Greetings friends!
I hope you all had a good bank holiday weekend?
Today I'd like to talk to you about my recent experiences with my youngling.
So as has always been the case since the Moo was born; Saturday evening has always been the time that my wife goes for as long a bath as she likes and I watch over the youngling.
It is during this time I try to play games with the Moo, or introduce her to new tv or film and for the past couple of months we have used this time to share a weekly film together.
Now the Moo loves these films, I don't know if she really gets what is going on in terms of characters, plots and twists but she is transfixed by her weekly film and she seems to really enjoy them, which is good enough for me!
But you see, the more I think about it, the more I realise that at some point she stopped being a small-thing that simply demands Peppa Pig and instead became a little person.
I suppose one of the big eye openers for me was the other week; I had gone to get her out of her bedroom and give her breakfast when I found her up and out of bed and playing with her baby doll in it's buggy. She had taken some plastic sheeting from a sheet of stickers, has opened it up and placed it over the dolls head: looking a little suffocating if I'm honest.
When I asked about this sheet of plastic she said that it was baby's rain cover and would keep her dry when it rained.
It was then I realised that she was semi-imitating the clear plastic cover that our buggy we take her out in has.
That morning she was pushing the her baby buggy around the lounge and ftw little bit of plastic was getting bashed and crumpled and it wasn't long before Mummy got involved and insisted that it was thrown away as it was rubbish.
This made the Moo distraught, as in seriously upset!
Now in the past we have needed to remove toys from her, but they had never caused a reaction like this; you could almost see her little heart breaking.
It was then I realised why this was.
We were not just talking about a sheet of plastic rubbish, this was more than that.
So I followed her into the kitchen where she was clutching the plastic sheet and crying for all her might, I knelt down beside her and spoke. I asked why she was upset and her response was not the most articulate I had ever heard; something along the lines of "Mine!"
I knew what it was. This wasn't just a piece of plastic we were talking about, this is a sheet of plastic that she had opened, torn slightly and repurposed for another function. This was one of her first true expressions of creativity and I was telling her that we had to throw it away.
I asked her calmly if this was the reason; if she wanted it because she had made it.
The Moo looked at me and nodded. Not the nod she does when she is trying to get her way, or the nod that she does when she doesn't understand what you're saying, but a nod of understanding and agreement.
I had to think quickly. I needed to dispose of the plastic but I couldn't destroy her creativity for I have many fond memories of the many things I tried to build with fruit punnets and toilet rolls. Most of the time these constructions looked like nothing to anyone other than some rubbish tied to more rubbish, but for me they were special as I had made them.
I thought to myself, what's better than something I had made myself? The answer was clear!
So I ran to my den, found exactly what I needed, a large clear flat plastic sheeting and brought it down.
I held it out of reach of the Moo as it was currently too much of a suffocation hazard to give over, but I explained that if she threw her old one away, then Daddy would sit with her and they would make another one together; a new, properly fitting, better one!
So we did! It didn't take long, and in no time at all we had a nicely fitting rain protector to sit over her buggy and protect it from rain, but the best part was that we both had made it!
To others this probably sounds like a really obvious story, but for me it was a real eye opener as I remembered the many times I would get truly upset to have someone damage something I had created, be it a sheet plastic rain coat like what the Moo had made, or one of the much more expensive models I buy, assemble, convert, base and paint nowerdays.
Sure one is a lot more complicated than the other and requires a great deal more skill, but it's still an exercise of creativity and having that attacked still hurts like their hitting you directly.
All I can say now is that I look forward to the future, as she develops a repertoire of films that she enjoys and others she doesn't, as she explores her creative side with paper and pencil along with sculpture and continues to enjoy games that require thought, co-ordination and not just 'look at the pretty colours'.
************
That's all from me today. It might be a little of a meander and in all honesty I'm not sure if I actually reached the conclusion I was going for, but oh well.
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 27 May 2014
Friday, 23 May 2014
A Random Thought - CRYPTS: Anarchy Edition
Greetings friends!
So I've been thinking over the past few months about alternative versions of CRYPTS. The first I've mentioned a couple of times before:
CRYPYS: Hardcore
For those who don't know, CRYPTS: Hardcore is all about cranking the challenge to 11, where death is permanent and the rewards are sweeter!
But that's not all I've been thinking of, I'd like to throw around this idea:
CRYPTS: Anarchy
So like how Hardcore would take a lot of the softer rules, throw them out of the window and make the game into a Last Man Standing affair, where you win by being the last person to die, Anarchy takes all the rules and spins them on their head:
Rule 1: The Keeper - GONE!
That's right! There is no Crypt Keeper! The Keeper is gone, zeroed out, immortalised in the history books of yesteryear!
Rule 2: Co-Op - Gone!
You heard right cupcake! The times of being able to rely on your posse members is out the window! Now it's a dog eat dog environment, but as is often the case, you will still need the other posse members if you hope to progress as far as possible.
*************
So what does all this mean to the game?
The idea is that by removing the Keeper role, you take control of the beasties out of the planned and tactical actions of a designated player and instead add a touch of anarchy to proceedings.
*********
Beasty Control:
Normally in the game the Keeper gets to make an activation in turn with a player activation, without a keeper this now changes.
Instead every turn each player rolls 1d6 to determine their Beasty Initiative.
Normal initiative is played out as normal, with whichever side has the lowest model count going first, if this is the Beasties going first, then whoever rolled the highest Beasty Initiative gets to control them first.
This player gets to pick any of the Beasties and activate them to do anything of their choice. However there are a few rules they can not do:
Beasties without a range attack can not end their activation further away from a posse member than they started (no running away).
Beasties can not attack themselves unless they have a specific ability that requires this (no suicide).
Beasties can not attack other Beasties unless they have an ability that requires this (no friendly fire).
Beasties may not make pass actions when other suitable actions are available.
