Back to Basics

The cover of the next Dragon looks promising:

• An actual scene rather than a single portrait of something that's in your face - roawrrr!
• Text is tucked away at the ends of the cover rather than plastered all over it.
• The text is a little frugal, but it seems to harken to the "good ol' days" of the magazine.

My copy hasn't arrived yet, but there may be hope for Dragon yet.

City-State of the Unedittable Overlord

Another post today - I'm on a roll! This should hold me until, what - Groundhog's Day?

Anyway, I picked up the new City-State of the Invincible Overlord (Necromancer Games) the other day. I do like it (the maps are especially nice); there's something about the Judges Guild stuff, old and "re-imagined" that really appeals to me, despite the weirdness in many of the original products. But I have to say, the editing really leaves a lot to be desired. Granted, it's a large tome, but I'm only about 50 pages into it and I think there must be an editing error or two on every page so far. Some are minor and excusable, but others are really bad. I don't think this is normal - I don't recall running into this in many other gaming books.

Still, a nifty book so far.

Fable! Meh.

Finished Fable (the XBox RPG) this past weekend, after a two or three week hiatus. My overall impression?

Meh.

It wasn't a bad game, but it wasn't that great, either. It's hard to say exactly what it was lacking, I just ended up not caring for it. It had a lot of cool elements, but a lot of lame ones too. Why would you get everything on cards? Do today's youth only relate to card-based systems, having been weened on Magic and Pokémon? And why do I have to pick up "experience orbs" when I kill something? Who the hell else is going to pick that up?

The plot was a little too linear as well, and the side details - while interesting - didn't really add to the game. My character got married and bought a house for his wife at one point. Cool, but what purpose did it serve? I never went back to see what the wife was up to, but that didn't diminish the climax of the game. I could have gotten tattoos or different haircuts, but again, who cares? On an on-line RPG that would be interesting, but when I'm the only one looking at the game? The guys at Penny Arcade had that point pretty well pegged.

I think Morrowind spoiled me. I knew not to expect Morrowind when I bought Fable, but still, I think I expected more. Maybe due to the hype, though I tried to ignore that. Hard to say. In the end, I don't regret having bought and played the game, but I could have lived without it. On the other hand, I like to think that playing Morrowind and Knights of the Old Republic were experiences that I would have been the poorer for had I not done them.

Heavens! Let's Not Let the Rabble Have Access to the Rules...

"The biggest mistake WotC ever made was giving the source code for 3rd edition rules to its fans (and no I'm not referring to the OGL)." (link, and follow-up: link)
- From a discussion on ENWorld.org

Can't say I agree. Making the mechanics accessible to people makes the game easier for DMs, in my opinion. Sure, people were creating their own material in 1E and 2E, but having a system to keep it standardized and easier, I'm all for.

To some people complain a lot about stat block mistakes and similar things? Sure - welcome to the Internet. People were complaining about similar (and often sillier) issues back during OD&D, 1E, and 2E. It amazes me how often people think that nothing ever happened until now (not only in gaming, but in other things as well - politics, social issues, etc.).

If you want to see how ridiculous some people were back in the "good ol' days", peruse the old issues of Dragon magazine from the 70's and early 80's. And late 80's, for that matter. Back then, the primary forum for discussion was Dragon, which was limited by space and editorial concerns. People aren't missing the point or complaining more than they were 20 years ago - we're just more aware of it thanks to instant gratification via DARPANet. Er, the Internet.

I detect a little of the "I've been published by WotC so my opinion is of more value than your's, fanboys" attitude there as well, but I could be wrong.

Now, A Zombie Apocalypse Highlander Movie Would Rule!

Just saw Highlander 4 this weekend. Yeah, I know it came out years ago, but I never got around to seeing it until now. Unfortunately. Holy crap, does that movie suck. It's not as bad as the mythical Highlander 2 is supposed to be*, but it's pretty damn close.

Now, I picked up the unrated version of the Dawn of the Dead re-make. That should be decent; I enjoyed the theatrical release. Though I hope that in the coming Zombie Apocalypse (and I know it's coming; my prophetic dreams say so**), we get Romeroan zombies (ala Night of the Living Dead, original Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead) rather than those new, 21st-century zombies (Dawn of the Dead re-make, 28 Days Later). If the latter, we're screwed. If the former, I really don't think the end of the world will come as it evolved in Romero's films (which I enjoy, don't get me wrong). I think Shaun of the Dead (which I liked, though I have mixed feelings about the comedy/horror genre mixing) did the ending right. For criminey's sake, they're slow. We can outrun them. And shoot them. Or put them to good use as free labor.

Of course, in that case we'd have to contend with some extremist group like PETZ - People for the Ethical Treatment of Zombies.




*: I've always wondered why the second Highlander movie was numbered "3" rather than "2", but people claim there was actually a HL2. Supposedly it had ridiculous references to the "planet Zeist" and lame skateboard-like flying-wing guys and a global shield or some such, but a movie that bad simply cannot exist. I must believe that... Even Sean Connery's presence didn't help...er, I mean so I've been told. HL2 was to Connery what that steaming pile D&D Movie was to Jeremy Irons. Anyway, in conclusion, there is no Highlander 2. Nope.

**: Unfortunately, they've varied between the Romeroan style and the modern versions, so I can't say which are coming. In one dream, in fact, they ignored you completely unless you started bleeding, and then they pounced on you - sort of like sharks, but without the water and with the whole animated corpse thing. And no, I don't think I need treatment. Yet. If I start seeing the Elder Sign in my dreams and sunken cities with non-Euclidean architecture, then we'll talk...

D&D Miniatures Update

Just picked up a bunch of boxes of Aberrations. Overall, pretty good. I've seen people complain about the paint jobs, though they don't seem that bad overall (the gibbering mouther is quite good), but they may have gone down in quality as I think about it. The sculpting is continuing to improve, though. The gnoll and man-at-arms re-sculpts are in particular superior to Harbinger.

If you're interested in trading, my H/W list is up-to-date at maximinis.com. The link is http://www.maxminis.com/hwlist.asp?user=MythosaAkira

Hot Puppet Sex

Of course, I'm referring to Team America: World Police. Stupid, nonsensical, ridiculous movie - I haven't laughed so hard at something in years (12 years, by my reckoning). Highly recommended if you aren't expecting anything with any ounce of seriousness.

Also, if you find it offensive because it bashes the right-wingers or because it bashes the liberals (and it does both), get over yourself. It's a movie. About puppets.

I'm back!

In case anyone noticed...

My wife and I spent last week in southwestern Colorado. Very beautiful part of the country, particularly in the San Juan Mountains. Of course, the Mesa Verde National Park and the Black Canyon of the Gunnisons were pretty sweet as well. In any case, I'm trying to figure out a way to move to Ouray...

I can also check off "Visit a hard-rock gold mine" and "Visit a ghost town reachable only by a 4x4" from my list of "Things to Do Before I Die".

Now to get caught up on things and get back to gaming stuff.