The only Arch Enemies List that Matters.
This one goes out to my biggest fan...
Mr Skeletor's Arch Enemies List for April 2006
1) He-man
2) Billy the Peglegg boy
3) Doug Adams
4) Lord Euro De Snootius
5) Nate Merchant
There, that's my ego stroke for the month.
A lot of useless waffle has been written (much of it by myself) about the whole AT vs Euro 'debate' at BGG and what it's all meant to be about, so I won't bore you with any more of it - but pretend I did so as I can justify this post to the rest of the crew as genu-ine gamer content. Really I was just sick of seeing the WOTR balance article on the front page and wanted to knock it over like a cheap scotch.
Meanwhile feel free to use the comments section here to say what you like, don't like, and would like to see in the future on this site. A feedback section really.
Or you can just use it to hurl shit at Michael Barnes because he can't post on BGG anymore. I hear if you are really good at it you may elicit a personalised insult from the great deity himself!
42 comments:
I'd like to see less antagonism towards Euros and more stories about how good Ameritrash is. No arch-enemy bullshit, no whining about how Barnes is a martyr, just stories about games. Forget that there ever was an AT-Euro debate, just get on with discussing the games you like.
I agree with the above. We want more about the games. And I think Fortress Ameritrash should turn into a website instead of a blog. American games are, among other things, about beautiful graphics and bits. I think the blog formula is a bit poor, and it sure leaves to be desired. Make something great, beautiful, with useful infos, nice presentation, complete articles... Not just "this is how I feel about "this" or "that" today"... Maybe an ameritrash game database ?
You can do it and you should do it ! ;)
I just found this blog (found = saw that dumb thread on BGG), but I'm expecting nothing but vitriol and anger, especially towards Euros.
One more thing, I was taking a BGG break when Barnes got banned. Is it true that Barnes tied Thornquist up, kicked him down a flight of stairs, and sent the body to Aldie?
Bagpipe Dan--that's not what you'll find here. Some of us are better at kicking the old Euros, but we've done reviews, humor pieces, and speculation on gaming topics.
Robartin has an actual website in the works--that's why our content has slowed a little. I look forward to having a better format for our readers to enjoy.
Thanks for checking us out!
I also agree with the above. I really don't care about the AT-Euro debate. I like Euros. I like AT.
I understand that you guys had a fight, but no one (outside of a few people) knows 100% what was fully said by all sides. Watching you guys (and I mean both sides) fight is just 'dead air' to the rest of us.
Some sort of AT web site sounds like the best place to start, but I don't know if the scope of that subject is enough to carry you long term.
I think I would start small. manolito has good ideas. A 'ameritrash game database' and 'complete' articles might be a start and then you can go from there.
This blog is great - looking forward to the website!!!
I like the attitude FAT brings to the table - in your face, non-apologetic, hard hitting stories and reviews.
Every other site on the 'net are sooo vanilla, plain jane, "let's all be friends" attitude.
Fuck that.
I like a rough and tumble blog, where I can post and rant with impunity (well maybe not that much) all the while slamming beer and tequila.
Keep up the great work and content!
I don't understand. What's the difference between the so-called "antagonism towards Euros" on F:AT and the criticism of Ameritrash on the game blog below?
http://sologamer.blogspot.com/2007/03/trashing-ameritrash.html
Less paranoid self-defensiveness. More naked Klingon chicks. Also, I'd like to see an investigative report: "Can Mr. T beat Captain Planet?"
I think you are giving He-Man and Nate Merchant too much power.
Wait...have you guys ever seen Nate and He-Man in the same place?
And anyone ever notice Nate's penchant for wearing purple velvet vests?
OMG...NATE MERCHANT IS BRUCE WAYNE~!
I think you are giving He-Man and Nate Merchant too much power.
Well one of them has the power.
Meanwhile Captain Planet will tell you the power is yours. That's why Clubber Lang would kick has arse any day of the week.