Remember, you win the game by being the last player alive, if you reach the end of a Crypt and more than 1 player is left alive, then the Crypt wins and you all lose.
Players may attack other players if such a situation occurs.
To be a winner, the last surviving player must be in the final room of the Crypt.
**********
As you see this creates a whole new arrangement with the players. They want to get to the end and doing so requires co-op play, but if they get to the end with more than 1 player then they either loose or they duke it out in a death match to the end!
I hope this has been of interest and so until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So I've been thinking over the past few months about alternative versions of CRYPTS. The first I've mentioned a couple of times before:
CRYPYS: Hardcore
For those who don't know, CRYPTS: Hardcore is all about cranking the challenge to 11, where death is permanent and the rewards are sweeter!
But that's not all I've been thinking of, I'd like to throw around this idea:
CRYPTS: Anarchy
So like how Hardcore would take a lot of the softer rules, throw them out of the window and make the game into a Last Man Standing affair, where you win by being the last person to die, Anarchy takes all the rules and spins them on their head:
Rule 1: The Keeper - GONE!
That's right! There is no Crypt Keeper! The Keeper is gone, zeroed out, immortalised in the history books of yesteryear!
Rule 2: Co-Op - Gone!
You heard right cupcake! The times of being able to rely on your posse members is out the window! Now it's a dog eat dog environment, but as is often the case, you will still need the other posse members if you hope to progress as far as possible.
*************
So what does all this mean to the game?
The idea is that by removing the Keeper role, you take control of the beasties out of the planned and tactical actions of a designated player and instead add a touch of anarchy to proceedings.
*********
Beasty Control:
Normally in the game the Keeper gets to make an activation in turn with a player activation, without a keeper this now changes.
Instead every turn each player rolls 1d6 to determine their Beasty Initiative.
Normal initiative is played out as normal, with whichever side has the lowest model count going first, if this is the Beasties going first, then whoever rolled the highest Beasty Initiative gets to control them first.
This player gets to pick any of the Beasties and activate them to do anything of their choice. However there are a few rules they can not do:
Beasties without a range attack can not end their activation further away from a posse member than they started (no running away).
Beasties can not attack themselves unless they have a specific ability that requires this (no suicide).
Beasties can not attack other Beasties unless they have an ability that requires this (no friendly fire).
Beasties may not make pass actions when other suitable actions are available.
Remember, you win the game by being the last player alive, if you reach the end of a Crypt and more than 1 player is left alive, then the Crypt wins and you all lose.
Players may attack other players if such a situation occurs.
To be a winner, the last surviving player must be in the final room of the Crypt.
**********
As you see this creates a whole new arrangement with the players. They want to get to the end and doing so requires co-op play, but if they get to the end with more than 1 player then they either loose or they duke it out in a death match to the end!
I hope this has been of interest and so until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 22 May 2014
The Anatomy of a Game: CRYPTS
Greetings friends!
I had a few minutes to myself at work today and I had myself a bit of a think.
I still didn't feel that the death mechanics in CRYPTS were right, do you know what I mean? When you know that even on paper, before it's even played out, something just doesn't feel right!
So currently the rules state that if you die in an encounter you can be combat rezed or the posse can try and complete the encounter and then non-combat rez you afterwards.
But what happened if the posse dies? If no one is around to do any reviving?
This was something that I never liked as it was game over!
So allow me to introduce you to the 'Corpse Run' mechanic.
This is a mechanic used in MMOs as you the player dies, comes back as a spirit and has to return to your body to resume playing.
The corpse run is a lengthy drawn out mechanic that a lot of people hate, mainly because the only thing they are loosing by running to their corpse is 'time', possibly the most predacious commodity in today's world.
So, with all this in mind; why would I decide that this is the mechanic to introduce in one form or another?
It's simple and quite frankly the real topic I want to talk to you about today (yup, all of that for what was essentially an introduction).
**************
So I don't think anyone would argue that there isn't a strong tie between table top games and digital RPGs (be it solo number crunchers like Balder's Gate, group aimed dungeon crawlers like Diablo or MMOs like World of Warcraft).
So many digital RPGs are trying to recreate the feeling if a board game from the character development and item acquisition of Dungeons & Dragons to board games like Blood Bowl; the latter having quite a game faithful version on the computer.
But when was the last time you saw the tables turned?
When did you see a board game that is trying to actually capture the feel of a digital RPG?
Sure there are WoW/GoW/StarCraft/DooM boardgames out there (most made by FantasyFlight Games) but how many of them are really just uses of a licence rather than a 'feel'?
Of course right now I'm dealing with abstract terms that are almost impossible to actually quantify; how do you really say that one game retains more of a 'feel' for it's licence than another game?
Is it references? In jokes? The same mechanics used throughout? If so then this would imply the best use of the Warcraft licence outside of the RTS games and the MMO is probably Hearthstone, which while being an excellent game doesn't feel like you're playing either Warcraft or World of Warcraft.
This is something I have tried to do with CRYPTS.
I'm not happy with how tabletop games and video games are separated at the moment:
Tabletop Games are renown for their complexity, how you need to put a large amount of effort before the game to play well (army choice, combo building, allocations of character stat points etc).
Video Games on the other hand are renown and celebrated for their simplicity, how you don't have to have played the game before to play well.
If course there are caveats to all of this. Tabletop games often talk about the learning curve for their rules and how some are easy to learn and likewise there are games where you can plan different builds and combos which in some cases are required to compete.
The one thing that doesn't require a caveat however is knowing (or not knowing) the behind the scenes:
To play a tabletop game you virtually always need to do maths to work out if your interaction succeeds and does it's intended action (like shooting someone in the head).
To play a videogame this knowledge isn't required, you point your crosshair at the target and fire, the maths is all done behind the scenes, all you see is if you hit or missed.
So how have I tried to get this feeling into CRYPTS?
I guess it's with my approach to making the rules as simple as possible. You want to shoot someone in the face? You roll, add your shooting modifier and if that is higher than the target's toughness you hit!
