Ben Freeman
from Charlottesville, Virginia is reading everything I canJanuary 27, 2013 - 6:25pm
A friend of mine ordered a samurai sword off the internet for "protection."
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsJanuary 27, 2013 - 6:28pm
A kid I went to high school with got arrested recently for chasing after kids with a samurai sword.
Wonder Woman
from RI is reading 20th Century GhostsJanuary 27, 2013 - 7:15pm
When you say RPG, my mind automatically thinks of tabletop games. I miss playing D&D and would love to be back in a group. Schedule just doesn't permit these days. Plus, 4th editions sucks.
And samurai swords just serve as a reminder that The Walking Dead is back on soon!
lspieller
from Los Angeles
January 27, 2013 - 7:23pm
Love you guys, but I have no idea what any of you are talking about throughout this entire page.
Ditto, Dino. Ditto.
Also, Leah -- I collect shot glasses from different states/cities. I'm not saying that proudly.
Gordon Highland
from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher MooreJanuary 27, 2013 - 7:39pm
Flash writing in progress. Time will tell, but the unconvincing Buck Swope best sums up my feelings:
OtisTheBulldog
from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazJanuary 27, 2013 - 7:44pm
When I was a boy and my parents were at work I'd play with my grandfather's WW2 era marine sword. I'd take it outside and trim the hedges. One day I swung it around to stab it into the ground and I stabbed it into my ankle. I still have the scar. I'm not allowed to play with swords anymore.
Dino Parenti
from Los Angeles is reading Everything He Gets His Hands OnJanuary 27, 2013 - 8:00pm
Thanks, Otis. I think I'm a different type of nerd. I see RPG, I think Rocket Propelled Grenade. I think of a ton of useless information (unless you're a writer, that is).
Love the nerds though. My last girlfriend wasn't nerd enough, unfortunately.
lspieller
from Los Angeles
January 27, 2013 - 8:08pm
Gah, Gordon. You're wigging me out with your well chosen pop culture references. KEEP YOUR HAPPINESS TO YOURSELF.
Gordon Highland
from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher MooreJanuary 27, 2013 - 8:13pm
One of these days I'll tell a story using nothing but memes, and it will unfortunately be my most precise, insightful creation ever.
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 27, 2013 - 8:14pm
Chris, If you're calling 8 bad it can only be because you've not played it through. You have to give it a chance! 8 is one of my favourites. I haven't much cared for anything after 10, though (I liked X-2 for the completion of the 10 story but it was a different beast), and I agree it's Sound that 7 kind of spoiled the genre (though in other ways it improved it, too).
Otis, thanks for validating my nerdiness. I'm not just a hot chick in glasses (real nerds hate their glasses).
WW: I've been playing tabletop for years, and love it. Babies and marriage keep destroying my groups these days, so boo.
And re: swords. Last year a dude in Minneapolis stabbed another dude with a "samurai sword" after "a dispute at a gathering". My first thought upon reading the news was, "A katana or a tantou?" and my second was, "This was clearly a gaming session gone bad."
dufrescm
from Wisconsin is reading Do Androids Dream of Electric SheepJanuary 27, 2013 - 8:33pm
Emme, I would have thought the same things about the stabbing :D
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeJanuary 27, 2013 - 8:42pm
The Asian dating ads on the right side of the screen are totally unrelated to the gaming talk.
Just a coincidence.
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 27, 2013 - 9:00pm
Birds of a feather, then, m'dear!
JEFFREY GRANT BARR
from Central OR is reading Nothing but fucking Shakespeare, for the rest of my lifeJanuary 27, 2013 - 9:56pm
I had no idea swords were a thing. Is that a thing? You krazy kids and your kollege kutups.
My weekly RPG group has played these games in the past 6 months:
AD&D ( 2nd ed. my pick)
D&D 3rd ed, (4th does suck)
Fate
Toon (super fun)
Paranoia (xp)
Exalted
We also play a lot of M:TG, and deck-building/board games: Settlers, Dominion, Tanto Cuore, and my favorite, Penny Arcade Here are the upcoming games in the rotation: Star Frontiers, Gamma World, D&D (box set), Top Secret, Call of Cthulu.
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsJanuary 27, 2013 - 10:54pm
I just printed hardcopies of my War stories along with four older ones to do some line editing. I forgot to enter in some sort of version of the titles in the headers though, and I've already lost track of the page orders. Reading them like this is surreal.