Friendless, you're ruining all my fun =(
Bagpipe Dan, no one has seen Thornquist in quite a while. And you'll stop snooping around and asking questions about it if you know what's good for you!
As far as the requests for an ameritrash 'game database' goes - dream on boys! Unless one of you volunteer to kidnap Aldie for us you have more chance of seeing my naked ass on Seaseme Street then getting anything anywhere near as cool as that.
you have more chance of seeing my naked ass on Seaseme Street then getting anything anywhere near as cool as that.
I may stick around after all, but understand that PROMISES WERE MADE
I dont think an ameritrash database is needed, if I need info on a game I'll just look it up on BGG. I come hear for opinions, reviews, etc. Especially reviews that are harsh and hold games to a high standard; I dont like the consumerist/collector-ist nature of BGG, where people buy more games than actually play them.
A forum would be great but I assume you're working on that.
I like the antagonism it keeps things interesting...I love threads that are long bitter debates bordering on flamewars. Ive never taken any "boardgame argument" serious anyway.
I'm looking forward to a site about boardgames generally, that focuses on ameritrash. A site that is freindly but uncensored, and unafraid to call someone out on something stupid. Or tell me that a new game is really shitty, or that an old game is really good.
I like the fact right now that the site is relatively small, in BGG you get lost amongst the huge crowd and have a hard time remembering who anyone is.
I'm sorry...what was your name again?
Pictures, please. Lots more pretty pictures. Something to break up the text a bit.
I never learned to read.
I like the attitude FAT brings to the table - in your face, non-apologetic, hard hitting stories and reviews. Every other site on the 'net are sooo vanilla, plain jane, "let's all be friends" attitude. Fuck that.
Fuck that indeed, Brumeister, fuck that indeed.
The thing is that the whole "let's be friends" thing is bullshit- all you've got to do is say "I think Tom Vasel's reviews are lame" and the next thing you know you're considering a raving lunatic. Seeing how people have reacted since "the ban", all these people who NEVER ONCE participated in any forum I was involved with come out to call me names, bitch about things I said, or whatever really demonstrates that beneath the facade of "let's all be friends" is a nasty, hypocritical sense of cliquishness- the online boardgaming community isn't nearly as welcoming and inviting as they want to make it seem. Try masquerading as a newbie and post how much you love classic Parker Brothers games- you'll get 100 people basically trying to tell you how wrong you are. The difference with me, personally, is I tell you you're wrong I'm trying to get you to defend yourself and create a dialouge- not to change your mind.
There's a song by Boyd Rice that makes me think of what happened at BGG...the chorus:
"I'd rather be your enemy than hear you call me friend".
And BTW- Lord Euro De Snoot can go fuck himself with that cane he carries...hope he doesn't get any blood on those spats.
One more thing- even though Nate Merchant hates my guts, I love how NASTY he is...he's much more offensive than I could ever hope to be. And his BGG ID backwards spells SUTAN, which is alarmingly close to both Sudan and and Satan. You finish that rebus.
"Try masquerading as a newbie and post how much you love classic Parker Brothers games- you'll get 100 people basically trying to tell you how wrong you are."
A site that has tens of thousands of registered users also has 100 maladjusted assholes. So what? You make it sound as though all the people on BGG share one personality between them. That's a rather broad brush you've got there.
No more broad than the one that paints the AT "movement" as a hive-minded automaton...
'No more broad than the one that paints the AT "movement" as a hive-minded automaton...'
I agree, except that
1. I don't see that as a refutation of what I just said
2. some notable ATers themselves made (humorously intended) public proclamations about their being a "movement," a "revolution," and a warring faction
True.
I've gained some wisdom in the past few months as to the nature of the vocal minority--on both sides.
However, in one case, the vocal minority gets to run roughshod and do what they please. The other vocal minority is chastised and one of their members banned.
That was really the complaint--the hypocritical nature of the whole thing.
You make it sound as though all the people on BGG share one personality between them. That's a rather broad brush you've got there.