Yes this still involves some very basic maths that I would love to remove, but I don't think such a thing would be possible.
Let's compare this however to some other games, say GW's Warhammer systems.
Combat is resolved by first rolling to hit the target, if you score over a certain number determined by your Weapon Skill you have hit the target. Then once you have hit you need to try and wound the target, this is done by comparing the weapons strength versus the target's toughness. If you roll equal to or higher the magic number you have wounded the target. Once this is done the target then gets to try and make an armour save by rolling equal to or higher a number dictated by their equipped armour. If they make the save, then that damage is avoided.
One thing I've always thought; does the armour save not make the wounding roll a little pointless? Should that not be made after hitting but before wounding?
The point is, compared to this the maths involved with CRYPTS is like a grown man putting on trousers; sure there will be some incapable of doing it, and everyone will fall over from time to time, but more often than not it will be a really simple task completed with little to no thought.
*************
This brings us back to the Corpse Run mechanic.
So what do videogames do?
Now I can't speak for all, but WoW does it excellently! By allowing you to corpse run and respawn at full health you and your party are ready to try the encounter again, the drawback? The encounter has also returned to full health and re spawned anyone you killed without completing it.
What does mean that death is not the end of the game. It allows you to check out the mechanics of your enemy and if you need to adjust your tactics you can do so!
It also means that you can't win by attrition. If you don't have the health, damage output or skills to defeat the encounter then you need to leave and come back with better loot.
You see where I'm going with this?
The difference is there will be no literal 'running' to your corpse, instead when the posse wipes the encounter resets and all posse members respawn at the encounter entrance.
***********
So here you see a simple mechanic that provides (in theory) a wide reaching possibility.
Death does not always mean the end if the game/fun and allows for changing of equipment and combos!
Of course there is another thing that this opens up as well; CRYPTS: Hardcore where death means death!
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
I had a few minutes to myself at work today and I had myself a bit of a think.
I still didn't feel that the death mechanics in CRYPTS were right, do you know what I mean? When you know that even on paper, before it's even played out, something just doesn't feel right!
So currently the rules state that if you die in an encounter you can be combat rezed or the posse can try and complete the encounter and then non-combat rez you afterwards.
But what happened if the posse dies? If no one is around to do any reviving?
This was something that I never liked as it was game over!
So allow me to introduce you to the 'Corpse Run' mechanic.
This is a mechanic used in MMOs as you the player dies, comes back as a spirit and has to return to your body to resume playing.
The corpse run is a lengthy drawn out mechanic that a lot of people hate, mainly because the only thing they are loosing by running to their corpse is 'time', possibly the most predacious commodity in today's world.
So, with all this in mind; why would I decide that this is the mechanic to introduce in one form or another?
It's simple and quite frankly the real topic I want to talk to you about today (yup, all of that for what was essentially an introduction).
**************
So I don't think anyone would argue that there isn't a strong tie between table top games and digital RPGs (be it solo number crunchers like Balder's Gate, group aimed dungeon crawlers like Diablo or MMOs like World of Warcraft).
So many digital RPGs are trying to recreate the feeling if a board game from the character development and item acquisition of Dungeons & Dragons to board games like Blood Bowl; the latter having quite a game faithful version on the computer.
But when was the last time you saw the tables turned?
When did you see a board game that is trying to actually capture the feel of a digital RPG?
Sure there are WoW/GoW/StarCraft/DooM boardgames out there (most made by FantasyFlight Games) but how many of them are really just uses of a licence rather than a 'feel'?
Of course right now I'm dealing with abstract terms that are almost impossible to actually quantify; how do you really say that one game retains more of a 'feel' for it's licence than another game?
Is it references? In jokes? The same mechanics used throughout? If so then this would imply the best use of the Warcraft licence outside of the RTS games and the MMO is probably Hearthstone, which while being an excellent game doesn't feel like you're playing either Warcraft or World of Warcraft.
This is something I have tried to do with CRYPTS.
I'm not happy with how tabletop games and video games are separated at the moment:
Tabletop Games are renown for their complexity, how you need to put a large amount of effort before the game to play well (army choice, combo building, allocations of character stat points etc).
Video Games on the other hand are renown and celebrated for their simplicity, how you don't have to have played the game before to play well.
If course there are caveats to all of this. Tabletop games often talk about the learning curve for their rules and how some are easy to learn and likewise there are games where you can plan different builds and combos which in some cases are required to compete.
The one thing that doesn't require a caveat however is knowing (or not knowing) the behind the scenes:
To play a tabletop game you virtually always need to do maths to work out if your interaction succeeds and does it's intended action (like shooting someone in the head).
To play a videogame this knowledge isn't required, you point your crosshair at the target and fire, the maths is all done behind the scenes, all you see is if you hit or missed.
So how have I tried to get this feeling into CRYPTS?
I guess it's with my approach to making the rules as simple as possible. You want to shoot someone in the face? You roll, add your shooting modifier and if that is higher than the target's toughness you hit!
Yes this still involves some very basic maths that I would love to remove, but I don't think such a thing would be possible.
Let's compare this however to some other games, say GW's Warhammer systems.
Combat is resolved by first rolling to hit the target, if you score over a certain number determined by your Weapon Skill you have hit the target. Then once you have hit you need to try and wound the target, this is done by comparing the weapons strength versus the target's toughness. If you roll equal to or higher the magic number you have wounded the target. Once this is done the target then gets to try and make an armour save by rolling equal to or higher a number dictated by their equipped armour. If they make the save, then that damage is avoided.
One thing I've always thought; does the armour save not make the wounding roll a little pointless? Should that not be made after hitting but before wounding?
The point is, compared to this the maths involved with CRYPTS is like a grown man putting on trousers; sure there will be some incapable of doing it, and everyone will fall over from time to time, but more often than not it will be a really simple task completed with little to no thought.
