Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Failure To Communicate Vs. Win Win







I missed my MinBlogIsode episode this weekend as I ran into the brick wall of not having any extra time.  It wasn't completely due to having an insanely heavily booked schedule, which I do, but more to do with being sick.  I'm just sort of coming out of that now and feeling a bit better.  Just in time to have my lovely better half get sick.  Sick enough to miss two days out of her 40 hour week.  Which for those that don't know her that is akin to her cutting off her own hands.

I was going to try and sneak in that MinBlogIsode, but have changed my mind as The Beard and I are just going to sneak in two Podcasts tomorrow prior to the next episode of Shuffle Sounds - Podcast, with very special guest Michael J. Harmon (of Basement Of Sleaze infamy).  It'll be a crazy night of yapping.  Then Thursday we're supposed to knock out an Actual Play episode of The Antagonist Relations Podcast.  Busy, busy, busy.

Due to being ill I didn't run D&D for 3rd Group last Thursday.  I HATE cancelling, but had some seizures and didn't think I could hack it mentally that night.  The reality was and is I can't.  I got through the last 8 hours of my week with spit and bailing wire, took a nap, and then had a pretty decent 1st play session of my 3 episode Star Wars game.  The Beard showed up about midway through and really helped pick the energy level up and took the session to a far more satisfying level than I think I was up to.

Saturday was again crazy busy.  We had a Movie-A-Thon that night that was Basement Of Sleaze APPROVED, which we'll talk about on the Podcast tomorrow.  I want to touch upon our Frostgrave game.  We had played four times or so.  Turns out we'd been doing the combat wrong, which was one of the reasons that our mortality rate was so low.  The Geneious joined us and kindly made the rules corrections for us, and spurred on a blood thirsty change to the game.

I really, REALLY like Frostgrave.  I think it's a great and simple war game.  I also understand that war games aren't for everyone.  I re-learned that lesson Saturday.  Two of our regular players quickly found that they didn't care much for the far deadlier, correct, version of the rules or with the more aggressive tact of the players.  I think they both enjoy the exploration and the fun/risk of treasure hunting.  There isn't a lot of frustration with killing random monsters who want to destroy you.  When someone wipes out half your war band because it is 'in their way' you can sometimes attach some feeling to that.  Especially when your rolling is poor and theirs is outrageously good.  That mixture can really sap the fun out of games.

The reality for me is I had fun playing, even if my rolling was truly EPICALLY bad and frustrating.  I didn't have fun watching others be frustrated and actively not enjoy the game.  I always look at games as a way to not just enjoy myself, but to enjoy the company or joy of others.  Saturday morphed into the opposite of that.  In the end, that's ok.  People are entitle to not like a game, or a player, or even me as the host.

Scheduling for Frostgrave is hard as well.  The put together time of the table is a few hours, while the tear down time is about thirty minutes.  I like to make new war bands, new wizards, new themes, etc. while some people are VERY into seeing just how far they can take their Wizards.  Now that people seem to have bowed out, I really thought about getting back to every third Monday night as the play night, and I think I'll go with that, even though that means some people will be left out.  At the same time that once a month Saturday we were setting aside for Frostgrave will be for random Board Gaming and maybe some Anime. 

In the end, I have to live and learn.  I can't make everyone love or enjoy everything.  I can't make someone have a good time.  And I certainly can't make my damn dice not betray me.  All I can do is bring folks together, try new games, and try and make it a place where EVERYONE can have fun.  I think that's the most noble goal I can have when it comes to playing games.

Well that was longer than I thought.  So let's jump into the...

RANDOM CRAP!


- Heel Turn Radio should be wild as we hit the insanity that was the Royal Rumble HARD.  I have a lot of opinions.


- I've been really tearing into Bowie's 'Black Star' and I find that I have two distinct trains of thought on it. 
One revolving around the context of the album being a 'goodbye' to his fans.  This visceral, real moment of knowing your demise is near, but having something profound to say.  The other is the fan who has this strong feeling of this is the last new music I'll ever get from Bowie.  That is so strange.  So strange to think of someone who I looked at as being as 'immortal' as their work being gone.  There is a serious feeling of personal mortality associated with that.  It is odd, disconcerting, and yet so honest.  I'm anxious to talk about it on Shuffle Sounds - Podcast.


- I'm going to grill this weekend if the weather holds up.  I'm excited enough to have purchased some sausages!


I think that's all I have in the tank today. 

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