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HokieStone wrote:At least he has a medical reason, and he's not just trying to fleece his fans like George R.R. Martin...

I get the impression that Martin is so enamoured with being a "celebrity" that he doesn't give a flying about actually finishing the story.

He gets to meet all these great actors that are going to be in the HBO series, and gets to be treated like a star on the convention circuit for what he has already done.

At least that is how I feel after reading his blog a bit and talking with a friend who has met the guy.

great episode ! i liked that you guys talked about up coming games . it peaked my interest about stuff i never heard about . HD a great WW 2 28mm rule set you could use is seven coffins fo seven brothers Disposable Heros ! by iron ivan games , available at thewarstore.com its easy fast and furious , and the rules are only about $ 16.00 and includes a american and german army list in the core rules . cant wait for the next episode ...Matt Rendar

sturmkraehe wrote:Good point Hokie. The primary saving grace is that "Lies" stands on its own as a complete story. I won't say more to avoid spoilers, but most loose ends are tied up by the end of the book. I hadn't heard that about Lynch :-( I hope he is able to overcome it.

Yeah, if you google his blog you can go back and read about it. He had some political posts right after the 2008 presidential election (another similarity to GRRM), and then pretty much silence, except for a mysterious "personal issues" post. Then about a year later or so, a big post detailing his fight with depression, and since then bits here and there about fighting the depression ("good day today", "had another attack", etc...). But you're right, the first book "Lies of Locke Lamora" is pretty standalone, with only hints about the larger story. The second book, "Red Seas under Red Skies" ends with a pretty dramatic cliff-hanger, though...

skrulnik wrote:

HokieStone wrote:At least he has a medical reason, and he's not just trying to fleece his fans like George R.R. Martin...

I get the impression that Martin is so enamoured with being a "celebrity" that he doesn't give a flying about actually finishing the story.

He gets to meet all these great actors that are going to be in the HBO series, and gets to be treated like a star on the convention circuit for what he has already done.

At least that is how I feel after reading his blog a bit and talking with a friend who has met the guy.

Yeah, I pretty much have no respect for the man as a person. Which I recognize might be a bit extreme for a guy that I've never actualy met. I understand the reasons for the delays in "A Feast for Crows" - he was trying a certain plot device, and after a year or so, it just wasn't working, so he gave up and started from scratch. But then when he started writing again, he wrote so much that the book needed to be split up by point of view - fair enough. And then when AFFC came out, there was all kinds of stuff from him about how "A Dance With Dragons" was already half-finished since he'd written a lot about Jon Snow, Danaerys, etc already. The postscript in AFFC says that the next book "will be along next year (I devoutly hope)".

But a book 5 years overdue isn't really the issue. It's all the crap in his "Not a Blog". "Hey, buy my authentic replica swords. Buy my miniatures. But my calendars (oopps, sorry that I took a bunch of money from some of you and the calendars were never delivered). Hey, I found some water-damaged 2008 calendars. Wanna buy them for 1/2 off? I am just having so much trouble working on "A Dance With Dragons"...but I just finished editing the 14th "Wild Cards" novel to come out this year...oh, and there's 3 more anthologies I'd like you to buy. Ooops, I was gonna write some more on ADWD, but I'm going to conventions for the next 8 weeks in a row, and then I have a 2 month overseas visit to check on the filming of the HBO special. Hey, did I mention there's a card game you can buy? I just can't see myself writing for the next week because I just got back from my trip, and the jackbooted thugs from TSA are making me feel repressed." And on and on and on... Don't get me started on his sycophant supporters, and Neil Gaiman's infamous "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch" statement.

The guy's in his 60's, and morbidly obese...I will honestly be shocked if we see the end of this series (and oh by the way, he's pretty much said "No, I won't be doing what Robert Jordan did. If I die, too bad, you don't get to know the rest of the story.")

Thanks, guys. I'll check out the book recommendation.

Wow . . . I know there's a lot of pent up aggression against GRRM . . . but I had no idea about all of these details! I just sort of put it in the back of my head and haven't worried about it since.

I guess it's a good thing he went with HBO for his series . . . they never manage to finish anything satisfactorily either . . . well, except Band of Brothers . . . and I'm only into episode 3 of The Pacific, but that seems pretty good too . . .

Now see what you've done? I'm all annoyed at GRRM again!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. No M.

First, I want to say that this was a great episode.

Agricola = good game but is WAAAAY overhyped. Its not the second coming of christ. Its a decent if somewhat boring board game.

As for the Off topic GRRM stuff:

I was at the Days of Ice and Fire event this weekend at FFG. (A very informative event by the way) I don't get the impression that he is merely in it for the money at all. He seems to take his writing seriously enough to know that he doesnt want to just print some dreck as fast as the fans want.
I beleive that as a writer he wants to make as much money as he can from his writing, but what writer doesn't? I just really can't blame the guy.

