GenCon, Podcasts & Feeling Rundown

Good Wednesday everyone!

Ok first things first, some info for GenCon has been released!

First we have the v2 book confirmed at $40. This was pretty much expected from me, looking at the v1.5 book (which i understand is smaller in pages than v2?) is $35 on the Wyrd store.

It has also been confirmed that Lady J's crew will be available at GenCon as well, but again we kind of expected this with Lady J's crew being the only boxed set we've seen plastics for.

Last but not least, we have the art for this year's Miss model


I have to say, I like her! She looks like a very fun model and even though I don't play Ramos she looks awesome to put together.
- What I will probably do is (with agreement) paint her up as a gift for my lovely Sarah and let her use this model in v1 with a modified Steamborg Card. I might even look into giving her the Showgirl Characteristic!

Which leads me onto another idea! Everyone remembers the dancing bear from Wyrd chronicles, right? The big spikey 6-armed bear counts as a Showgirl as long as it's modelled with a fez?
A competition (for fun) here! What should be modelled onto this Miss to give her the showgirl characteristic? Once the entry has been done I will be editing the art, creating the custom card and uploading that, with props being given to the winner!

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Ok Podcasts!
This Thursday Andrey and I are looking to record Episode 2 of Hobby Sofa, and I would like to welcome anyone who is interested to join us on the sofa. Recording will begin at 20:00 BST and if you want in just hit me up over twitter @doctorloxley or via email doctorloxley@hotmail.co.uk.

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That's pretty much all from me, as mentioned prior I'm just getting over a nasty tummy bug, and I'm still feeling exhausted by it. With hope the podcast will not be effected tomorrow, but more on that closer to then.

Until then, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Loxfest is no more

Greetings all!

Not much from me recently as I've been suffering from a nasty tummy bug - some may say it's karma for all the moaning and griping!

Well it is with a sad heart that I have to declare Loxfest, the 2 day gaming fest is cancelled.

After speaking to a few games clubs there was a little interest, but nothing major, and after the massive flop that was my poll on the Wyrd boards: http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?45396-Testing-an-Idea-Loxfest-2014-(Working-Title) I've decided that it's best to instead divert my attention elsewhere.

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Don't worry though, I still have lots of things planned, most of which I am not at liberty to discuss, mainly because I'm assisting rather than organising/running and it's not my place to reveal any of it.

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Anyway, that's all from me today. With hope I'll have more over the next few days once my body has stopped being pap!

On that note, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

The Future's Bright

Good Saturday everyone!

So by now things on my side have quietened down after my 'rage-quit' yesterday morning, and I would like to take this time to explain how I see things for this blog, my podcast(s) and just me and my hobby time in future.

First, the Blog!

For those of you who are fans of my writing (thank you) this is not stopping.

My blog will continue, and it will remain its usual regularity (daily when I'm busy with something, or maybe s couple of times a week when I'm not). You see my reasons for starting my blog have not changed, even if I as a person have.

As always this will focus on whatever I am currently doing. For a long while now I've been focusing on v2 of Malifaux and the negative effect it has had on me, this has not been healthy.

Next: The Podcasts!

These are also remaining.
Once Will has finished his campaign (without knowing his schedule, but knowing him, I predict the boss encounter to be vs Ramatar) then I will be closing off the campaign I was running.

After this we'll either take a break or will have some filler episodes while I get CRYPTS to a working format. Once done we'll be shifting over and testing out those rules. Should be fun.

Hobby Sofa, despite only having 1 episode out, we're looking to carry on, I'm fact we're looking to record next week.

For this cast we intend to carry on as before. To be honest we're not a Malifaux centric podcast and we never were meant to be, it's just both hosts play v1.5 as our main game.

So think of us as 'pan-hobby' with a heavy Malifaux influence.

And last but not least:Me.

I'm going to keep with 1.5 for the time being, but I have learned that doing so as a crusade to prove its need to survive is just as harmful to me as being negative on v2.

Come GenCon I'll be spending my credit, probably picking up the v2 rule book (as a form of future-proofing my decisions, so once things are ironed out I have the book and able to give it another try post wave 2. But ill also be buying a good number of v1.5 models to try and finish off my collection. Sadly I don't have enough credit to pick up the stuff I want and some large dudes like riders of Nekima, but they'll come I'm time.

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You see, as with my time as a Hench, I've noticed a change in me, one that I'm not happy about. I guess it's all because of me being a passionate person, but I got too emotionally involved in what was going on at Wyrd, the direction the company was taking etc.

What I needed to do was take a step back and rather than trying to be a contributor to the community and hobby in general, I need to be a consumer.