*************
This brings us back to the Corpse Run mechanic.
So what do videogames do?
Now I can't speak for all, but WoW does it excellently! By allowing you to corpse run and respawn at full health you and your party are ready to try the encounter again, the drawback? The encounter has also returned to full health and re spawned anyone you killed without completing it.
What does mean that death is not the end of the game. It allows you to check out the mechanics of your enemy and if you need to adjust your tactics you can do so!
It also means that you can't win by attrition. If you don't have the health, damage output or skills to defeat the encounter then you need to leave and come back with better loot.
You see where I'm going with this?
The difference is there will be no literal 'running' to your corpse, instead when the posse wipes the encounter resets and all posse members respawn at the encounter entrance.
***********
So here you see a simple mechanic that provides (in theory) a wide reaching possibility.
Death does not always mean the end if the game/fun and allows for changing of equipment and combos!
Of course there is another thing that this opens up as well; CRYPTS: Hardcore where death means death!
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Like a Godray of Joy!
Greetings friends!
So how have you been keeping?
Currently I'm sat on the Victoria line passing the time from Victoria to Finsbury Park where I'll then get another train home. Yeah my commute is not fun but it's all part of paying the bills.
On Friday I've got my appointment booked to have the rest of my 'to be extracted' tooth removed via surgery. I'm not looking forward to it as it's done under local anaesthetic and I'm not looking forward to seeing some Doctor-dude coming at my mouth with a scalpel. Plus I just know it's going to mega hurt once it's done - however it super hurts at the moment anyway, so no loss there I guess.
I'm normally a massive advocate for painkillers, I love them! However after living on them for nearly a month what with my recent tooth problems it has really caught up with me. Now as a result I am trying to duke it out without giving my digestion time to recover before I'm almost certainly going to have to go back on then from Friday.
Once that is done however and I'm back in the office for the afternoon I'll be calling up the dentist and booking at the earliest opportunity to get my remaining tooth rebuilt that the dentist broke in half while attempting to extract this troublesome tooth - I'm still mega pissed off she did that.
But good news!!
Next Monday is a Bank Holiday! Plus on the following Thursday the wife and I are going to see Yoshiki at the Royal Festival Hall in London!
As if all of that wasn't enough, last night my new sound card arrived!
- I say new, it's not new it's a second hand Audigy2 but it's so much better than my current non-amped card.
Last night I was listening to some of my music and WOW! I had forgotten how great my computer can sound!
You know what was the best thing? The card only cost £15 incl P&P!
Anyway, not much else from me today, more of a catch up.
Roll on Friday and getting this mashed up tooth-root out of my gums so I'm not in constant pain!
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So how have you been keeping?
Currently I'm sat on the Victoria line passing the time from Victoria to Finsbury Park where I'll then get another train home. Yeah my commute is not fun but it's all part of paying the bills.
On Friday I've got my appointment booked to have the rest of my 'to be extracted' tooth removed via surgery. I'm not looking forward to it as it's done under local anaesthetic and I'm not looking forward to seeing some Doctor-dude coming at my mouth with a scalpel. Plus I just know it's going to mega hurt once it's done - however it super hurts at the moment anyway, so no loss there I guess.
I'm normally a massive advocate for painkillers, I love them! However after living on them for nearly a month what with my recent tooth problems it has really caught up with me. Now as a result I am trying to duke it out without giving my digestion time to recover before I'm almost certainly going to have to go back on then from Friday.
Once that is done however and I'm back in the office for the afternoon I'll be calling up the dentist and booking at the earliest opportunity to get my remaining tooth rebuilt that the dentist broke in half while attempting to extract this troublesome tooth - I'm still mega pissed off she did that.
But good news!!
Next Monday is a Bank Holiday! Plus on the following Thursday the wife and I are going to see Yoshiki at the Royal Festival Hall in London!
As if all of that wasn't enough, last night my new sound card arrived!
- I say new, it's not new it's a second hand Audigy2 but it's so much better than my current non-amped card.
Last night I was listening to some of my music and WOW! I had forgotten how great my computer can sound!
You know what was the best thing? The card only cost £15 incl P&P!
Anyway, not much else from me today, more of a catch up.
Roll on Friday and getting this mashed up tooth-root out of my gums so I'm not in constant pain!
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
The Many Schools of Wargaming
Greetings friends!
So for the past few years I've heard one argument thrown around a lot about the wargaming hobby.
The argument in question is very often based around price and the cash injection often needed to take part in a serious/competitive manner.
*********
To further explain this I will need to describe the different groups. I will try to do this as best as possible to my ability but I am sure I will fall flat on my face.
Type 1
So we start off with Type 1 gamers.
Type 1 tend to have started off playing wargames a good decade or more ago, they like to see themselves as veterans and old school players who have a love for 'army scale games' and believe that spending a lot of money is just a part of the wargame hobby.
I have seen many Type 1 wargamers say phrases such as "Wargaming is expensive, if you don't like it get another hobby" when they read challenges to companies like Games Workshop and their pricing strategies.
Type 2
Next up is the Type 2 gamer. These often have younger wargame lifespans; either they themselves are younger or they just got into the wargaming hobby more recently. As a general rule they started playing wargames in the 'post-Warmachine' era.
Type 2 wargamers believe that everything should be a low cost buy in and that the way forward are small model count games that fall under the skirmish size scale.
Type 2 gamers are very active I their open dislike for the sort of games that Type 1 gamers play in particular games made by Games Workshop.
Type 3
Last but not least is the Type 3 wargamer. These players think that every game has it's place and that choice is one of the most important factor.
Type 3 gamers may not always like both large scale and small scale, they may have a preference one way or another; perhaps they prefer the epic feeling of fielding a 100+ model count army, or maybe they just don't have the budget/time and so play skirmish games, but they understand that other gamers like different games to them and they are cool with that.