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 27, 2013 - 11:44pm
Weekly, JGB? Now you're just bragging. Love Cthulhu. AD&D 2nd edition will always be home, but my group (which never meets due to the aforementioned babies) is on 4.5 and I'm finding the bright patches. Deva and aasimar as PC's? Yes, please. Weak-ass PC's, but PC's. However, I will always miss my THAC0, and FUCK GRAPPLING.
I've been dying to play Shadowrun and Earthdawn again. They've got the best magic system, as far as I'm concerned.
I've been known to lose entire weekends to Dominion.
Ahem. Carry on, people.
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeJanuary 28, 2013 - 12:07am
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeJanuary 28, 2013 - 12:17am
I played a few way back, but I don't miss tabletop games at all.
I think Earthdawn had some great concepts going.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersJanuary 28, 2013 - 7:15am
Oh! Oh! I can participate sorta kinda! I played FF 8. I mean, it's the only one I ever played. But I liked it fine.
TomMartinArt
from Amherst, MA
January 28, 2013 - 8:27am
I spent my twenties deep in D&D. I DM'd a campaign that went from level 1 to level 20, and wrote up regular stories for the outcome. In the end I had dozens of devoted readers, 56 game sessions of campaign told and a long-assed story. I just checked the wordcount: 252,335
I say this like I'm proud, but really it's a self-defense mechanism against realizing that I really did spend my twenties as a D&D dude.
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 28, 2013 - 8:28am
Rock on, Avery!
Tom: 1-20? That's impressive!
leah_beth
from New Jersey - now in Charleston, SC is reading five different books at once.January 28, 2013 - 9:33am
I once hung out with an ex-boyfriend and his D&D group while they created characters and got ready to play. But they never actually *started* playing, so I got bored and left.
Does that count?
lspieller
from Los Angeles
January 28, 2013 - 9:43am
i <3 Leah's short attention span
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 28, 2013 - 9:51am
Oh, Leah. D&D is what got me into Buffy. After we gamed each week in high school, the guys would stick around to watch it, and I usually needed a ride home from one of them so I was stuck. Had fun making fun of her awful first season clothes and hair, got hooked along the way.
Wonder Woman
from RI is reading 20th Century GhostsJanuary 28, 2013 - 9:55am
See, I miss those sessions, Tom. Your game night and The Unusual Heroes game were my favorites. None of the new editions have the same feel. 2nd edition is where I started, 3 and 3.5 were fun. 4 strips the game of all it's life, in my opinon, and is simply not the same game.
My husband just started running Pathfinder for his group last week, but I'm on pixie duty. No game for me. At this point, I haven't played in a few years. My last gaming group was a 4e and I honestly wasn't to sad to see it end.
leah_beth
from New Jersey - now in Charleston, SC is reading five different books at once.January 28, 2013 - 10:51am
Lauren, I <3 you! And Emma! And Buffy! Because who DOESN'T love Buffy?
I was about to tell a true story about babysitting for people who were friends with Buffy/SMG in real life and, like, had candids of her on their fridge...then I realized many of you live in LA and probably, like, have breakfast with Buffy/SMG in real life once a week.
My stories are lame.
lspieller
from Los Angeles
January 28, 2013 - 11:49am
TELL ME THOSE STORIES NOW.
XyZy
from New York City is reading Seveneves and Animal MoneyJanuary 28, 2013 - 11:49am
Let me ooze some nerd sauce on this nerd pie. (Wow... that sounds disgusting.)
FFVII is the only one I purposefully put down, and not for story (which from what I've gathered second hand is great) or because of mechanics (though I cringe at the thought of grinding out materia) but because of the graphics. Those early PS1 fill-the-screen-with-polygons-because-we-can scenes made my head hurt. Especially as they were the ugliest polygons they could have used. I always assumed I'd go back and actually finish it, but I still never have.
For my money VI was the best and XII was the most disappointing; not because it was bad, but because the guy who made Tactics and Vagrant Story should have made a better Final Fantasy game.
@Liana - DAoC was fun. I think it had the best faction/realm and world pvp system of any MMO. I think it's still running too. I keep meaning to look into Mechwarrior online though.
As for poor, poor ex-TSR properties, they each had their moments. I started with AD&D and played them all through 4th edition and while it was certainly the biggest change to the system (even more drastic than 3rd where we all bitched about them taking away our thac0, and then secretly loved them for it) in a lot of ways, it made sense. But for me the system was never what made those games fun, it was the groups. My favorite D&D games were from all editions: the AD&D game where we used two GMs because we had 20 players and split them into two groups working against each other, the 2nd ed. game when they introduced Ravenloft and the GM converted us into random undead, the 3rd edition game where I went through 3 characters in one night (one drowning, one possessed, and one killed by another party member,) and even my short stint of 4th had its moments: the halfling paladin with a satchel full of "throwing-gauntlets" who'd scream "the power of Tyr compels you!" while charging into combat, for example.