I don't know if that makes sense, especially when I am indirectly contributing to the Maligeist by still making my podcasts and blogs while playing/painting/modelling Malifaux, but it has done something in my head, it's flipped a switch and now everything seems ok.

It's like the red mist has cleared, and while everything seems less colourful and vibrant, it also seems less important in comparison to things that really matter, and that's my wife and daughter, family and friends.

And on that note I bid you all adieu, stay safe and ill see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

I'm done!

I've been thinking long and hard about how to say this, and I was up late last night, unable to sleep trying to find a way of saying this without sounding like a). A child throwing toys out of my pram, b). A rage-quitter, c). A selfish-spoilt little bitch.

The end result? I failed to come up with a single way of not making this sound like any of the above. So if you find yourself disagreeing or raging at what I say, then that's fine, but I'm not going to apologise for my own emotions.

Anyway, on with the whine.

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After last night and this morning, I'm officially declaring myself out of the running in regards to Wyrd and where they are going with Malifaux.

I've seen where they are going, I've seen what they are doing and I want nothing to do with it or them.

So as you know I was told that Leviticus would not be at GenCon, I assumed that this was because the sculpts were not up to standard and that Wyrd didn't want to put out a sub-standard product.

I said at the time, speaking objectively that was a good move and what I wouldn't want would be for sub par sculpts being sent to the manufacturer and sold to Joe Public.

I have since found out: http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?45561-Leveticus-at-Gen-Con-2013 that my assumption was completely wrong. It turns out it has nothing to do with the sculpts and everything to do with the rules. This means that he's not even in the book.

Yup, it means that there are book 2 models (Von Schill, Ophelia) who are going to be in Book 1 of v2, there are whole new masters like the Brewmaster in book 1 of v2, but an original master (Levi) will not, and instead will be treated as Wave 2 alongside masters like The Dreamer and Kirai.

But what else do we know? We know that Tara is going to be there in Nightmare Edition form, now she is not going to be there sans stat cards. No she will be there with full rules.

Let me just reiterate that. Leviticus, a master that went through the Open Beta phase and a LOT of people were very happy with is not in Wave 1, but Tara, a master who did not go through the Open Beta phase, so has not had the mass play testing as the other wave 1 models, she will be there.

Seriously, WTF?

Now I have to get my tin-foil hat on, for me this stinks of more than just quality control, this reeks in fact of marketing, and poor marketing at that.

You see, removing Leviticus from the table leaves wave 1 at 4 masters per side (when you include Tara), is that a coincidence? Maybe.

If you look around the Internet at people's opinions to the snippets of art for Tara's NE Art the reactions are very interesting, unlike previous releases there appears to be to me a LOT more who are anti Tara's look. Sure there are some who seem to be goo-ing at the stuff, but so many more going "really? That's it?"

So keeping my hat on, I'm left thinking that Wyrd do not think they are going to get as many sales of their limited run Tara, and they are thinking that they can counter this by artificially boost Nightmare Edition sales by removing competition.

And yes Tara and Levi are competition for each other, both are Outcast Masters with Resurrectionist ties and both have 'monster' style minions.

It's funny almost, it seems that the tactic is already working, I've already seen one or two people saying the equivalent of "I was going to pick up Leviticus, but if I can't now I might as well get Tara". That's a person who was NOT going to buy Tara and was going to get Levi, but now their purchase has been funnelled in a different direction.

Coincidence?

Possibly/Probably.

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It also came to light yesterday that the released this week pack University of Transmortis is not shipping with v1.5 rules, instead they are only shipping with v2 rules.

Why is this a big deal? It's a big deal because we were told, we were promised that it would come with both rule sets.

It is of my opinion that when Justin & Mack made this pledge they knew that there were no v1.5 rules for these models. They knew this and they also knew that there was either no intention of there ever being 1.5 rules, or it would be very unlikely.

But despite this, they still said those rules would be there.

Again, why is this a reason for concern? Credibility.

When people are caught out loosing credibility in one area, then by default they start losing credibility in other areas.

I've never hidden away the fact that there are certain people who I have a personal issue with at Wyrd because of attitude and behaviour, but now I'm left wondering if ANY of the statements made by this person can be trusted? In short this has made me loose the little amount of respect I had for these people.

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Last but not least, Eric has essentially issued the equivalent of a cease and desist to the Malifaux Classic project. Before this was a project being spear headed by Bill "Nix" Anderson to try and push and organise a v1.5 Malifaux community.

This was an interesting idea and one I was behind, but Wyrd have made it clear that 'we' are not welcome doing this.

Eric has also mentioned that in a couple of weeks Wyrd will be making an announcement that relates to this sort of thing.

