Tuesday 23 October 2007

Human Sacrifice, Dogs and Cats Living Together, Mass Hysteria




In case you haven't heard, yes, it's true--Fortress: Ameritrash's own Mr. Skeletor is currently Boardgamegeek's resident "Geek of the Week".

You can see the thread here:


Mr. Skeletor's GOTW Thread



Here's a rare opportunity to find out everything you've ever wanted to learn about Mr. Skeletor--such as his favorite games (hint: some were published by Fantasy Flight Games) and also his favorite Golden Girl (hint: it's the slutty one.)

44 comments:

the*mad*gamer said...

Congratulations to Mr. Skeletor for being Geek of the Week.

You know Mr. Skeletor and I have not always seen eye to eye but I do admire his ability to get straight to the point.

When Barnes was in some pissing contest talking about music and obscure bands, Mr. Skeletor had one of the best lines of all time.

"I have never heard of any of these bands but I am sure they are all crap"

Also, one has to admire the courage of Mr. Skeletor. Who but him would have the courage to put pictures of his action figure collection on the internet? Doing so almost guarantees no dating for at least one year, I could not do this.

Mr. Skeletor is amoung an elite corp. He has been suspended from BGG. Of course, he went crawling back with his tail tucked between his legs but at least he had the strength to stay off the website for a short time.

Of course, the hallmark of Mr. Skeletor's career was his avatar in which he was making love to a statue.

After putting his action figure collection pictures on the internet , that is all the action he is gonna see for a Loooooong time!

Michael Barnes said...

Mr. Skeletor is a fucking asshole, but that's why I like him. I like people who talk straight and give it to you without a bunch of guff. You always know exactly where he stands on any given matter and even if you don't agree with him, at least he's honest and gets right to the point. I think that's a very admirable trait during a time where we have jerkoffs both on board game sites and in the larger world that will say something then immediately retract it, respin it, or say shit like "I misspoke".

Frank was one of the first voices in those pre-War years over at BGG that I took notice of, and it was mostly due to the fact that he was pretty much the only regular poster that wasn't either a)parroting back something Tom Vasel, Rick Thornquist, or Greg Schloesser said or b) trying to be oh-so-arch and clever in that classic BGG passive/aggressive style.

He has a unique voice in the world of online discourse and I completely admire his total disregard for feelings, sensibilities, and polite decorum. Moreso, I admire his scathing wit, intelligence,and total honesty.

So cheers to Frank for this dubious and pretty much useless honour...I know he sure as hell didn't win it for his TI:3 prowess. How many turns did it take him to go down in that last F:AT online game? Two?

Anonymous said...

My eyes bugged out at the sight...

"Geek of the Week #111: Frank La Terra (Mr. Skeletor)"

Seriously, I ran around the FFG offices and told people to check it out. Yikes.

Unknown said...

If you look up "Class" in the dictionary you will see a picture of Ken B.

A belated congratulations to Ken B. GOTW #110.

Thaadd said...

Mad Gamer..as an aside, some geek girls dig toys being show off. I have my boardgames out on a shelf in the living room. *(no where near as cool a collection or display case as the rest of you kids, however). 433 and his girl between them have a huge collection of action figures, legos, etc in their house. (Making him the coolest uncle ever, as well) Just depends on what sort of girls you expect to attract!

With a stack of big big board games out in plain view, it was very amusing to watch my new roommate try to explain to her mother what they were.

I now have das uber table to play them on.... just need CHAIRS. :P I have 9 feet of table with leaves in, and a single metal folding chair. Ah, priorities... Might throw a 'Bring Your Own Chair (BYOC?) boardgame party when I get back from my trip.

Anonymous said...

You know, that probably explains why the Bengals won on Sunday; Hell must have been a bit chilly.

I think the guess that the thread will get locked on Tuesday is starting to not look so good right now; it's Wednesday in Australia presently.

--Mike L.

hacksword said...

These last two Gamer of the Week threads are a great antidote to all the Essen crap cluttering up the site. I hope the trend continues!

Anonymous said...

Thadd:

I'm pretty sure geeks (of both sexes) are much more interested in displays of their particular flavor of geekdom. Sandi claims so thoroughly that she is not really a geek.

But I have heard her use the phrase "waiting until my sewing machine boots up" in mixed company.

MWChapel said...

Sell out.

Michael Barnes said...

Yup. Won't be long before he cuts a record with Aldie.

Mr Skeletor said...

Ken B is certainly all top shelf class.

And to answer Barnes' question I was fucked the minute that "You cannot buy tech" card was played on me the turn I worked so hard to get the technology strategy card! Who wrote that shit.

Mr Skeletor said...

