Thursday 31 May 2007

Malloc... where the hell have you been?

I have been rather uninspired of late. I could not figure out what it was, but I did not have any desire to get up and post on this blog about how lame BGG has become recently, or how much this or that game rocks or how much I can’t stand reading shitty rules. I have become numb to the whole online game world it seems.

I was sitting here wondering what could be causing this, scratching my ass about it for a few days. (Yeah that where my brain lives) Finally it hit me, I do not have the time to care about this shit right now because I have been, by historic Malloc standards, gaming a whole bunch these days.

You see, I am a married working stiff with 2 kids who plays in a rock band, and usually between making sure my wife isn’t driven bonkers by the children, rehearsals, gigs, and my “real” job, I would get to play games about once every two weeks, or for a few hours on the weekend. This was how it was for a few years, but in April one of the guys in the band (the one whose house we use, and who buys the lion’s share of the gear) started working in Atlanta on a project every week. The band is on hold. (This is ok, I gave up my dreams of being a rock start sometime early during Clinton Administration)

Without rehearsal I was free to become a regular at the local game night, and so I did. I was there every Wednesday, playing things like Titan, Warrior Knights, BattleLore and Friedrich. Having a great time playing games (even when eliminated), drinking some really good beer ( The boys do a good job of keeping a healthy supply) even meeting a few new folks.

In addition to this, I started playing games on the Twilight Imperium Wiki site, this site rocks for those of you without the time to play the game face to face. I even managed to get a few of the F:AT bloggers into a game (more on this later).

Now that I am “getting my game on” with some regularity, I don’t care as much about who thinks what about the games I play. I am far too busy enjoying them, learning the ins and outs of the strategies; talking trash to the guys I am about to smack down and generally having fun. Games that don’t interest me stay on the shelf without me giving it a second thought; the urge to bitch about them is gone. I simply pick up something that looks good, throw it down on the table and start lining up opponents.

So everyone, next time you feel have a burning desire to get online and bitch about a game or come up with asinine guidelines for what makes games acceptable. Stop! Take a deep breath, go to the fridge and fetch a beer, sit down and play a game you know you like. In the end you will be a better person for it, and I won’t have to read as much crap online when I am searching out the latest TI3 FAQ updates.

-M


PS. Frank... its your turn!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

What else am I supposed to do at work? :D

Malloc said...

Well, play online ti3 for starters.

-M

Anonymous said...

I hadn't seen that web interface for pbem, that is great. I know I could never get TI3 played ftf, makes me more likely to pick this up with a robust PBeM

Pat H said...

Do you play over vassal and if so can I play this without any setup other than on the PC? I don't own the game.

If so then I need to try and install without notice.

Anonymous said...

Well, if anybody takes your advice, that's the end of Fortress Ameritrash.

Michael Barnes said...

We're already talking about setting up a sister site called "Fortress: Anonymous" for you guys.

TI3 PBEM- it's a cool implementation but I find it hard to really connect with the game- it's one thing to have ten million cards scattered out on a table where you can see everything and have a high degree of situational awareness, it's another to have page through stuff.

The diplomacy stuff is great- even better than F2F.

Mr Skeletor said...

Turn made.

TI3 is certainly a different experience online - much more forward planing and grand moves, much more diplomacy, but also a lot harder to 'read' the game and play from the gut.
Plus I can't really punch that Hacan motherfucker in the face like I feel like.

Malloc said...

You need the game to play online. There are no cards printed up for the wiki.

-M

Malloc said...

I find online to be a good way to keep sharp with the rules and get a ti3 fix in. Its not the same as f2f, but it can be played over a long time and so finding the 15 min a day to devote to it is pretty easy.

F2F games of this require a whole day of gaming, and if your read the blog you can guess why this doesn't happen often for me.

-M

Anonymous said...

Paths of Glory is the exact same way for me--a completely different game online with way, way fewer strategic mistakes. I would say you get situations far closer to reality from f2f games where mistakes are made and you have to scramble to cover them.

Anonymous said...

Well said, Gary. Though it's anyone's guess why Malloc is choosing to play TI3 via email as opposed to the brilliant PoG, the clever Pax Romana, or the lively Sword of Rome. ;)

Does the online implementation include the fixes from Shattered Empires, at least?

Mr Skeletor said...

Someone kick red phantom in the balls for me.

(The answer to your question is yes, btw.)

Ken B. said...

As soon as I invent the device that lets me kick people in the balls over the internet, I'm going to be a VERY rich man.

Michael Barnes said...

Hey Red- where can I play Sword of Rome PBEM? Vassal?

Malloc said...


Well said, Gary. Though it's anyone's guess why Malloc is choosing to play TI3 via email as opposed to the brilliant PoG, the clever Pax Romana, or the lively Sword of Rome. ;)


The answer is simple. The wiki is so easy to use, accessible from anywhere with just a web browser and a slow computer.

All those other games, I have on vassal. Vassal is good but it makes my machine run like crap, (bad when I am at work) and it tends to be very very buggy. Also save and mail a file play by email is cumbersome.

So I would happily play any of those games is they were as easy to use as the ti3 wiki or dipbounced.

The wiki does have the ti3 patch, in addition to some rethemed versions. Also since it is open you can add anything you like to it. Including themes, house rules, 14 player games etc etc.

-M

Muzza said...

Paths of Glory is the exact same way for me--a completely different game online with way, way fewer strategic mistakes.

I shudder to think of my Paths of Glory efforts as a Face-to-face game if my strategic mistakes increase. It's only 1915 in my first PBEM game and all my Russian peasants are fighting each other to learn the German for "I surrender'.

...and Pax Romana! Pax Romana!! When some bastard gets around to translating the amphibious attack rules into 'sane' I might give it another go.

Muzza said...

...but Malloc to reply to your most laudable of posts. I hear where you are coming from. Just recently I went through a spate of game playage, 2 or more sessions a week. Long sessions. I found it seriously impinged upon my Logging-In-To-BGG-
Or-Ameritrash-And-Bitching-
About-Shit time and so had to call a halt.

Ken B. said...

Long story short--HAVE FUN GAMING. And talk about gaming IF YOU'RE HAVING FUN DOING THAT.


Everything else? Poppycock. Fo' Rizzle.

Anonymous said...

What about the implementations on wargameroom.com for SoR, PoG, etc... Are they any good for live play? I believe that contrary to Vassal, these enforce the rules.

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