Right or wrong, it is my assumption that it will be their announcement that they are officially removing v1.5 from their support, that models and stat cards are being discontinued, and the forums will be v2 focused and v1.5 posts will not be welcome.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope I am wrong about all of this, but I don't think I am.

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So that's it.

Like I said earlier, I'm out!

I've tried to stay positive, I've tried to give Wyrd the benefit of the doubt every single time, and I'm tired of doing so.

So I'm throwing my toys put of the pram, but I'm also picking up those toys and taking them elsewhere. I don't know where and I don't know for how long.

I saw a post a while ago about how when changing editions players go through the many stages of the grieving process. If this is true then I've gone through them all and then bounced too and fro between anger and depression.

Now I'm feeling them all at once, and I just can't do this any more.

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If you're enjoying what you're doing, then that's great! More power to you and I wish you luck in future endeavours. But I'm out.

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

You know what? Things aren't that different after all!

Good evening everyone!

So today's had quite a few ups and downs with lots of negative reactions to my earlier blog post.

First I would like to say that no feelings have been hurt on my side and I respect everyone enough to disagree with whatever I say.

Let's just say I was butt-hurt, but amazingly, writing that essay on being butt-hurt made me feel a whole lot better.

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Anyway, I was just thinking and I realised something. I mentioned before that I hated the v1 Raspy crew sculpts, and that I love the art for Levi v2, right?

This is something that interests me a lot when I look at it from a quasi analytical angle.

Let's have a look at the crews I own:


First up was my Gremlins, I loved their models but really struggled with the rules and could not get them to work.



Next up was my undead Guild made up of the Dead Justice crew and a converted Executioner, Austringer and Hounds.



Next came my Dreamer crew, this was something that really clicked with me, I loved the visual style, the game mechanics and went on to buy every nightmare characteristic model available.



It was around this time last year that I became a Hench, and to go with that some demo crews, the first was Perdita.


Followed shortly after by Lilith.



Finishing off my Neverborn came Lynch from GenCon last year


And last but not least, Seamus!

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So what is the point of this thread other than just showcasing my models?

Well I asked myself, why don't I own v1 Levi? Or Marcus? Or McMourning? Or the Viks?

The answer is simple. I don't like them!

That's right, there are models in v1 I do not like!

So what does that mean for v2?

It means that at the moment there is only Levi I so not like, but come wave 2 we should see Chompy who is my favourite master! And who knows, maybe wave 2 is where I get the V2 bug!

Will I love the core rules? Unlikely, but as long as the models look beautiful, who cares?

This is why I was so upset before over Levi you see. I don't own his v1 models because I'm not a fan if them, and for me the models (and painting them) is MORE important than any other part of the game, so without those models I want to get, there is no game for me.

But if I don't like all the v1 crews, then why should I expect myself to like all the v2s?

On that note, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Thank you sir, may I have another (kick in the teeth)? - Imagined Slights

Good Wednesday everyone,

As I start writing this I am sat in my dentist's waiting room awaiting having a massive filling, but despite the up coming needle, the drill and the filling, none of that is on my mind, instead it is the general feeling of malaise (I think that's the right word) to how things are progressing with Malifaux v2, Wyrd and GenCon.

Now before I start with my apparent 'bitching' and 'moaning' I need to make it clear, I fully understand that if I declare any personal vendetta that Wyrd may have against me, or some random conspiracy then this is nothing more than a paranoid rambling.

So it came to light in a tweet from Eric last night: https://twitter.com/ericjgames/status/359796575746273280 in this tweet Eric confirms that the Leviticus crew is not yet ready and as such will not be appearing at GenCon.

I assume by this he is referring to the sculpts, either they were low priority or what they have seen has not passed quality control and so won't be 'good enough' to be sold at GenCon.

Being objective, this is a good thing. Last year when I bought my Dark Debts crew, I was left feeling quite underwhelmed by the end result, if this is a problem with the sculpts (which I presume it is) then it is better for them to be held back rather than released at a sub par quality.

But as everyone knows, I am not an objective person. So this is not how I feel.

No, instead I think back to the entire Malifaux v2 process, my involvement within the closed beta and how at virtually every single stage of this game's development I have been left feeling disappointed.

And for me that's one of the main issues. Real life is full of disappointment; not getting the promotion you were after, not passing your exams, pretty much 90% of things not matching up to your expectations, disappointment is everywhere!

And isn't that why we have our hobbies? We read our books, we listen to music, watch films, play video games and wargames to escape reality and for at least a while leave the reoccurring disappointment of real life behind. For a couple of hours you can be Judge Dredd, a USCM Marine, an all powerful sorcerer and forget about your day job serving food, or data processing.

There are occasions when you can bring others, friends, partners, wives and girlfriends into these fictitious worlds and that makes the experience even better! Euphoric even!

