I've Been Doing Some Thinking

And I figured out why I like CCG and what was the gateway game to get me started. Most CCG (collectible card games) take place in a fixed world. In the World of Warcraft that world is the world of Warcraft…duh. But it adds to that world something better then any RPG (meaning table top style not PC or LARP style) you don’t have to dedicate so much time to set up. Most of the games have a starter set that allows you to jump right in and play. This means that You don’t have to understand the deck building mechanics you just have to get the gist of the game rules and fumble along through a few games to get a feel for what you like. Then if you want you can start playing around with deck building. I for one enjoy the deck building portion of the game. I find a new hero and I want to build a deck around that hero.

In most table top RPG’s you spend a long long time reading and understanding the rules, creating characters, finding people to play with, putting on disguises so people won’t recognize you and telling your wife that you are just going out with the boys to a strip club or bar. With CCG’s the time commitment is much less, the characters already exist you just have to figure out your strategy and destroy your opponents. One other thing that the WoW CCG did was the raid decks. Now I haven’t had time to play any of them yet, mostly because John and I need someone else to play with so that we can have a deck master and have all sorts of fun. If anyone is a Colorado CCG player and would like to play, shot me a comment or email.

Now it is time to talk about the gateway game that will get you started playing these games. The game I am talking about is BANG! the cowboy western card fame. It is packaged as an innocent play with your family type game, but at its heart is a CCG just waiting to happen. The fun part about it is that it takes into account transportation and classes in a new way. For instance if you are the sheriff you want to kill the crooks and the vigilante, if you are the vigilante you want to kill the crooks and the sheriff, if you are the crook(s) you want to kill everyone else and if you are the sheriff’s deputy you help the sheriff and take his job if he dies. The first time I played this it was in Chicago with Harper and Matiss, I think when I got my tattoo and I received it a while ago for a x-mas present. Unfortunately Sarah recognized it for what it was and we haven’t played it that much, but you never no maybe I will trick her and out friends into playing. Its either that or getting her to play the WoW one with me. Right.

There is a new book that I am reading, well it may not be new but it is awesome, called A Dirty Job. The basic story is about one man’s struggle with being death. It is one of the funniest books I have read in a while and everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, needs to read it. I am specifically looking at Harper, but the rest of you should read it as well. One of the great parts of the book is the way the author builds the relationships between the characters. That and the Hell Hounds.

Apparently there are some jokers online that are talking about the early realease of GTA IV. They even put together a pretty good looking letter about it that was supposedly sent to retailers. This fake has gotten a lot of people excited and me wish that it was true so that I could get the game sooner. Oh well.

At work it has been decided to stop using the Internet interface of Google apps and revert back to outlook. I am of the opinion that this is lame. Harper feels the same but the boss is the boss and he decided that he wants to go back to outlook and so poof we are back to outlook. Work is going good, aside from the usual issues of people not paying rents and the like, and while I enjoy the people that I work with I find the overall work frustrating.