bought a third edition of Bang! the other day. New editions are good for the hobby. They sometimes hurt the checkbook, but games are supposed to be paid with disposable income anyway.