For me, none of the systems were any better than any of the other systems, because it was always when we broke the system, and were trying to do something that wasn't accounted for that was the most fun. We usually fell back on "If it'd look good in the comic book, we'd find a way make it work."
Except for the World of Darkness systems. Those were probably the most perfect/flexible role-playing systems I'd ever played or ran. (Except for Saturday Night Fire Fight which isn't so much a game as the combat mechanic from Cyberpunk 2020.) I never got a chance to explore Exalted as much as I'd have liked, but it was the same system. JBG also mentioned Paranoia, Toon, and Call of Cthulu... and those are hella fun games too.
@JY - That is interesting. Shadowrun was a neat world, and 2D turn-based games need to make a comeback; I miss X-Com something fierce.
@Tom - I hope you now feel better about being a D&D dude in your twenties... if not, I can also throw in my short adventures in LARP/Storyteller games and long debates about whether Shogun or Axis and Allies was the better board game... (The answer is Shogun, but if you're going to break out that many minatures anyway, Warhammer 40k is the way to go.)
So... anyone play Go?
Oh, wait... stories. How are you non-ousted writers liking the prompts?
Gordon Highland
from Kansas City is reading Secondhand Souls by Christopher MooreJanuary 28, 2013 - 11:54am
Also, vampires are real.
I was listening to Joss Whedon's commentary on the Avengers disc over the weekend, and in detailing one of ScarJo's scenes, he said it was basically a microcosm of his entire career: the seemingly-overmatched girl who turns out to be stronger than everyone in the room. So true.
I played a little D&D when I was 10 or 11, then moved on to something called Top Secret, which was like D&D for James Bond fans. Now all I gots is a PS2 and maybe a couple bouts of Madden per year.
JEFFREY GRANT BARR
from Central OR is reading Nothing but fucking Shakespeare, for the rest of my lifeJanuary 28, 2013 - 12:08pm
I used to love Top Secret! Such a great game.
we all bitched about them taking away our thac0, and then secretly loved them for it
The hell you say. Good day, sir!
I said good day!
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterJanuary 28, 2013 - 12:28pm
I take it nobody is writing today.
OtisTheBulldog
from Somerville, MA is reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot DiazJanuary 28, 2013 - 12:34pm
I haven't even figured out what my story is about. I have til tomorrow. I've procrastinated to the final 12, why change up the process.
lspieller
from Los Angeles
January 28, 2013 - 12:57pm
Also, vampires are real.
I was listening to Joss Whedon's commentary on the Avengers disc over the weekend, and in detailing one of ScarJo's scenes, he said it was basically a microcosm of his entire career: the seemingly-overmatched girl who turns out to be stronger than everyone in the room. So true.
SWOON.
TomorrowHill
from Newfoundland, Canada is reading your mind. You like Castlevania, don't you?January 28, 2013 - 12:59pm
Leah: I finished 8, and I really, reeeeeeally wanted to like it, but I just didn't. I hated drawing magic for attributes, I hated taking tests for money, I hated that every summon animation lasted for about ten minutes, the phrase "Chicken Wuss..." It just all felt wrong to me.
Oh, and know what always annoyed the crap out of me with the story? Okay, so you get Irvine, this crackshot sniper, and your entire plan is to basically get in position and assassinate the sorceress, right? So you get him in position, he fires, and she blocks the bullet with her crazy-magic-shield-powers. Directly after this cutscene, you run down to fight her, and Irvine's default attack is TO SHOOT PEOPLE WITH HIS RIFLE! So you completely shift gears from "this one bullet will change the course of history!" to "POINT BLANK SHOT TO THE FACE! ...for 30 points of damage."
I realize that I'm putting way too much thought into game logic (why couldn't they just use a Phoenix Down on Aries?, etc.) but I always thought that was weird.
Also, XyZy, for my money, you're right - FF6 is the best game in the series. "Gotta wait for Shadow..."
Ben Freeman
from Charlottesville, Virginia is reading everything I canJanuary 28, 2013 - 1:53pm
I never played FF but FFVII came out on 9/9/99 and the only reason I know that is because The Sega Dreamcast came out the same day and I saved up and bought a dreamcast and all my friends got FF VII. They had rich, fun, FF adventures and I had a fucking console that they'd make like 5 games for and then discontinue. Fuck Sega post the Genesis.
dufrescm
from Wisconsin is reading Do Androids Dream of Electric SheepJanuary 28, 2013 - 2:20pm
The Dreamcast terrified me because every commercial ended with a whispered "It's thinking." Scary.
