WhereinEricdiscussesGames,theGameIndustry,GamerCultureandanythingelsewhichcatcheshiseye.
I'mnotsureifanyoneisstillreading,here-it'sbeenawhilesinceIupdated,andevenlongersinceIupdatedregularly.
Nowtakingbetsonhowlongbeforethephysicalcopiesarereleasedtobackers.
Awhileago,ItalkedbrieflyaboutSynnibarr.Ifoundthegametobenearlyincomprehensible(and,honestly,Istilldo).Ievenusedtheword"bad"todescribeit.
Imean...it'snotlikehisgamecouldgetanycrunchier,right
Realistically,Ididn'texpecttogetanythingfromtheKickstarter.Ihonestlyexpectedtojustbethrowingmymoneyaway.But,atthetime,$80waslaughingfunmoneyforme(ohtobethereagain).AndtherewasalwaysachanceImightgetthegameoutofit.And,ifIdidn't,itwasprobableI'dgetagoodstoryortwooutofit.
Andthen,twoyearspost-funding,IgotsomePDFsfromDTRPG.Thiswas2015,afterjustoverayearofradiosilencefromtheproject.IfiguredthatwasallIwasgoingtogetfromtheproject,and-I'llbehonest-I'vebeentoobusy(yes,forsevenyears)toactuallylookatthePDFs.
Lastmonth,nineyearspost-funding,therewasanupdatelettingusknowthatthegamewasliveonDTRPGandweshoulde-mailthemforfulfillment.
SoIe-mailedthemforfulfillment,thinkingIwasgoingtogetthreeDTRPGcouponcodes.
Ididnot.
Instead,IgottwoPDFsdirectbye-mailandanotethatthethirdwastoolargetoe-mailandtheyweregoingtofigureouthowtogetittobackers.Ie-mailedbackaskingaboutcouponcodes,and...thenextdayIhadacouponcodeforthatthirdbook.
Again:Theyarelisteningandlearningandimproving.
Isay"they,"becauseIdon'tknowhowmanyfolksareinvolvedwiththis.ItmightbejustRaven,chasinghispassion,orhemayhaveateambackinghimup.Noclue.AndIdon'treallyhaveawaytofindout(Imean...IcouldaskRaven,butIkindaliketheambiguitythatcomeswithnotknowing).
Oneofmygoalsfor2022istowrapmyheadaroundenoughofthegamethatIcanrunaone-shotforsomeofmyregulargroup.SothatthumpingyouhearIt'sme,beatingmyheadonawallasItrytounderstandwhatRavenwantsmetodowithhisgame.
Idon'tknowify'allrealizethis,butDungeonTwisterisstill-nearlytwodecadeslater-myfavoritegame.AndIlovetoplayit.Justloveit.
Afewweeksback,Ispentsometimeplayingrulessupportforanewplayer-therearenewplayersforDungeonTwister!
Then,aweekortwolater,Igotane-mailout-of-the-bluefromsomeoneI'dbeene-mailingback-and-forthwithwhenPrisonhadjustdropped.He'sintroducedhissontothegame-anothernewplayer!
I'mnotgoingtoscreamthatthecommunityisgrowing-butIdon'tthinkit'sshrinkingasmuchasI'dthoughtitwas.
I'malsoreallylovingthegameplayonBGA.I'mseeingnewtacticsinplay,andwatchingnewplayersgrowanddevelop.I'mstillamediocreplayer,butthat'sokay.Ihonestlydon'tmindlosinggames.
Thereareoccasionalbugs,butI'vealsolearnedafewthings.Like,forexample,I'dhadacoupleofdetailsabouttheAnti-Magicroomdeadwrong(fornearly20years,I'dthoughtonlythespacesnexttotheArtifactinthemiddlewereanti-magic,forexample).
Eitherway,I'mstillhereandstillchuggingaway.Ihopeyouandyoursarestilldoingwell.
Inearly2020,weputin-personGameNightonhold.Thestatehadbannedin-persongatherings,and,realistically,itwasn'tsafe.Iwasstilldealingwiththegeneralpublicandgoingintoworkeveryday,andseveralregularattendeeswereeitherimmunocompromisedorwereonestepremovedfromfolkswhowere.Ihad(andstillhave)zerointerestinmyweeklygamegatheringbeingresponsibleforillnessordeath.