He is an approachable person and rather congenial. The guy can defend himself, but Hokie...wow. Chip on your shoulder much? I think I have read maybe the first two chapters of Ice and Fire and refuse to pick it up until it is finished so I doubt I can be lumped into the group of "his sycophant supporters". But completely unhinged rants like that need a counterbalancing word or two in retort. Besides, why should his life revolve completely around ASoIaF? Wild cards is a fairly amusing series as well who has a small but just as equally rabid fan base. Its nice for them to get some love too.

But then again, the vitriol aimed at him for taking so long from his passionate fans is nothing new, so nothing I am going to say will change anybody's minds. Who needs reason when ranting is so much easier? I know I am sure guilty of that myself more often than not.

Hellfury wrote:

I was at the Days of Ice and Fire event this weekend at FFG. (A very informative event by the way) I don't get the impression that he is merely in it for the money at all. He seems to take his writing seriously enough to know that he doesnt want to just print some dreck as fast as the fans want.
I beleive that as a writer he wants to make as much money as he can from his writing, but what writer doesn't? I just really can't blame the guy.

Problem is, he's stopped wanting make money from his writing (so it would seem) - and he now seems intent on making his money by selling trinkets to the fans who gave him his success.

Hellfury wrote:
He is an approachable person and rather congenial. The guy can defend himself, but Hokie...wow. Chip on your shoulder much? I think I have read maybe the first two chapters of Ice and Fire and refuse to pick it up until it is finished so I doubt I can be lumped into the group of "his sycophant supporters". But completely unhinged rants like that need a counterbalancing word or two in retort. Besides, why should his life revolve completely around ASoIaF? Wild cards is a fairly amusing series as well who has a small but just as equally rabid fan base. Its nice for them to get some love too.

But then again, the vitriol aimed at him for taking so long from his passionate fans is nothing new, so nothing I am going to say will change anybody's minds. Who needs reason when ranting is so much easier? I know I am sure guilty of that myself more often than not.

Uhinged? While there may have been a touch of melodrama in my "rant", tell me where I'm wrong. He actually did sell calendars that were never delivered (though I believe he subsequently canceled all contracts with that company). And he actually did have the gall to dig up water-damaged old calendars and try to sell them to his fans as well.

If you think I have a chip on my shoulder, try these guys: Finish The Book George

I think some of the friction between fans is being driven by Westeros.org - the biggest ASOIAF site. It's a great site - full of a lot of people who know the books backwards and forwards. I'd go there a lot to remind myself of minor plot points, and get interesting theories (for example, on Jon Snow's parentage). However, the site has turned militant in it's defense of GRRM. I don't even think you're allowed to ask about the release date of ADWD there without getting kicked off.

Hey guys, i loved the agricola review so much. not because i care a whit about the game but because russ was so funny.

I'm calling it here. You guys need to have a Magic the gathering review!

Who's with me on this?

MtG Review! Yeah! lol. Actually, I'd rather it didn't happen. I don't want to risk Russ and Craig getting sucked into the M:tG vortex. The chance is small, but I would rue the day I go to do my podcast downloads and see "the D6 Generation" replaced by "The M:tG Generation" I won't say more lest I give the guys any ideas for their April 1 podcast.

George Martin - I'm conflicted. As much as I'd like to see ADWD I find some of the ugliness surrounding the delay offputting (from both the fans and Martin). Martin has a history of developing severe writer's cramp if he loses interest in a project. In the past, he simply put down the project and stopped working on it and moved onto something else. Unfortunately, Westeros is too big for that and the fans a little more demanding. I think he lost his steam about halfway through Crows and it shows in the quality of the story as it turned into a slog. I am content to read the next book when its ready because ADWD is going to be more of the same slog we saw in Crows if he is pushed forward without the vision and inspiration to back it up. Ultimately, I wish he had posessed the discipline to keep the series limited to his original scope of 5 books.

Until it's done there are plenty of other good books out there. "Assassin's Apprentice" by Robin Hobb is one of these and the series is already complete (and there's even a second trilogy focused on the same main character complete as well!).

Just throwing in my 2 cents.
As far as feedback, to echo some others, I think the title of Hype or Tripe is a little too severe. There sounded like there was reluctance to cast the vote of Tripe. Because the intention is to gauge if a product is worthy of the hype, maybe something as simple as hot or cold, or just excited vs unexcited. I know I would have no problem telling people I am unexcited about something, but I'd probably be reluctant to call anything I have not played tripe for the world to hear.

I think everything else on the show is going great. The sound quality is good. Although I think I would have to skip an episode if there were a Magic review. I can't stomach that game. I've also lost gamer friends to the lure of the little cardboard heroin packs. I'd hate to see them sucked back in again after listening to a new review on a general gaming podcast.