In order to celebrate my ascension into Geek of the Week here is a Who Am I:

I have a Bachelor of Applied Brownnoseing from Harvard university (5 points)
-------------
I have a poster of Mark E Smith on the roof of my bedroom right over my bed surrounded by lovehearts
(4 points)
--------------
I pretend there is a chick in a bikini mixing my sounds while I sit alone in my basement making podcasts.
(3 points)
--------------
After I was banned I spent my time writing and recording songs proclaiming how wonderful Derk was and how "he ain't no jerk!"
(2 points)
---------------
I am Steve ___________
(1 point)

Jur said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jur said...

So, Hacksword, you think the fact that Neuroshima Hex, Starcraft and Tannhäuser were doing well at Essen isn't an interesting development?

And you are not surprised that the guys of Portal games put up Barnes' name and praise to sell their game?

StephenAvery said...

Would you all please stop sucking up to Ken- he isn't going to send you *free stuff*

Sucking up to Skeletor on the other hand is a much better idea. He'll send you a random action figure if you just pay the $49.95 it takes to ship it from Australia

I'm really surprised that tannhauser did well in Essen. Are you sure about that? It is as far from a Euro as you can get.

Steve"Insertmonikerhere"Avery

Steve

Muzza said...

They would be cheaper to ship to Sydney, but me, I just don't get it. I thought MotU was crap in the eighties and the opinion hasn't changed none. But I admire the cajones needed to display the stuff online.

Tanhauser has that 'scary German' thing going, maybe they like the idea of reinventing the nazi stormtrooper as a kind of ubergoth/scifi antihero. The real reason is probably because it looks so cool. It has that 'let me play with that stuff' look that will garner points even before people realise it uses [gasp!] dice or similar.

Murray "don'tinsertmonikabeforegivingheragoodcleanhere" Grelis

Michael Barnes said...

J De- do you have pictorial confirmation of that Neuroshima Hex thing? It's really funny that they put Schloesser's comment up there...I indirectly sold him his copy.

I think Essen was an almost complete embarassment in terms of Eurogames...there wasn't a single game that I think looks interesting other than that Midgard game from the RETURN OF THE HEROES designer, and it's packed with German text. I mean, CUBA, KINGSBURG, HAMBURGEN...you'd think these people haven't seen the writing on the wall. There's a reason TANNHAUSER, STARCRAFT, and NEUROSHIMA HEX did well and recieved good notices- because they have broader appeal and people _are_ getting tired of the same Euro tropes over and over again.

Don't get me started on ANTLER ISLAND...you can buy little cutesy figures like that at any Hallmark store. You ain't gotta go to Essen for 'em.

Ken B. said...

Can I just go on record and say that "Hamburgen" sounds absolutely fucking delicious?

Mr Zir said...

I am not surprised that Neuroshima Hex, Starcraft and Neuroshima Hex, Tannhäuser were doing well at Essen. None of the three appealed to me very much initially, especially Tannhäuser, and the vast majority of stuff that is fawned over at Essen I couldn't care less about.

Neuroshima Hex looks like an intersting game, one that I would like to try. But, as a late arrival to the modern gaming scene, all the classics that I have missed are a bigger priority right now. It doesn't have the same awesome appeal as Space Hulk or DungeonQuest.

I was going to pass on Starcraft when I found out there were no dice. Then I read MrSkeletor's all kinds of awesome review and put it at the top of my wishlist.

Tannhäuser just never appealed to me thematically, not that I would turn down a game. I like my WWII, I like my fantasy, but nair shall the twain meet. Just my opinion. The system sounds good, and I hope that they use it with a different theme someday.

Jur said...

Michael, I'm sorry but I didn't have a camera with me. Maybe someone else took a picture.

Indeed the new Eurogames were a bit stale for me this year. I haven't played Agricola, but Amytis was a disappointment, Cuba is a better game than Puerto Rico but no development mechanism-wise.

The great exception was Tribune, which was fast and fun. With lots of different mechanisms (turn order, bidding, gambling, exchanging) combining towards different victory conditions. It has assassins and lots of direct and indirect conflict.

But there were a lot of new(ish) AT games: Dust, Tannhäuser, Starcraft at FFG (all busy tables). Neuroshima (which creeps up in most Essen lists on BGG), Duel in the Dark, Talisman and Battue (by Nexus).

Queen Games even has Eketorp out, a game about viking sieges with lots of direct conflict.

I was disappointed that Phalanx hasn't offered much in AT this year. And Age of Conan and Battles of Napoleon from Nexus have been delayed.

Even if it dóesn't show up too clearly on BGG, AT is more happening than Euro at the moment. Of course by adopting some of the interesting mechanisms, but so much the better.

Jur said...

ps I bought Liebe & Intrige, because I like the theme (marrying off your daughter in the Jane Austen Age), but most of all the in-your-face pink box in the shape of a book. The only reason you could argue that it's not AT is because it doesn't have nukes.