************
I think it is safe to say that the fairest and perhaps the nicest of those three types are Type 3 and I would even say that myself along with the majority of friends I have in wargaming are Type 3, often owning skirmish sized gangs as well as large scale fantasy or futuristic armies at the same time, but on the flip of that, it is also safe to say that Type 3 are very often not the most passionate about their game or medium of choice.
That is where Type 1 and 2 come in.
Come on, how often have you seen on an open discussion forum a straight out flame war about how shit Games Workshop is? What are the attack points usually used?
- Price
- Lack of support for their specialist game range
- Quality of model
All of these are arguments made by the Type 2 gamer who acting as the 'independent rebel' want to point out the evil of GW's pricing structure, their quality of sculpt (which let's be honest is really 'quality of sculpt compared to price' so pricing again) and how BloodBowl/Necromunder/Mordheim/GorkaMorka is no longer supported.
So we're looking points 1&3 both around pricing, and point 2 being about small model count games no longer being supported (which again relates back to pricing as they do have cheaper entry points).
What is the usual response these rants get?
Well I've already said it: "The Hobby(tm) (I hate that phrase) is expensive, if you can't afford it, don't have the time or patience or ability GTFO!"
***********
I don't think I can really justify the Type 1 response. It's elitist attempts to exclude people for no good reason other than to make themselves feel better.
That's right, if you ever use that argument against someone then it's essentially admitting you have a small penis and are trying to make others feel bad so you can hide behind their tears.
At the same time however, I can not defend the Type 2 attack. It is misplaced anger and rage, most likely because you know that the target of your rage (GW) is more popular and successful than the game you're playing.
**********
Really what should people really do?
Should Type 2 gamers stop attacking other game systems that are not their own? Well yes! Instead put that energy into promoting your system and not attempting to destroy the competition through RATM style guerrilla warfare.
Should Type 1 gamers stop defending their systems against attackers? Absolutely not! But it should be within reason. If someone doesn't like your game or company, that doesn't mean they should "GTFO" of your 'hobby'. Chances are 'The Hobby' existed before you were a part of it and will continue long after you no longer are and within that time many different games will be created and disbanded and no one has the right to exclude someone for the reasons given (being a dick however is a perfectly good reason).
So until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So for the past few years I've heard one argument thrown around a lot about the wargaming hobby.
The argument in question is very often based around price and the cash injection often needed to take part in a serious/competitive manner.
*********
To further explain this I will need to describe the different groups. I will try to do this as best as possible to my ability but I am sure I will fall flat on my face.
Type 1
So we start off with Type 1 gamers.
Type 1 tend to have started off playing wargames a good decade or more ago, they like to see themselves as veterans and old school players who have a love for 'army scale games' and believe that spending a lot of money is just a part of the wargame hobby.
I have seen many Type 1 wargamers say phrases such as "Wargaming is expensive, if you don't like it get another hobby" when they read challenges to companies like Games Workshop and their pricing strategies.
Type 2
Next up is the Type 2 gamer. These often have younger wargame lifespans; either they themselves are younger or they just got into the wargaming hobby more recently. As a general rule they started playing wargames in the 'post-Warmachine' era.
Type 2 wargamers believe that everything should be a low cost buy in and that the way forward are small model count games that fall under the skirmish size scale.
Type 2 gamers are very active I their open dislike for the sort of games that Type 1 gamers play in particular games made by Games Workshop.
Type 3
Last but not least is the Type 3 wargamer. These players think that every game has it's place and that choice is one of the most important factor.
Type 3 gamers may not always like both large scale and small scale, they may have a preference one way or another; perhaps they prefer the epic feeling of fielding a 100+ model count army, or maybe they just don't have the budget/time and so play skirmish games, but they understand that other gamers like different games to them and they are cool with that.
************
I think it is safe to say that the fairest and perhaps the nicest of those three types are Type 3 and I would even say that myself along with the majority of friends I have in wargaming are Type 3, often owning skirmish sized gangs as well as large scale fantasy or futuristic armies at the same time, but on the flip of that, it is also safe to say that Type 3 are very often not the most passionate about their game or medium of choice.
That is where Type 1 and 2 come in.
Come on, how often have you seen on an open discussion forum a straight out flame war about how shit Games Workshop is? What are the attack points usually used?
- Price
- Lack of support for their specialist game range
- Quality of model
All of these are arguments made by the Type 2 gamer who acting as the 'independent rebel' want to point out the evil of GW's pricing structure, their quality of sculpt (which let's be honest is really 'quality of sculpt compared to price' so pricing again) and how BloodBowl/Necromunder/Mordheim/GorkaMorka is no longer supported.
So we're looking points 1&3 both around pricing, and point 2 being about small model count games no longer being supported (which again relates back to pricing as they do have cheaper entry points).
What is the usual response these rants get?
Well I've already said it: "The Hobby(tm) (I hate that phrase) is expensive, if you can't afford it, don't have the time or patience or ability GTFO!"
***********
I don't think I can really justify the Type 1 response. It's elitist attempts to exclude people for no good reason other than to make themselves feel better.
That's right, if you ever use that argument against someone then it's essentially admitting you have a small penis and are trying to make others feel bad so you can hide behind their tears.
At the same time however, I can not defend the Type 2 attack. It is misplaced anger and rage, most likely because you know that the target of your rage (GW) is more popular and successful than the game you're playing.
**********
Really what should people really do?
Should Type 2 gamers stop attacking other game systems that are not their own? Well yes! Instead put that energy into promoting your system and not attempting to destroy the competition through RATM style guerrilla warfare.
Should Type 1 gamers stop defending their systems against attackers? Absolutely not! But it should be within reason. If someone doesn't like your game or company, that doesn't mean they should "GTFO" of your 'hobby'. Chances are 'The Hobby' existed before you were a part of it and will continue long after you no longer are and within that time many different games will be created and disbanded and no one has the right to exclude someone for the reasons given (being a dick however is a perfectly good reason).
So until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
You reap what you sow
Greetings friends!
