Games I'm Playing

[benlehman]

I'm playing Storming the Wizard's tower with a couple of different GMs. It's a playtest, so it's fun but ... it's a playtest. The problem with playing a playtest with fans of Vincent's games is that they tend to blame mechanical problems on themselves, rather than the broken mechanics. Fun, just, you know.

I'm also playing Bliss Stage. It's fun. There's a lot of soap-opera. No sex yet, but I only once had to remind someone that you say what you do, not what you want to do.

I'm playing Race of the Galaxy a lot. It's a card game. It's a blast. It's basically like "what if Puerto Rico was faster moving, more difficult to plan, and lacked problematic racial elements?" It's by the same designer and in all ways excellent.

I'm playing Civilization 4, which is way too much fun. Beginning to get under the hood of the game, fiddling around with specialists and tweaking things.

Comments

[ex-gobi.livejournal.com]

I only once had to remind someone that you say what you do, not what you want to do

I've been lucky enough to not have to remind anyone of that during the Do playtests. I wonder if it's an overblown concern?

Incidentally, we (Fred Hicks, Chad Underkoffler, Shreyas Sampat, DeWitt Davis and Matt Gandy) played your letter at Dreamation, the one in which a whale ate Melanie's world. It was INSANE.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

It's an issue for the people I play with. I think it's a learned thing.

yrs--
--Ben

[silvergoose.livejournal.com]

Race is amazingly fun. Played the expansion any? Adds a bunch of fun start worlds and other cards.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been playing the expansion exclusively.

[silvergoose.livejournal.com]

Excellent good. I really can't wait till the next one. It'll be a blast.

[lumpley.livejournal.com]

Are these the same mechanical probs we've already talked about, or have you found new ones?

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

I think mostly the ones we'd already talked about (one-shotting big monsters) There are others ... hrm ... sociological-systematic problems? The game would benefit from a GMing section.

WARNING! WARNING!

[greatwolf3000.livejournal.com]

Warning: Civ IV is like electronic crack. Have you seen the Civilization Anonymous site (http://civanon.com/)? It's all true, man.

It's all true.

(Speaking of which, I'd forgotten that I wanted to play Civ IV with Crystal. Hmm....)

Re: WARNING! WARNING!

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

I've already been playing for a year and a half.

Re: WARNING! WARNING!

[greatwolf3000.livejournal.com]

Then it's too late!

Actually, I have to ask: do you have any of the expansions? If so, are they worth it?

Re: WARNING! WARNING!

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Nope. I'm still exploring the main one.

Only Warlords has come out for Mac. I may get it at some point, but BtS doesn't seem as interesting: I mean, corporations? That are all fake-y? And don't work like actual corporations? Not in my interests.

yrs--
--Ben

Re: WARNING! WARNING!

[icecreamemperor.livejournal.com]

I know you didn't ask me, but I'd say yes -- especially if you like scenarios or mods, and especially if you find you get tired of incompetent enemy AI. Beyond the Sword is the stronger of the two.