Watch BGG carefully...if one person posts an opinion in specifically stated terms, it trickles down through many other users.
Example. When Thornquist left, someone made an allusion that it was like he "took his ball and went home"....the next thing you know, 20 other people use that exact metaphor. Likewise, with the AT thing. Folks who had NEVER been seen participating in ANY AT-related thread suddenly turned up and parroted back a lot of erroneous crap that other users had erroneously crapped about. Or look at any popular game- the opinions, with notable exceptions, tend to fall along certain lines amongs the BGG rank-and-file. And yes, a lot of times there is a "dittohead" mentality. That even happened with some of the stuff I wrote. And I even wrote once that if I heard someone sycophantically repeating something I said, I'd slit their throat with a rusty straightrazor. Or something to that effect.
And yes, some people took that seriously.
Ditto what Michael just said. Well spoken, man. Well spoken. Right on!
Mr. Bradford,
I'm genuinely sorry to disagree with you, but if all you've learned is that we ATers were disenfranchised and persecuted, you haven't learned much from the whole debacle. That's what people here are telling you: drop the whole "we wuz robbed!" theme and concentrate on your excellent writing (which I see you are doing).
There is no other enemy vocal minority on BGG and I'm sorry you see it that way. There are just the usual assholes and pricks, and we have some here, too. VERY few BGGers were glad that Mr. Barnes left, and most distressed that it came to that. Look, I took Mr. Skeletor's post in fun, but please don't keep re-lighting the fire. It almost makes you sound like you yearn for BGG when you've got this excellent blog.
On the contrary--I continue to use and enjoy BGG, posting there, completing trades, using it to its full potential.
But I keep the AT stuff here, because it's fun.
If you honestly don't believe there is a vocal minority of "haters", so to speak, you just haven't been paying attention.
Here, I dug up a random comment from a list that I'd saved evidencing this attitude. It was in regards to Memoir '44:
"Bah! Sink away, foul Sub-Risk."
It had dice. It was random. It should be lumped in with Risk to perish and die.
But anyway...we're way off the beaten path at this point. Nate Merchant is He-Man, and Clearclaw is Battlecat. Ride on, you Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.
Yeah, some people lack any talent for independent thought. Other folks on BGG are genuinely creative, and their friendliness is sincere, not nasty or hypocritical.
It's my opinion that Puerto Rico is a dull, unattractive, and ultimately pointless game. I think it's clear that there are hordes of folks that celebrate the game because BGG has unintentionally instructed them to do so. By holding it up as a paragon of game design, BGG has informed many gamers' aesthetics, so that even horrible games with a passing resemblance to PR are welcomed with hosannas (e.g. Caylus). I don't see this as such a bad thing, though. Who cares what they think? Given the rapid growth of BGG, it's inevitable that the vast majority of its users will be new, and won't have been around long enough to have cultivated sophisticated opinions about anything.
I guess you see malice where I just see a bunch of dumbass internet people who don't know what they're talking about. They'll get smarter, if they stick around.
Very clever, theranko :-). You'll notice in that article that I was explaining why I don't like some Ameritrash games, but that I do like some others. I didn't ridicule any. You might also notice that the latest article on my blog is a session report of the Ameritrash I played last night. Even a Eurosnoot like me hopes to read something useful on Fortress: Ameritrash.
I think it's clear that there are hordes of folks that celebrate the game because BGG has unintentionally instructed them to do so
This is completely untrue. Frank Branham told me to like it....and I did. He is never wrong.
If your statement WAS true...then why isn't my Navia Dratp propaganda working?
If you see a lot of dumb asses on the "internet" (which I hear is on the "computer" now) why waste your time on BGG if we are all just sheeple? Nothing there can be trusted, if we go by your statement.
I'm a Puerto Rico fan, and I'm bringin' more with me to infect this blog! Every single "dumb ass" one of 'em.
"why waste your time on BGG if we are all just sheeple? Nothing there can be trusted, if we go by your statement."
Oops. You're proving Michael's thesis.
Forget that I said anything.