On the topic of GRRM, yes, someone needs to sit that guy in front of a laptop in a Starbucks and feed him caffeine until he makes some pretty darn good headway into the next book. Maybe a scone for every chapter completed as a little treat. I picked up the Assassin's Apprentice gift set last year and have not gotten around to reading it, glad it seems some like minded individuals are giving it a thumbs up. I do like that the podcast and follow-up discussions throw book ideas around every once in a while. There is a lot of crap out there in the Sci-fi and fantasy section of the book store. It is good to hear a few pre-screened recommendations to avoid the zombie detective novels that they try to fool me into buying.

This ran a tad long, hope it is coherent, I am drinking my AM coffee.

Oh, and I have been digging the Hollywood Minute stuff. Switching from the play by podcast to the other randomness seems to keep HD into the swing of both.

Vin

Y'know...I don't think I'd mind a MtG review either. I've no interest in the game at all. I've nothing against the game, but my year-or-so stint as a retailer caused me to develop quite an aversion to the players.

There's some pretty popular games out there that could use the D6 review treatment. I realize the guys don't have the time to pick up and learn games they also have no interest in, but what about bringing in a guest reviewer from time to time. Raef can head up MtG perhaps along with another local player. How about a Heroclix review? It's a better game than many give it credit for...

Hey, guys. Thanks for keeping the feedback coming. I'll tell you flat out I won't be involved in a MTG review. But maybe if you pay a charity enough Russ will jump in

As for GRRM, I've never met the man, obviously, and although I'm a huge fan of the books I'm not really a fanboi by any stretch of the imagination. I hadn't heard about the calendars etc., and that does seem pretty shady, but as for inferring anything about his personality from that . . . I wouldn't go there only because, like I said, I don't know him.

It is frustrating, but there are plenty of books out there I'm enjoying a great deal, so I figure I'll get the next book someday, or not.

As for a guest reviewer . . . that sounds interesting . . . that might make sense at some point . . . I'm sure we'll discuss it.

Thanks again guys!

~Craig

Oh, and I forgot to mention, Michael Moorcock wrote a book a LONG time ago, one of his Eternal Champion series, called Nomad of the Timestreams, which takes place in an alternate reality where WWI never happened and war is waged using massive blimps and huge armored land ships . . . sound familiar? I ordered an omnibus copy from Amazon.com for $10 including shipping. Hasn't gotten here yet, but I'm really looking forward to it!

So I thought I'd throw this in the mix - it's a little pricey but ran into them at Gen Con and Mayday Games (Not Mayfair) is making a wooden box that stores pretty much all of the animeeples for games like Agricola. Link -http://maydaygames.com/gaming-accessories/tokens-category/premium-euro-token-farmer-animeeple-281-piece-wooden-box-set-preorder.html. I love Agricola and would love to see something like this in the base game, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

Thanks for tuning me into the Honor Harrington series - about half way through book 2 and enjoy it so far. Also a big fan of Jim Butcher, but his Dresden world is far superior to the Alera story.

I have to agree with some of the comments about the naming of Hype or Tripe being a little harsh. I love the idea of the segment, but it's a little harsh to call something you haven't played worthless or possibly offensive. I'm a proponent of using words for what they mean and not compromising for the sake of a rhyme. Just my opinion though.

Thanks for the great enjoyment - commute sucks a little less because of it!

Jon

Howdy Everyone,

Thanks again for the great feedback.

That "I'm on a boat" video was pure win!! Got a good laugh...so thanks.

Glad to hear most folks enjoyed the Agricola review. I was nervous about it because it was so different than what we normally do, and I wanted to be sure I came across as fair as possible.

Also, sorry if it came across like I was shutting down Raef on why he liked the game. I was actually trying to shut down myself... I've grown up around farmers and know a few folks in "big agriculture." I also had the advantage of seeing a bit farther into Raef's bullets than I let him get.

I was afraid, since I have very different political views than he does on this topic, that if I let him go any farther, I'd be unable to resist debating him and challenging some of his premises. That would have lead to possibly 30 minutes about farming politics and we would not have had time to review the game.

So that's what happened, but I probably should have reviewed his bullets more throughly worked with him to tweak that section. Although we do sometimes like to let that stuff on the air and see what happens.

To be fair, Agricola really is NOT about the politics of farming. So I was a bit confused by the tangent. I thought it was like saying "I enjoy Pillars of the Earth because I enjoy the politics of religion." Pillars has NOTHING to do with the politics of religion. It is about building a Cathedral.

I'm not liking the Hype or Tripe name that much. I think something simpler like Play or Pass would work better. You can talk about upcoming games and just say whether you'd like to play it or indicate your disinterest in it by saying you'd take a pass and not play. Keeps the idea of the segment, but loses the negativity.

bbb wrote:I'm not liking the Hype or Tripe name that much. I think something simpler like Play or Pass would work better. You can talk about upcoming games and just say whether you'd like to play it or indicate your disinterest in it by saying you'd take a pass and not play. Keeps the idea of the segment, but loses the negativity.