So today is a funny day, but it has given me a lot to think about.
Now I was reading the Wildstar message boards earlier and I read a thread started by someone who was desperate for attention. I'm not going to go into details but it was very, very funny to read.
At one point in this thread somebody made an off the cuff comment of "you reap what you sow". This poster was asked what they meant by it and they explained that the original writing was so obsessed with getting attention that they didn't care where it came from. Now they are surrounded by people bashing them for being a pathetic human being.
The irony of this situation stayed with me and I can't help but be reminded of it now as I write this.
So it's a day off for me. I booked it off because at midday I had a dentist appointment to get a tooth extracted and it seemed silly having half a day off work for that to then have to make it through he day feeling sorry for myself with a numb face.
Why did I need to have this tooth extracted? To be honest it's mainly because of diet and a history of bad health and genetically weak teeth.
The tooth in question is one of my middle molars and when I was roughly 16 years old it split open, about 1/4 of it fell out and had to be replaced with filling. Then about 5 years after that another 1/4 broke off and he tooth was root canaled and filled making it 1/2 metal.
Then about a month ago the remaining surface tooth splintered off and had to be removed to stop it from hurting my gums leaving me with just the metal sat on top of the base and root. The next day the metal came off and I was left with the stump.
Since then I've had more problems including another root canal on the other side of my mouth but today was the day of extraction.
So I arrived, got my mouth filled with anaesthetic and went through just shy of an hour of crunching and pulling.
The tooth in question has 2 roots, so they had to split the tooth in half to make it easier, but in the process of doing so ended up removing a porcelain cap that a next door neighbour tooth had.
After an hour of pulling, the tooth after being dead for roughly 10 years kept splintering and sharing, they managed to remove one root but the second root is to curled and deep meaning they have had to refer me to a hospital so they can surgically remove what is left. Once that is done I can go back to the dentist and they can rebuild and recap the tooth that was damaged during today's work.
So here I am, sat in a bath having taken antibiotics to deal with the inevitable infection I should expect, paracetamol and ibuprofen to keep the jaw ache at bay once the anaesthetic wears off, 1 stumpy remains of a tooth waiting to be removed, one bloody hole in the gums and 1 shattered remains that needs to be removed by a medical dude! All the while having it covered by what I believe to be gauze soaked in iodine.
At least I hope it's gauze soaked in iodine, it looked like a lumpy clump of brown moss that tasted horrid and burned my nose!
The thing is, I can't complain or moan about it (yeah I know I'm kinda doing that now) but this is all my own fault and if I didn't indulge my sweet tooth at every opportunity, tearing away the enamel coating with fizzy drinks and fruit juices, then maybe I wouldn't be in this situation I am now.
************
Shoulda, woulda, coulda as they say.
If I stay realistic however, I need to put all this in perspective. Yes I may have to wait up to 5 weeks to get everything sorted and have my tooth rebuilt, and there is likely to be at least some pain between then and now, but kings could be a hell of a lot worse!
Right now I'm resting before I get started with a house clean in preparation for my wife's 30th birthday and I have two wonderful ladies living under my roof.
So no, I'm not going to wallow and feel sorry for myself! I'm going to enjoy myself and make sure that those I care about also have a good time too!
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So today is a funny day, but it has given me a lot to think about.
Now I was reading the Wildstar message boards earlier and I read a thread started by someone who was desperate for attention. I'm not going to go into details but it was very, very funny to read.
At one point in this thread somebody made an off the cuff comment of "you reap what you sow". This poster was asked what they meant by it and they explained that the original writing was so obsessed with getting attention that they didn't care where it came from. Now they are surrounded by people bashing them for being a pathetic human being.
The irony of this situation stayed with me and I can't help but be reminded of it now as I write this.
So it's a day off for me. I booked it off because at midday I had a dentist appointment to get a tooth extracted and it seemed silly having half a day off work for that to then have to make it through he day feeling sorry for myself with a numb face.
Why did I need to have this tooth extracted? To be honest it's mainly because of diet and a history of bad health and genetically weak teeth.
The tooth in question is one of my middle molars and when I was roughly 16 years old it split open, about 1/4 of it fell out and had to be replaced with filling. Then about 5 years after that another 1/4 broke off and he tooth was root canaled and filled making it 1/2 metal.
Then about a month ago the remaining surface tooth splintered off and had to be removed to stop it from hurting my gums leaving me with just the metal sat on top of the base and root. The next day the metal came off and I was left with the stump.
Since then I've had more problems including another root canal on the other side of my mouth but today was the day of extraction.
So I arrived, got my mouth filled with anaesthetic and went through just shy of an hour of crunching and pulling.
The tooth in question has 2 roots, so they had to split the tooth in half to make it easier, but in the process of doing so ended up removing a porcelain cap that a next door neighbour tooth had.
After an hour of pulling, the tooth after being dead for roughly 10 years kept splintering and sharing, they managed to remove one root but the second root is to curled and deep meaning they have had to refer me to a hospital so they can surgically remove what is left. Once that is done I can go back to the dentist and they can rebuild and recap the tooth that was damaged during today's work.
So here I am, sat in a bath having taken antibiotics to deal with the inevitable infection I should expect, paracetamol and ibuprofen to keep the jaw ache at bay once the anaesthetic wears off, 1 stumpy remains of a tooth waiting to be removed, one bloody hole in the gums and 1 shattered remains that needs to be removed by a medical dude! All the while having it covered by what I believe to be gauze soaked in iodine.
At least I hope it's gauze soaked in iodine, it looked like a lumpy clump of brown moss that tasted horrid and burned my nose!
The thing is, I can't complain or moan about it (yeah I know I'm kinda doing that now) but this is all my own fault and if I didn't indulge my sweet tooth at every opportunity, tearing away the enamel coating with fizzy drinks and fruit juices, then maybe I wouldn't be in this situation I am now.
