Board gaming with Mel and Will; a Lioness' agency; media consumption report
I had the lovely Mel and Will over this weekend. Since they live far far away, they spend the night when they come to visit, and so I had a whole 24+ hours to enjoy their company. In particular, it was good to get together when we didn't have the goal of "do something for Cracks."
What did we do instead of writing larps? Mostly played board games and watched RiffTrax. They introduced me to Smash Up, which is silly and not very deep game of trying to take over various "bases" with silly factions like "dinosaurs with lasers," "pirates," "wizards," "robots," etc.
The best thing about it, though, is that it has bear cavalry as a faction. Cossack bear cavalry, in fact! With cards named things like "You're Pretty Much Borscht" and "Cub Scout" and "Bear Hug." As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to play them, and they were just as fun as I had hoped. I joked to Mel and Will that now I want to write a novel with bear cavalry. I may not entirely be kidding.
We also played many, many games of Race for the Galaxy, which we all love. I am still in that phase of "play many games of it until I really understand it." Unlike the previous game, it is a game with a ton of complexity and strategy to it, and (relatively) little randomness. I did have one HUGE victory as the final game of the weekend, with 84 points, but for the most part, I lost a lot. I still haven't got the hang of production strategies...
Finally, on Sunday, we pulled out the WoW boardgame, which I haven't played since I lived in Watertown. It was surprisingly fun, although it took a long time to set up and go through rules, let alone to play. We had a "battle of the sexes," with Mel and I playing Alliance (the gnome rogue and the nelf druid) and Will and Matt playing Horde (the orc shaman and the undead mage). The guys ended up winning, since Mel and I rushed, undergeared, to kill the Big Bad (Kel'Thuzad) in the last turns before we were forced into a big PvP battle that is supposed to happen if no one wins by turn 30.
It did lead to the amusing quote: "Of course you died. You had a level four bear tank wearing cloth."
I have to say, for a board game, it does a pretty good job of simulating the things that are fun about MMOs (questing, getting gear, selecting a "build") without all the crap that isn't fun at all about them (grinding, dealing with other people). Perhaps the biggest downfall, however, is one it shares with MMOs--randomness. Most of the combat is dice based, so there's a decent chance you'll get screwed just because you rolled poorly.
--
I'm still writing, I promise. Not with the fervor I was in early July, but still making forward progress on Lioness. I have passed 18,000 words, having gotten through the fantasy equivalent of the diamond studs plot.
I worry, as I often do, about my protagonist. I worry I am going to have similar problems as I did with Katur, the protagonist of my first novel as an adult--a lack of agency. I mean, Yfre, at least, is competent at her job, even in her failure--in what I've just written, she manages to succeed at all her individual goals while still failing at the mission.
But I admit, I don't have a firm hold on her motivations yet. What does she want? She starts the book indebted to one of the other characters, which makes motivation easy at that point. There is a moment where she looks at the macguffin of the first arc and wishes she could throw it into the sea--but, as I wrote, "she had orders, which made everything easier."
What happens after that, I'm still discovering. I think she wants power. I'm still discovering how she plans to get it.
Some of this becomes a question of what story I am telling. I *think* this is going to be a story about a group of quirky characters who don't quite fit into the hide-bound traditionalist society they live in, but have tried until now to work within its strictures. When they discover they can't, they band together to... do what, precisely?
I'll figure it out. I somehow always do.
--
I'm still reading, I promise. I finished Swordspoint a while ago, which was satisfying in its conclusion. Its such an odd little book, tho, isn't it? It's still is sort of dreamy and wandering, and it doesn't have a traditional plot structure. I think what bothered me the most is that I had a really hard time understanding the motivations of/sympathizing with the characters. So often they just say or do things that sound nonsensical, or aren't what I would expect in that situation. Alec is the worst for this (see: walking through a window)--but then I guess there's a reason he gets called the Mad Duke later on in the series. And the book gets major points from me for having casually queer characters.
I'm still reading The Hallowed Hunt--just a chapter here and there, ever so slowly. I just got to the delightfully intense battle of wills between Wencel and Ingrey--where we finally found out various spoilers--and I spent the whole chapter on the edge of my seat. I also kept hoping they would kiss, but it is not that kind of book, I suppose ;)
I don't have an audiobook going right at the moment, but I've been listening to various Hardcore History podcasts. I got through the Wrath of the Khans one about the Mongols, and now am listening to "Prophets of Doom," the one about the Munsterite Anabaptists and the craziness that went on in Germany in the wake of Martin Luther.
--
I'm continuing my "you must play Shivering Isles" playthrough of Oblivion. I still haven't gotten to a level where I feel comfortable jumping through the door in Niben Bay, so I just wander around and do the main quest and stop at any ruin I feel like.
For all its flaws, I have to say, I think Oblivion has the best UI of the three ES games I've played. Skyrim's UI is botheringly sparse (I really could use some buff/debuff markers on my character, guyz), and Morrowind's is botheringly cluttered, so I think they struck a good balance here.
I'm amazed I still manage to find quests I haven't done--like the one surrounding the abandoned farm near Kvatch.
Also, Ayleid ruins are still excellent in their own way.
What did we do instead of writing larps? Mostly played board games and watched RiffTrax. They introduced me to Smash Up, which is silly and not very deep game of trying to take over various "bases" with silly factions like "dinosaurs with lasers," "pirates," "wizards," "robots," etc.
The best thing about it, though, is that it has bear cavalry as a faction. Cossack bear cavalry, in fact! With cards named things like "You're Pretty Much Borscht" and "Cub Scout" and "Bear Hug." As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to play them, and they were just as fun as I had hoped. I joked to Mel and Will that now I want to write a novel with bear cavalry. I may not entirely be kidding.
We also played many, many games of Race for the Galaxy, which we all love. I am still in that phase of "play many games of it until I really understand it." Unlike the previous game, it is a game with a ton of complexity and strategy to it, and (relatively) little randomness. I did have one HUGE victory as the final game of the weekend, with 84 points, but for the most part, I lost a lot. I still haven't got the hang of production strategies...
Finally, on Sunday, we pulled out the WoW boardgame, which I haven't played since I lived in Watertown. It was surprisingly fun, although it took a long time to set up and go through rules, let alone to play. We had a "battle of the sexes," with Mel and I playing Alliance (the gnome rogue and the nelf druid) and Will and Matt playing Horde (the orc shaman and the undead mage). The guys ended up winning, since Mel and I rushed, undergeared, to kill the Big Bad (Kel'Thuzad) in the last turns before we were forced into a big PvP battle that is supposed to happen if no one wins by turn 30.
It did lead to the amusing quote: "Of course you died. You had a level four bear tank wearing cloth."
I have to say, for a board game, it does a pretty good job of simulating the things that are fun about MMOs (questing, getting gear, selecting a "build") without all the crap that isn't fun at all about them (grinding, dealing with other people). Perhaps the biggest downfall, however, is one it shares with MMOs--randomness. Most of the combat is dice based, so there's a decent chance you'll get screwed just because you rolled poorly.
--
I'm still writing, I promise. Not with the fervor I was in early July, but still making forward progress on Lioness. I have passed 18,000 words, having gotten through the fantasy equivalent of the diamond studs plot.
I worry, as I often do, about my protagonist. I worry I am going to have similar problems as I did with Katur, the protagonist of my first novel as an adult--a lack of agency. I mean, Yfre, at least, is competent at her job, even in her failure--in what I've just written, she manages to succeed at all her individual goals while still failing at the mission.
But I admit, I don't have a firm hold on her motivations yet. What does she want? She starts the book indebted to one of the other characters, which makes motivation easy at that point. There is a moment where she looks at the macguffin of the first arc and wishes she could throw it into the sea--but, as I wrote, "she had orders, which made everything easier."
What happens after that, I'm still discovering. I think she wants power. I'm still discovering how she plans to get it.
Some of this becomes a question of what story I am telling. I *think* this is going to be a story about a group of quirky characters who don't quite fit into the hide-bound traditionalist society they live in, but have tried until now to work within its strictures. When they discover they can't, they band together to... do what, precisely?
I'll figure it out. I somehow always do.
--
I'm still reading, I promise. I finished Swordspoint a while ago, which was satisfying in its conclusion. Its such an odd little book, tho, isn't it? It's still is sort of dreamy and wandering, and it doesn't have a traditional plot structure. I think what bothered me the most is that I had a really hard time understanding the motivations of/sympathizing with the characters. So often they just say or do things that sound nonsensical, or aren't what I would expect in that situation. Alec is the worst for this (see: walking through a window)--but then I guess there's a reason he gets called the Mad Duke later on in the series. And the book gets major points from me for having casually queer characters.
I'm still reading The Hallowed Hunt--just a chapter here and there, ever so slowly. I just got to the delightfully intense battle of wills between Wencel and Ingrey--where we finally found out various spoilers--and I spent the whole chapter on the edge of my seat. I also kept hoping they would kiss, but it is not that kind of book, I suppose ;)
I don't have an audiobook going right at the moment, but I've been listening to various Hardcore History podcasts. I got through the Wrath of the Khans one about the Mongols, and now am listening to "Prophets of Doom," the one about the Munsterite Anabaptists and the craziness that went on in Germany in the wake of Martin Luther.
--
I'm continuing my "you must play Shivering Isles" playthrough of Oblivion. I still haven't gotten to a level where I feel comfortable jumping through the door in Niben Bay, so I just wander around and do the main quest and stop at any ruin I feel like.
For all its flaws, I have to say, I think Oblivion has the best UI of the three ES games I've played. Skyrim's UI is botheringly sparse (I really could use some buff/debuff markers on my character, guyz), and Morrowind's is botheringly cluttered, so I think they struck a good balance here.
I'm amazed I still manage to find quests I haven't done--like the one surrounding the abandoned farm near Kvatch.
Also, Ayleid ruins are still excellent in their own way.