I can only assume that Mr. Bradford was joking when he resurrected that hilarious (and wrongheaded) line about Memoir '44. It is an immensely popular game and is so good that it cannot be categorized as either wargame or AT. Risk and it's various cousins are still popular (and beloved by me, if no one else). Is that all you've got, some funnyman hating a fantastic game that isn't even strictly AT?
For the record, I adore Puerto Rico and I abhor Caylus. Oh, noes! What kind of gamer am I?
Look, I took Mr. Skeletor's post in fun, but please don't keep re-lighting the fire.
This post was only meant as a bit of fun, people started up about this place over at BGG so I thought I'd bring it over here.
I didn't give it a proper post because frankly I'm well over the whole situation. The banning and the 'ameritrash' term debate have gone around the merry-go-round one too many times for me, and I'm way bored of them. Others seem to love posting about them still so good luck to you.
I'm also finding this whole 'intentional bias' claims at the geek hard to swallow. I do believe that there was an unintentional bias against AT a while ago, but I don't believe this bullshit that there is a big anti AT movement over there. Memoir is highly ranked so I don't see how Ken can claim one quote from it proves anything. Besides, if there is one game more overrated there than Caylus it's got to be Battlelore.
I have mentioned that the bias has subsided, and that the pendulum may have swung too far in the opposite direction.
That quote was an old one, for sure.
Clearclaw as Battlecat? That means he's Cringer until he's riled up by the Power of Grayskull, right? Nah... He reminds me of the old Battlestar Galactica's Baltar. Not the new, Christlike/causing the end of humanity/gettin' laid Baltar mind you.
This is completely untrue. Frank Branham told me to like it....and I did. He is never wrong.
Listen Jeremy...Frank Branham is often wrong...I know, I know...you don't want to believe it. I have been in the Crypt of Games. I have seen with mine own eyes the madness that lurks at the heart of Branham Manor...but I'll never forgive him for cajoling me into playing TEMPUS...
Re Michael Barnes comment on BGGers "parroted back a lot of erroneous crap": that's the second reason I was vocal about the ban, the keep-repeating-until-it-becomes-true mentality. Chinese whispers on a grand scale.
And the friendless comment that " Barnes is a martyr" prompts a couple of thoughts. Firstly, that I was amused to be told off (in a very polite way) for referring to the ban as a witch hunt. Secondly, should we be calling him Saint Michael then?
"Bastard" will suffice nicely.
Okay, Saint Bastard it is then!
I've just been reading the Gamer_Dog post, apparently your mark was everywhere. Next it'll be the Satanic Barnes. Oh, and it's being called the Barnes Era so maybe they'll start a new calendar.
Words fail me...
GOOD GAWD A MIGHTY, THE BARNES ERA HAS BEGUN~!
Guys, please do me a favor and email me when my era begins! I didn't even realize it until I read this post...it's like being banned all over again.
"I've just been reading the Gamer_Dog post, apparently your mark was everywhere. Next it'll be the Satanic Barnes. Oh, and it's being called the Barnes Era so maybe they'll start a new calendar.
Words fail me..."
Agreed. The Gamer_Dog post was nothing than a nobody trying to be like the "cool kids" by bashing Barnes. Only, the only thing he got for his efforts was a lot of verbal bukkake of "who are you and why should we care what YOU think?"
Words don't fail me, I just choose not to waste them on people who have the intelligence of a ripe grapefruit...
Excellent place you have here, or echo chamber as Nate Merchant would call it; keep up the good work.
Rliyen
I can't beliueve I missed the Gamer_Dog thread brfore it got locked! =(
Did you just say that if I heard someone sycophantically repeating something I said, I'd slit their throat with a rusty straightrazor. Or something to that effect?
Akk...Gurgle.urg.
I want to see Euros played as if they were Ameritrash. Kinda like the way my group plays Knizia's Lord of the Rings--I swear on my eyes that Tolkien's corpse shits a weasel every time we take the box down off the shelf...
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