Anonymous said...

I'm really excited about that Liebe & Intrige too, the theme isn't the top one I would think of for a game, but as it was invented in a pub, it's bound to have SOMETHING going for it.

Michael Barnes said...

J De- write up an Essen report and we'll post here for you. Seriously. It'll be cool to have an F:AT counterpoint to the others out there.

Mr. Zir- you make a great point that a lot of new gamers miss- there's TONS of great games already available (or out of print) and the priority _should_ be to go back and get that sense of history and development by playing these older titles. Most new gamers wind up buying piles of disposable fad games that are less than 5-6 years old when they could have invested that money in a couple of classics.

Anonymous said...

It's sad to see that BBG has declined so much that it would let a disruptive, rude assclown like Mr. Skeletor be Geek of the Week. The honor is now tarnished.

Michael Barnes said...

Strangely enough, I find the Jane Austen theme more interesting than pretty much anything with a European city name for a title...

Anonymous said...

Barnes:

There were some decent Eurogames. Agricola is a purely noncompetitional farming game. The big draw is a 300 unique card technology deck. Each game uses..14 cards, meaning each game could be very, very different.

I'll have Galaxy Trucker on me Thursday. Again missing direct confrontation, but it has a kind of Firefly thing going for it with a speed-puzzle ship building prelude. And funny rules that promote the idea of hitting slow players on the head with the game box.

Michael Barnes said...

Yeah, you bring 'em and I'll play 'em...AGRICOLA loses on the farming theme, but I really like BOHNANZA so who knows. GALAXY TRUCKER I've heard compared to FACTORY FUN (was that Siggins?) which is a bad, bad sign. I am kinda interested in EKETORP. CIRCLE sounded kind of cool and has a neat theme but I need more information on it. COP AND KILLER looked a lot more interesting when I thought it was called COP KILLER.

Right now, my gaming lust is pretty much directed at STARCRAFT and 1960...and dusting off CIVILIZATION...

Jur said...

I could do a Essen report, but it wouldn't be all AT.

On the other hand, the ideas for games we had were pretty much AT, but some might even be considered bad taste in the Fortress...

I'll see

Thaadd said...

I am looking forward to trying Galaxy Trucker. I'm a sucker for space themed stuff, and it sounds unique.

I've only played half a game of Tribune, too. I was SURE I had Christoph beat at GenCon, but then break was over, and I had to go back to my station... Was getting teasing for putting little figures in the chariot cart and making it race around the board. Tired? Me...no....

Anonymous said...

Eketorp isn't what you think it is. I think I've still got of a copy of the old db Spiele handmade edition. It is pretty tedious. It does have some Wallenstein-like accidental violence, though. Much, much lighter.

I do really want to play Tribune. Karl Heinz Schmiel is one of those Eurogames authors whose designs are all over the map. His first game was a wargame, and he has some dexterity games, as well as the amazing Die Macher thing.

His name also turns up on a game called Dodge City, which has a lot of RPG-light elements centered around some poker dice.

Michael Barnes said...

TRIBUNE might be alright, I'll have to check it out a little more closely.

Gee Frank, I'm surprised you're not trumpeting that DIA DE LOS MUERTOS game somebody put out over there...

Rliyen said...

These last two Gamer of the Week threads are a great antidote to all the Essen crap cluttering up the site. I hope the trend continues!

Amen to that, my brotha.

Mr Skeletor said...

I'm really excited about that Liebe & Intrige too, the theme isn't the top one I would think of for a game, but as it was invented in a pub, it's bound to have SOMETHING going for it.

I invented a game in a pub too, it's called "Yellow Cake hokey". Unfortunately only guys can play it.

hacksword said...

j de:So, Hacksword, you think the fact that Neuroshima Hex, Starcraft and Tannhäuser were doing well at Essen isn't an interesting development?

Sure, that's kind of interesting, but how do you find that information among all the OMG LOOK WAHT i BOUTHG AT TEH ESSEN!!!! lists and threads? I'd read a thread called "A wargamer's view of Essen", but when all the threads seem to be about the same thing, I don't want to read any of them.

Michael Barnes said...

Yeah, those "LOOK WHAT I BOUGHT AT ESSEN 07" Threads are pretty much useless as far as I'm concerned...it's just a bunch of cock-waggling showboating as far as I'm concerned. I am interested in seeing what's released, what's getting attention, and what the trends are but like I fucking care what "Spielzone3434" brings back in his extra suitcase.

A "Wargamer's view of Essen" would pretty much be a lonely fat guy sitting at a table with a copy of NAPOLEON'S TRIUMPH set up, waiting for someone to stop by and play when the CUBA tables are filled up.

You know, I wonder if you talk to the dealers there if they have a secret stash of games like AXIS & ALLIES or ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ tucked under the table- with the swastikas on 'em...

Mr Skeletor said...

I don't have a problem with the "what I brought at essen" lists - not every post has to be informative. Sometimes I like to look at what people are buying.

Michael Barnes said...

That's part of what I mean by trends...I do like to see what's selling and what sort of games/themes/mechanics are getting people to lay down the dollars. But I like to look at things such as that in a bigger context over what some guy decided was worth buying. For example, I actually do pay attention to the Fairplay poll...that's a good barometer of what's being noticed and bought.

TRIBUNE topped it, which isn't surprising and AGRICOLA was second. Third? F:AT favorite HAMBURGUM. Whaddya expect, it ain't Gen Con.

Juniper said...

I actually do pay attention to the Fairplay poll...that's a good barometer of what's being noticed and bought.

TRIBUNE topped it, which isn't surprising and AGRICOLA was second. Third? F:AT favorite HAMBURGUM.


Why do the ugly, amateurish cottage industry publications do so well on these lists? Hamburgum looks like a grade 6 arts & crafts project. Is it the little bells?

I suspect that a game's standing in the Fairplay poll reflects the number of Spiel attendees that were implored to go to the Fairplay booth to vote for it. That's just irresponsible speculation on my part, though. I've never been to the fair.

The only new games exhibited in Essen that are interesting to me are Napoleon's Triumph and 1960: The Making of a President. I already have both.

The only German game that looks good to me this time around is Hans-im-Glueck's Oregon. Several years ago, this would have been an automatic buy for me. These days, though, I already have too many games of this type. I probably won't buy it unless I can get some older, unwanted games out of my collection, first.

Ken B. said...

HAMBURGUM was popular because people at the convention were hungry.

Juniper said...

HAMBURGUM was popular because people at the convention were hungry.

In that case, I'll wait for next year's follow-on release, CHEESEBURGUM.

Shortly after posting my previous comment, I discovered that Bruno Faidutti, too, has been complaining about ugly games and about biases in the Fairplay poll:

Bruno Faidutti's Essen report

Michael Barnes said...

Huh...that's an interesting take on the Fairplay poll. I've never been either, so who knows if it's not just some kind of bitterness or vendetta Faidutti has against it. That's really the best way to gauge opinion is by being there, like he said...but I ain't spending that much money to go to a jumped up game convention.

As far as the crude/homemade game thing...it goes back to that desire for willful obscurity that you find in everything from indie rock to underground cinema...everybody wants to find that "unpolished gem" that goes unnoticed because it has something special even though it's produced like shit. Plus everyone over there seems to get into a feeding frenzy over things that might be rare, in limited quantity, or otherwise difficult to obtain once the early adopters all rate it an 8 on BGG. It's the THROUGH THE AGES syndrome. Personally, I'd be ashamed to turn up at such a huge event with a game that looks that crude and amateurish next to industry standards, but I guess that's just me.

Faidutti points out that ancient China is (once again) the "hot" theme...what the hell is it with Euro designers and picking some arbitrary theme and suddenly everyone has a game out based on it? Do they meet in secret to determine it? When are they going to get around to the Picts or the Ainu?

I'm personally waiting for the expansion to HAMBURGUM. It adds another patty and bacon. I refuse to play with the mayonnaise rule though.

Juniper said...

Personally, I'd be ashamed to turn up at such a huge event with a game that looks that crude and amateurish next to industry standards, but I guess that's just me.

Me too, but maybe we're not the only ones that are out of touch.

This year, there was a special limited edition of Cuba in a wood box. There were also special editions of Caylus and Key Harvest. A couple of years ago, the 3d Settlers chest was released, and I think that I recall that Anno 1503 had a wood-boxed edition, too.

Once the big German publishers get wise to this "Hamburgum Effect," we'll start to see special limited "It Came Out of Mein Arsch" editions of the Spiel des Jahres winners. Imagine Zooloretto with artwork by
Koko, the Gorilla Artist
!

Actually, Koko's abstracts still look better than Hamburgum.

Anonymous said...

A "Wargamer's view of Essen" would pretty much be a lonely fat guy sitting at a table with a copy of NAPOLEON'S TRIUMPH set up, waiting for someone to stop by and play when the CUBA tables are filled up.

That one, or Hannibal RvC.

You know, I wonder if you talk to the dealers there if they have a secret stash of games like AXIS & ALLIES or ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ tucked under the table- with the swastikas on 'em...

They did have Hell's Highway you know.

Maybe next time when I have more time to hang out there I could write you a F:AT report. Requirement is that you send my a hat with a "PRESS" sign, preferably an US Army helmet :-D.

Indian Pharmacy said...

It is an amazing design and it is quite good. Specially with the color combination.