So imagine how it must feel to be where I am today, I tried to enjoy Malifaux v2, I really did. In the end after getting head aches and frustration I gave up, I took the advice of others and left the game alone, promising myself that I would wait until GenCon, and then using my store credit I had built up last year from being a Henchman buy the v2 book and a crew of my choice.

Now don't get me wrong, I know I can still do that, but NONE of the art (outside if Leviticus and his crew) appeals to me. I can go through bits and pieces if you want slowly tearing the selection down, but none of it do I like.

You see before the Closed Beta started I had seen the Raspy art, and I thought this was better than the original crew look, but then that's not hard, I hate the original look, as in I REALY hate the original look.

Then a few other crews were show cased either through Eric's blog, as Henchmen exclusives or in the Closed Beta. I saw almost all and was 'meh' to them all at best. Let's not forget McMourning who I actually dislike to a high level as well.

But then something magical happened, I saw the Leviticus art and I fell in love. I told myself "maybe there is hope for me and this game, because if the crew looks anything like the art, this will look amazing!"

Since then we've had Open Beta and the card art was released (all of which is available in my Dropbox, which includes everything from the last update and card art that has since been taken out of circulation - and yes it was put up there before Nix's) :D

I looked at this art, saw Nicodem looking - well, like Nicodem, Ramos looking like Ramos and Seamus looking like a pedophile ( sans moustache) and thought "we'll at least I still have Leviticus to look forward to".

Then I get this news.

Yeah I know, I can wait until after GenCon and pick it all up later, hell I can still use more store credit and make the same purchase as before only without the exclusive Miss model (and considering I don't play Arcanists I'm not so fussed on that) or I could instead spend my credit on other things, but remember I'm still not sold on v2 and with that'll mind I'd rather not 'waste' my money, which buying a tonne of other stuff at GenCon just 'because' would be.

So what does that mean for me?

Ultimately it means, if I want to make the sensible choice, and wait until Leviticus is available on general release and buy him, his crew & extras plus rules, that means that while everyone else is running around with their new books and new crews, I'll be sat with my old books and old models.

Is that of my own choosing? Yes and I acknowledge that, but that doesn't mean it doesn't suck.

It doesn't mean that I don't feel indirectly picked on because I think the rest of the art looks like shit (in my opinion) and stuff that I'd rather use GW or Warmachine models instead of (and I never thought I would say that).

I dunno, I think I've talked myself into a wall here, and I'm sure if you're still reading this you're probably shouting at your screen telling me to grow up or stop acting like a pussy.

But I just have to say one more thing, and that is the final nail in the coffin for me: I have no idea when this crew that I want so badly is going to be released. For all I know Leviticus could become the next Avatar Hoffman, for quality and price reasons I could be waiting two years for this (which would super suck as my store credit only lasts a year) or for all I know it could be out in September.

If I knew then I could wait, I'd have no problem waiting, I just wish I knew "if my friends are running events and talking about new shinies/hotness, how long do I have to wait before I can join in?"

I guess that summarises the whole thing. It feels like there's some sort of exclusive club that everyone else is invited to, but I never got my invite.

I want to say that it's because I'm cutting off my nose to spite my face, but I really don't see how refusing to buy models that I don't like the look of counts as that, or how if I want to get a proper V2 experience it's using the models that were designed for that game.

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Ok I'm done.

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Hobby Sofa: Planning & Prep

Good Tuesday everyone!

Today I would like to let you all know about the (temporary) new home for Hobby Sofa my mini side project.

After much searching I was able to locate a suitable podcast host in the form of Podcast Garden and as such I would like to welcome you all to: Hobby Sofa's new home!




For those who haven't yet listened to Episode 01, now is the chance to do so, especially as thanks to having a dedicated host I am able to bump the quality back up to 64kbps so the audio quality doesn't sound like nails down a blackboard. Yay!

There are drawbacks to this, mainly that it can't host pictures and I don't think it supports HTML, but it's free and unless someone wants to sponsor, I'm not going to be paying out for hosting for this in addition to New Fairbank Radio.

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Speaking of NFR, there is scheduled to be another week long break this week, I'm not feeling all that great, and could do with a bit if a break. Plus spreading it out a bit longer means I can get a better chance at pushing out more CRYPTS content, as we only have about 2, maybe 3 more episodes and then I'll be looking to close of MaliQuest for good and transfer over to CRYPTS!

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Now back to Hobby Sofa.

I'd like to put out two requests for those interested, first if you have any topics you'd like to see tackled in a no-holes-barred discussion, feel free to let me know.

Also, would you like to join Andrey and me on my sofa? If you'd like to feature on the next episode of Hobby Sofa, please drop us a line and let us know!

On that note, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley