The Fifth Dentist Report: Feedback to Episode 31
First, I want to make a comment about the rampant and out-of-control hate for Russ in this episode. It's really detracting from the show, and it's beneath any podcast host to need to handle their personal grievances on the air. It's unprofessional, and I can't believe we've been subjected to this needless lather over real show content.
*pause*
I -want- to make that completely ridiculous comment, mostly to point out to Craig that it isn't a one-way street. If he's gonna suffer because we fans take him too seriously from time to time, he has to know that he's probably taking US fans too seriously from time to time. But the show served as an unintentionally
VIVID demonstration of how blank, banal and utterly uninteresting that entertainment media and life in general would be if more people listened to the starkly tiny minority (which Craig described in Didja) that Dave Barry refers to as the humor-impaired. The rest of us people - you know, real actual HUMANS - really appreciate all types of humor from soft and fluffy to hard and razor-sharp. Please, gentlemen - I reaffirm Craig's Didja with a hue and a cry. Don't dilute yourselves based on the words of the ranting few. Don't let the bastages get you down. (My favorite headline from that movie - "
DA Dies in Beer Commercial".)
Craig: Dang. I
almost made you run out of breath. I bet it was only six words away. Arrgh! Defeated! My record vs. hosts is now 1-1.
All: While I'm always glad to hear intelligent discussion on games, it was a breath of fresh air after last episode's
WM discussion (of which I can only participate academically) to get a double-play of board/card game coverage! One of the best parts of the
d6 Generation is how you guys mix it up between all the different tabletop game types to give each of us gamers out there a chance to share in the conversation.
To Dann May:
AWESOME artwork! I can safely speak for all the
d6G community - we'll be glad to have that as a symbol of our community. Well-done, and I hope it rightly brings more attention and income to your door.
Craig: *ahem*
"Yestergame"
Yestergame,
All my rolls seemed so high away,
Now it looks as though they're low to stay,
Oh, I believe in yestergame.
Suddenly,
I'm not half level I used to be,
There's a kobold hanging *over* me,
Oh, yestergame came suddenly.
Why it
Made its save I don't know, I couldn't slay.
I played,
Something wrong, now I long for yestergame.
Yestergame,
Kill was such a power word to say,
Now I'm in a total Tee Pee Kay,
Oh, I believe in yestergame.
Why it
Made its save I don't know, I couldn't slay.
I played,
Something wrong, now I long for yestergame.
Yestergame,
Kill was such a power word to say,
Now I'm in a total Tee Pee Kay,
Oh, I believe in yestergame.
Re Munchkin: This is a great introduction to a venerable comedy game. One note - for both balance
and content reasons, going through the loot deck and finding the Kneepads of Allure is worthwhile. Please consider whether or not this card should be in your deck - it's sorta tough to explain to your kids, and it is probably the single most disruptive item in the game,
IMNSHO.
Hand size checks are mostly for if there was a big treasure haul. It basically reflects the fact that you can only stuff so much loot in your pockets before the party gets to see what the monster was carrying. Mostly during the game, you won't save that many cards.
HD: I've played Munchkin with
EIGHT players. Didn't say we finished, just that I played.
All: The artist, by the way, is John Kovalic. Credit where credit is due - Mr. Kovalic has given Steve Jackson Games a real golden goose.
Raef: Do you
NOT know the Gazebo joke? Go here right away.
http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/98/Jul/gazebo.html
A classic gamer humor story, for either Raef or for the fans who don't know it.
HD, Craig: For Munchkin, "character creation" is mostly like the first-ever system for D&D.
3d6, no rerolls, no choosing what goes in what order. So the no-choice on race-class at the beginning mostly reflects that you rolled an 18 strength and are playing a warrior, regardless of whether or not you wanted to play a thief.
*pause*
(This is a rather transparent rationalization for what is a somewhat minor flaw in a very light card game. You want to start as an Elven Wizard? Why don't you? Try it with each player drawing skipping random draws from the door deck to go through it and pick the one race and/or class of their choice. It's not like it matters. Maybe don't allow starting Elves.)
Russ: Spot-on note on the value of Munchkin as a card-based comic more than a game for the serious gamer. If you remember Phil Foglio's game Xxxenophile, the rules said "Okay, open your starter and look through your cards. Congratulations! You just won your first game of solitaire Xxxenophile." And while Xxxenophile isn't exactly a game to share with wives and friends, Munchkin is
TOTALLY a game that a non-gamer can get into. As I said in a prior 5DR - there are a few people I know that only game when it's Munchkin. It's as much a gateway game as Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne.
Russ: You can get Munchkin level-counter dice, and even a bobblehead as a current player marker.
Technically, you can get all the components from SJG.
HD: Why not try soft pretzels? They're sorta like cake. Beer and soft pretzels. (I agree with Craig, though - beer and cake is just wrong. Wine and cake, maybe.)
HD: Great Hollywood Minute there. I like the excitable minutes where you clearly have had way too much coffee - they're lively and entertaining. The more philosophical minutes are really good, however - cracking your real head open rather than your cartoon head open reveals far more intellectually satisfying thoughts and ideas inside.
For those lovely wives: Curious - was it
really mah jong online that you played, or just tile matching? As someone who likes the real mah jong, I get sorta disgusted at how many games came out over the years with mah jong on the name that were just symbol matching. My only mah jong fix for a long time was Hong Kong Mah Jong Pro, but now Funtown Mah Jong is out on XBox Live Arcade. I've got it - it's good.
Oh, and the classic giant ant movie is Them! (It was parodied with the Fallout 3 mission Those!)
Having managed to avoid Heroes, I was quite happy with the actor playing Spock in the movie - really hit the nail well.
I'm still glad to hear another episode of the Score - as a fan of melody, I love getting a good perspective on matching instrumentals to moods. This remains a highlight of the show - but a highlight along with all the other great highlights. It's kind of like saying there's a
really high point in the Himalayas.
Raef, re Ticket to Ride (TTR): When you say "it's not a rail game", are you confessing a love for choo-choos-n-crayons? Empire Builder, Iron Dragon, Eurorails? And I would postulate that you would not hate TTR so much, except that it's all you can play with a certain audience (never mind that she wins). Our game group had a similar problem at one point - it took a few other games for some players to latch onto in order to break up the TTR-a-thon. Take a look at Thurn and Taxis for you and yours.
And Ticket to Ride's fun for gamers in my estimation comes from the improvisation and layered contingency strategy you have to take in completing your tickets. Pulling two 20-point tickets and then having to improvise a route after someone takes one of your needed routes (for their 6-point ticket, of course) is quite the challenge, and it factors into ticket selection as well as ticket implementation. It's like planning for rush hour traffic, but the fun version.
Craig: I cannot believe you missed the ball Russ dished you with "the map doesn't have a lot of room, because..."
MAN. Your romp into pure
PC has clearly dulled your mind, Gandalf.
Russ: Bigger reason for Small World to not use figs, besides.
Imagine how big the box would be if it did. Do you really need another Twilight Imperium to carry around?
Russ: The Small World die with one marky, two markies and three markies - is that die Marky Mark's?
*snicker*
Craig: At least now I know why you were humming Small World - good good helium-induced song you were listening to.
All: In my role as an interface of gamers, I want to pass word to the fans that I've given a shout-out
TO the
D6G on a podcast I performed in as guest host. Check out episode
56 (not 55, the one up now) of the video game podcast called The Post-Game Report, available from
http://www.talkingaboutgames.com/podcasts/pgr or from iTunes. The show will be up later this week.
Great show as always - I've listened to it twice, 'cause it's just that nice! (That plus I get bored at work - which is a double-compliment to your show, because it so effectively relieves ennui and doldrums!)
were's my drink? what do I need to roll 