************
Shoulda, woulda, coulda as they say.
If I stay realistic however, I need to put all this in perspective. Yes I may have to wait up to 5 weeks to get everything sorted and have my tooth rebuilt, and there is likely to be at least some pain between then and now, but kings could be a hell of a lot worse!
Right now I'm resting before I get started with a house clean in preparation for my wife's 30th birthday and I have two wonderful ladies living under my roof.
So no, I'm not going to wallow and feel sorry for myself! I'm going to enjoy myself and make sure that those I care about also have a good time too!
Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 12 May 2014
Developers Corner - Miniature GAMING vs Miniature HOBY: CRYPTS' View
Greetings friends!
So I've been listening to the latest episode of Gamer's Lounge where they feature Question 7 of the Developers Corner where they tackle the difference between games that are focussed on the GAME itself and those that focus more on the HOBBY aspect and where the game designers took their ideas for each focus.
Well I thought it would be fun to put down into text my own ideas about this for CRYPTS.
************
As you all by now probably know the game CRYPTS is not designed as a super competitive game and that actually the best way to progress through it is to be cooperative with your posse members.
- Of course the relationship between Posse and Keeper is far from cooperative.
But what is more important? The rules or the models?
Well that's interesting considering CRYPTS will not have a miniature line, common sense would say that I have as such decided that the focus should be on the rule set itself?
Maybe not!
Yes there is no miniature line for the game, but this was done for the specific reasons of giving players freedom over their model choices, reducing the 'buy in' costs but most importantly allowing you as the player to grab your favourite undead, demon etc models, paint them up to a beautiful standard and field them all together not worrying about branding.
This is the same reason why no base size restrictions were put in place for the game. If you want to use a demon horde that features a massive 60mm+ model then you can!
- It might seem strange to feature this strange freedom, but the idea actually came to me from my favourite memories of my video gaming history:
Rewind about 7-8 years. I was playing the Superhero MMO City of Heroes. I was fighting through an army of mutated alien/human hybrids searching for the gang's boss. I reached the final room of the office the gang of hybrids were using as a base, knowing full well that the rules of elimination meant the gang boss had to be in this room.
I bust down the door and prepared my flaming fists to unleash a barrage of burning justice on the hybrids, when all of a sudden I realised that the boss didn't appear to be there, just a group of hybrid thugs!
So what did I do? The best I could in that situation of course! Turning my body into living flame I flew amongst the group of thugs and unleashed an explosion to knock out the whole group at once.
Then the unexpected happened. As the explosion ripped through the thugs my energy (as usual) was drained leaving me vulnerable to attack. But I thought "no worries! They are just a group of thugs" but then it struck me!
From below in the centre of the group of hybrid thugs a tiny, yet super strong fist caught my jaw and I was knocked out cold.
It turned out the boss, while using the normal hybrid-boss model had been scaled down so that he was hidden by his thugs, but just because he was small his stats were no different and in my weakened state I was of no match for his super strength.
It might sound silly, but this moment always stuck with me and told me that a character doesn't have to be big to be strong.
************
So where does my focus go with this game?
I would say that my attempts to create a well rounded world through the fluff and short stories, combined with my allowance for almost complete creative freedom with people's models puts me pretty firmly in the HOBBY camp of this discussion.
Saying that, I would hope that the numerous revisions I have mass to characters, rules, gear and all that is in between lends itself to a good ruleset that does not leave people feeling it is incomplete.
I guess I can summarise it by saying that I have tried to tailor the rules to give people the opportunity to be as creative and inventive as they so choose when it comes to the hobby side.
**********
Hope you enjoyed this mind splurge and until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So I've been listening to the latest episode of Gamer's Lounge where they feature Question 7 of the Developers Corner where they tackle the difference between games that are focussed on the GAME itself and those that focus more on the HOBBY aspect and where the game designers took their ideas for each focus.
Well I thought it would be fun to put down into text my own ideas about this for CRYPTS.
************
As you all by now probably know the game CRYPTS is not designed as a super competitive game and that actually the best way to progress through it is to be cooperative with your posse members.
- Of course the relationship between Posse and Keeper is far from cooperative.
But what is more important? The rules or the models?
Well that's interesting considering CRYPTS will not have a miniature line, common sense would say that I have as such decided that the focus should be on the rule set itself?
Maybe not!
Yes there is no miniature line for the game, but this was done for the specific reasons of giving players freedom over their model choices, reducing the 'buy in' costs but most importantly allowing you as the player to grab your favourite undead, demon etc models, paint them up to a beautiful standard and field them all together not worrying about branding.
This is the same reason why no base size restrictions were put in place for the game. If you want to use a demon horde that features a massive 60mm+ model then you can!
- It might seem strange to feature this strange freedom, but the idea actually came to me from my favourite memories of my video gaming history:
Rewind about 7-8 years. I was playing the Superhero MMO City of Heroes. I was fighting through an army of mutated alien/human hybrids searching for the gang's boss. I reached the final room of the office the gang of hybrids were using as a base, knowing full well that the rules of elimination meant the gang boss had to be in this room.
I bust down the door and prepared my flaming fists to unleash a barrage of burning justice on the hybrids, when all of a sudden I realised that the boss didn't appear to be there, just a group of hybrid thugs!
So what did I do? The best I could in that situation of course! Turning my body into living flame I flew amongst the group of thugs and unleashed an explosion to knock out the whole group at once.
Then the unexpected happened. As the explosion ripped through the thugs my energy (as usual) was drained leaving me vulnerable to attack. But I thought "no worries! They are just a group of thugs" but then it struck me!
From below in the centre of the group of hybrid thugs a tiny, yet super strong fist caught my jaw and I was knocked out cold.
It turned out the boss, while using the normal hybrid-boss model had been scaled down so that he was hidden by his thugs, but just because he was small his stats were no different and in my weakened state I was of no match for his super strength.
It might sound silly, but this moment always stuck with me and told me that a character doesn't have to be big to be strong.