I like this suggestion a lot - seems to hit the nail on the head as far as the intended feel of the segment.

That's the damnable thing about language - words bring their own baggage along.


All the angst re: GRRM makes me glad I put down the first book once he offended my rabid grammarian sensibilities. Describe four additional shadows as "twins of the first"? Not in my town, buster!

I'll tell you flat out I won't be involved in a MTG review. But maybe if you pay a charity enough Russ will jump in

craig, the fans DEMAND, a review of MtG. are you going to deny us?

Um . . . yes . . . yes I am . . .

There are very few things I would deny you all . . . but this is one of them.

It's a question of principals, after all. :p

Well, it's not just the calendar thing that has made me jaded towards GRRM, he's made a number of posts where I didn't particularly care for his attitude. But part of it might be the virulence of his defenders - and to have them color my opinion of him as a person isn't fair. Enough about GRRM, you're absolutely right that there are other authors and other books out there to read in the meantime. A quick list -

Robert Jordan - The Wheel of Time series. I'm only putting this up in the 0.0001% chance you haven't heard of it. It has it's ups and downs - and it's detractors - for sure, but I think the last few books have got the series righted again, and I was impressed with the work that the replacement author, Brandon Sanderson, did with the last book. In fact the penultimate book just came out, so the series should finally be finished next year. I think some of the flaws of the middle books might not be as glaring if you were to read the series straight through.

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn Trilogy. I just picked him up because he was picked to finish the Jordan series, and I thought I'd check him out. I was not terribly impressed with his standalone novel, Elantris, but I thought the Mistborn trilogy was solid, and had an interesting magic system.

Patrick Rothfuss - Name of the Wind. I think you guys may have mentioned this on the show. Excellent debut for the author, the first book in a trilogy(?). I think the 2nd book is due out in the spring.

Guy Gavriel Kay - Any of his books. His early claim to fame was finishing up the Silmarillion after Tolkien died. But his standalone works are excellent. The only ones I didn't care for were his first trilogy, "The Fionavar Tapestry" - it's a "modern kids find themselves in a fantasy world" story, and I think it shows that he was a new author at the time. But it still has lots of fans, and it's not bad by any means. If I was to pick one, I would recommend starting with "Lions of Al-Rassan" and going from there.

Brian Ruckley - "The Godless World" trilogy. Harsh characters in a harsh landscape...another excellent debut by a first author, in my opinion.

Joe Abercrombie - "The First Law" trilogy. GRRM has inspired authors of fantasy to tackle more adult themes, and have characters that are not so black and white. Abercrombie does an excellent job of this in "The First Law", and the standalone "Best Served Cold" (a great revenge book) - you're just not sure who you should be rooting for at times.

I also second the Robin Hobb nomination above.

Ok, fine! Another numbered list it is, then!

1- Matt Rendar's recommendation to Raef of Iron Ivan's Disposable Heroes (for 28mm WWII wargaming) is right on. I recommend that as well as the Battleground WW2 ruleset by the now defunct Easy Eight Enterprises. If Raef ever posts again, we can discuss. Also, FYI my friend and I played WH40K "Moderns" set in Somalia circa "Blackhawk Down" with Matt at the Warstore Weekend 2010. He is a righteous dude!

2- This George RR Martin "Hate Train" (Woot!Woot!) is really kind of overwhelming- and a bit off-putting. Can't we just blame Raef instead? Ultimately, the slow development of this latest book is probably his fault- we just havent discovered the link yet.

3- Reading the Name of the Wind here as well! Enjoying it very much. Reading it right after David Eddings' Belgariad, which (in case you're wondering) didnt age well. Yuck. Name of the Wind is a great so far and I'm so happy to have Garion, Aunt Pol and the "Old Wolf" out of my life!

4- Russ was in the right steering Raef away from "Industrial Farming vs. Locavore/Organics/traditional farming politics". I agree he strongarmed it a bit, but that was a dead end- it was the right thing to do.

5- Please no MtG review! How about Kingsburg, Betrayal at THoTH, Tannhauser (v2), or Power Grid?
Counting down to the next D6G EP!

Cheers!

Just finished the episode! Another great one, guys. I enjoyed the Agricola review, it brought back some fun memories of when I used to play it at the FLGS. One thing we found, though, is that the experience could be screwed up if you had a player that did some "screwy" things. In this case, we had a guy that we nick-named the Hurricane that always took the first turn option. Every. Single. Turn! It got to the point that we simply refused to play the game with him.

Also, am I the only one that things there should be a gamer soft drink named after the game? When you are tired from a hard day's hoeing and planting, grab an ice cold Agri-Cola!