Wehadacoupleofsparsely-attendedin-persongamenightsinAugustof2021,whenourcrewwasvaccinatedandthegovernorloosenedrestrictionsongatherings.AndthennumberswentupagainandweputGameNightbackonhold.
OurlocalmaskmandatewasliftedinMarch.Atthetime,Iexpectednumberstoskyrocketupwardsagain-liketheyhaveeverytimerestrictionswereloosened.SoItoldthecrew,"We'llgiveitsometimetoseewhathappens."Becausethere'snopointinlaunchinggamingifwe'rejustgoingtoturnrightaroundandcancelagaintwoweekslater.
Butit'sbeenamonth,andthenumbershaven'tgonenuts.They'reup,yes,butnotrocketingup.Andthecoregroupisfullyvaccinated.
SoI'msteelingmyselftogetthingsrollingagain.And...it'sscary.
We'restartingoverfromnear-zero.Andwemayneedtostopagainifthingsgetbadagain.
Butwe'regonnatry.
Ihavea...complicated...historywithGW.They,fortheirpart,havevacillatedbetweenrabidlyanti-fanmovesandactivelysupportingfansites,dependingonwhowasinchargeatanygiventime.Rightnow,they'restartingtoswingbacktobeinganti-fan.
ButBloodBowlhasalwaysbeenThatGameforme.Priortoit,I'dneverplayedaboardgamethathadanadvancementmechanism-that'dbeensomethingI'dconsideredadividinglinebetweenRPGsandBoardGames.I'dalsoneverenjoyedasports-themedgame-I'dtriedafew,buttheywerealwayseitheroddlyclunkyorsuper-dry.Orboth.
Aweekago,Ispentmyweekendassemblingfigures.For3rdEdition,theBloodBowlfigureswereprettymuchalltwo-piecesingle-poseorone-piecemetalfigures(otherthansomeBigGuysandStarPlayers).Whentheyre-releasedthegamein2016,theyupgradedthefigurestothecurrentGWstandard,whichis...amixedblessing.
With3e(whichwas1994allthewayupuntilthe2016release),Icouldbuyaboxandpress-fittheOrcandHumanplayers.IwasreadytoplayinlessthananhourfromthetimeIopenedthebox.
WiththeSecondSeasonEdition,Ispenthoursassemblingfigures.AndtheinstructionsinacoupleofcasesweresobadthatIhadtokeepgoingtotheirwebsitetoseewhatthefinishedproductwaslike.Itwasacontinualexerciseinfrustration.
Andthat'sbad.BloodBowlhadbeenanexcellentgatewaygameforbuddingminiaturesgamehobbyists.Theirsimplefiguresmeantthatrookieswhopaintedthemoftengotdecentresults(butexperiencedhobbyistscouldstillgetspectacularresults).
Everyteamissimilarlychanged.And,whiletheylooknice,they'renotagoodentrypointintotheminiaturepaintinghobbyliketheyusedtobe.Theassemblyisfrustrating,andthepaintingis-frankly-intimidating.
Withallofthatsaid,however,I'vegotateamofsnotlingsontheirwaytome.BecauseoneofmyfirstmemoriesofthegamewasJeffshowingmeasnotling,andexpressingdismaythattheywerenotplayableinthe(then-new)3rdEdition.
Whentheygethere,I'llbepaintingtheminSeahawkscolors.ClassicSeahawkscolors,notthecurrentones.BecauseJefflovedtheHawks.
Ifthingseveropenbackupagain,Imaylookintojoining(orhosting)aleagueagain,too.
Wesuccessfullyplayedsomegameslastweek.Itwasn'talargecrowd,andthegamesweren'tnew.Butitwasadefiniteturningpointforme.
Wewrappedabitbeforeten.Iwasexhausted-I'moutofpracticeatdealingwithpeopleinperson,andevenwhenI'musedtopeople,Istillfindthemtiringatbest.