************
So where does my focus go with this game?
I would say that my attempts to create a well rounded world through the fluff and short stories, combined with my allowance for almost complete creative freedom with people's models puts me pretty firmly in the HOBBY camp of this discussion.
Saying that, I would hope that the numerous revisions I have mass to characters, rules, gear and all that is in between lends itself to a good ruleset that does not leave people feeling it is incomplete.
I guess I can summarise it by saying that I have tried to tailor the rules to give people the opportunity to be as creative and inventive as they so choose when it comes to the hobby side.
**********
Hope you enjoyed this mind splurge and until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 8 May 2014
A Hobby Slump
Greetings friends,
You may have noticed a bit of a reduction in my postings the past couple of weeks.
Personally I hadn't really realised that this was the case, but I guess that is often the case when you're at the centre of your own activities.
I suppose this is an explanation as to what has happened and what you should expect from me moving forward for the time being.
**************
So if I am being honest, I am at present feeling a lack of motivation to engage in any hobby activities.
You see, maybe it's a lack of games or what but I am very much struggling to find something to focus on.
I look at the games currently available and there if very little that catches my eye and makes me want to own the models and play the game.
Currently the only games on my radar are Hell Dorado and EDEN, both of which have hardly any following in the UK and next to nothing in my own area, this is why I have yet to purchase anything for EDEN and why my Hell Dorado demons are still unfinished from Christmas over 4 months ago!
This slump I believe has come about from my experiences at this year's Salute convention about 3 or so weeks ago.
You see, I have read a lot of posts on the internet in general, but Facebook and Twitter in particular who consider this year's Salute to be the strongest yet, and to a degree I have to agree.
For me personally however it was one of the weakest because of what I would say is a trend in the industry towards digital sculpts.
At some point I would like to write a commentary on this trend and how we got here vs where we might end up if we continue to follow it, but that time is not now.
Anyway, as you may have guessed, this time spent at Salute really knocked me for six. My interest has greatly waned in pretty much all of my projects and I am really close to just saying "I quit" on wargaming in general.
- At least for the time being while I try and find something that I love to talk and share as much as I did other games.
There will always be CRYPTS, and when I get the gusto back I hope to continue working on the game, however since Salute I have tried to get back into that on a few occasions, be it rules writing, card design or fluff writing, and my heart just hasn't been in it.
I guess I would rather leave the game 'as is' for the time being than put out something subpar because of a need to 'get it done'.
Of course I am also looking to make the time to finish getting my computer back into shape post Windows reinstall. Still have Photoshop and MSWord to put back on, and without my primary tools working on the game is harder, but finding the effort to do this is just something I can't be bothered with right now.
**********
On the plus side I've been able to dive back into one of my longer lasting loves than even wargaming; videogames!
For those who haven't been following any of my other projects, I've been really enjoying my continued work with my MMO Role Play character in the game The Secret World.
It's a great game that lends itself really well to immersion and player involvement both inside and outside the game itself.
***********
So this is where we are at the moment. A lot of things are on hold and due to remain there until a switch is flipped in my head. That could happen today, tomorrow, or maybe not until 2020 for all I know!
I'm not going to bitch however, and I will keep writing posts about whatever interests me at the time, you should expect to see a change in focus for at least the immediate future.
Until next time.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
You may have noticed a bit of a reduction in my postings the past couple of weeks.
Personally I hadn't really realised that this was the case, but I guess that is often the case when you're at the centre of your own activities.
I suppose this is an explanation as to what has happened and what you should expect from me moving forward for the time being.
**************
So if I am being honest, I am at present feeling a lack of motivation to engage in any hobby activities.
You see, maybe it's a lack of games or what but I am very much struggling to find something to focus on.
I look at the games currently available and there if very little that catches my eye and makes me want to own the models and play the game.
Currently the only games on my radar are Hell Dorado and EDEN, both of which have hardly any following in the UK and next to nothing in my own area, this is why I have yet to purchase anything for EDEN and why my Hell Dorado demons are still unfinished from Christmas over 4 months ago!
This slump I believe has come about from my experiences at this year's Salute convention about 3 or so weeks ago.
You see, I have read a lot of posts on the internet in general, but Facebook and Twitter in particular who consider this year's Salute to be the strongest yet, and to a degree I have to agree.
For me personally however it was one of the weakest because of what I would say is a trend in the industry towards digital sculpts.
At some point I would like to write a commentary on this trend and how we got here vs where we might end up if we continue to follow it, but that time is not now.
Anyway, as you may have guessed, this time spent at Salute really knocked me for six. My interest has greatly waned in pretty much all of my projects and I am really close to just saying "I quit" on wargaming in general.
- At least for the time being while I try and find something that I love to talk and share as much as I did other games.
There will always be CRYPTS, and when I get the gusto back I hope to continue working on the game, however since Salute I have tried to get back into that on a few occasions, be it rules writing, card design or fluff writing, and my heart just hasn't been in it.
I guess I would rather leave the game 'as is' for the time being than put out something subpar because of a need to 'get it done'.
Of course I am also looking to make the time to finish getting my computer back into shape post Windows reinstall. Still have Photoshop and MSWord to put back on, and without my primary tools working on the game is harder, but finding the effort to do this is just something I can't be bothered with right now.
**********
On the plus side I've been able to dive back into one of my longer lasting loves than even wargaming; videogames!
For those who haven't been following any of my other projects, I've been really enjoying my continued work with my MMO Role Play character in the game The Secret World.
It's a great game that lends itself really well to immersion and player involvement both inside and outside the game itself.
***********
So this is where we are at the moment. A lot of things are on hold and due to remain there until a switch is flipped in my head. That could happen today, tomorrow, or maybe not until 2020 for all I know!
I'm not going to bitch however, and I will keep writing posts about whatever interests me at the time, you should expect to see a change in focus for at least the immediate future.
Until next time.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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