TomorrowHill
from Newfoundland, Canada is reading your mind. You like Castlevania, don't you?January 28, 2013 - 2:40pm
Yeah, it's thinking, "Why don't I have third-party support?"
Hey-oh!
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 28, 2013 - 6:23pm
My thumbs went numb playing NHL 2K1 on the DC. Numb, like I had to go to the doctor and they made me stop playing for 2 weeks. Those damn nubby plastic thumb toggles. And the memory cards with the screen. Sega, your dreams were too big for this small, small world.
Chris: On FFVIII, valid points, all. I had to Gameshark because 80% in I met a boss I couldn't beat because I'd not sufficiently levelled up my entire party before they were split in two and I'd not kept a save before the Point of No Return. That was a nightmare, but the ending was worth it.
leah_beth
from New Jersey - now in Charleston, SC is reading five different books at once.January 28, 2013 - 6:24pm
Ok, Chris - your comment to me went WAAAAY over my head, so I am assuming it was meant perhaps for Emma? If memory serves she mentioned an 8 in one of her nerdy comments. :)
I'm the one with the short attention span who had to leave a D&D came because there was NOTHING GOING ON. :)
GIve me comic book movies any day...
TomorrowHill
from Newfoundland, Canada is reading your mind. You like Castlevania, don't you?January 28, 2013 - 6:56pm
Gah! Sorry, Leah. That comment was indeed meant for Emme. I'm just so focused on our match that I've started writing your name everywhere. In blood. On my pets. Honestly, It's starting to get weird. Ditto on comic book movies, though. Did you hear that crazy rumour about Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler being considered for roles in Guardians of the Galaxy? Insane.
And Emme (yes, Emme) :) I'll give you that the ending was pretty amazing. I remember being absolutely blown away by the animation at the time. It was like watching the future.
But Dreamcast, now that was something. I wish I could have my Chao garden back. VMU's - never forget.
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeJanuary 28, 2013 - 10:04pm
@XyZy --- For me, the 2D isometric jams never stopped. With handheld and mobile games, and so many indie developers, I think we see way more 2D than many people might have anticipated ten years ago.
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 28, 2013 - 11:15pm
In honour of all this nerd talk, I just had to bring Jenova to the party. Story written.
Jonathan Riley
from Memphis, Tennessee is reading Flashover by Gordon Highland January 29, 2013 - 12:17am
Story submitted. Now I must sleep.
leah_beth
from New Jersey - now in Charleston, SC is reading five different books at once.January 29, 2013 - 5:59am
Chris, I know, right? "TomorrowHill" keeps appearing every time I close my eyes...it's like a plague...only creepier. That said, it does sound like the title of a good horror flick, though, so I'm not too concerned...maybe it'll provide inspiration! :)
And YES - I heard that - sorta strange, but sometimes people surprise me. And Jersey girl that I am, I have a special place in my heart for Adam Sandler, as he sometimes reminds e of my brother...
dufrescm
from Wisconsin is reading Do Androids Dream of Electric SheepJanuary 29, 2013 - 8:16am
New stories to read today, right?
Bekanator
from Kamloops, British Columbia is reading Ugly Girls by Lindsay HunterJanuary 29, 2013 - 8:29am
Tonight, I believe.
I just sent mine in. It's definitely not one I'm confident in. My prompt gave me NOTHING.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersJanuary 29, 2013 - 8:57am
Wednesday morning
Class Facilitator
Emma C
from Los Angeles is reading Black Spire by Delilah DawsonJanuary 29, 2013 - 9:07am
I'm quite excited for these matchups, which should make for the toughest voting yet.
JEFFREY GRANT BARR
from Central OR is reading Nothing but fucking Shakespeare, for the rest of my lifeJanuary 29, 2013 - 12:08pm
Well if it's due today, I should probably write something!
H.I.Marcuson
from Toulouse is reading a book on spellingJanuary 29, 2013 - 12:13pm
Wow, I drop back in for the first time in a while and your talking RPG's. For me, from 15 to 30 yrs of age it was WHFRP CoC and of course Paranoia.
I still have fantastic memories of GMing 12 player games of CoC in the games workshop basement of the Royal Mile. A4 tombstones on the wall behind me and a musty draft blowing through the hole in the wall which led to Edinburghs undercity.
A friend of mine ordered a samurai sword off the internet for "protection."
A kid I went to high school with got arrested recently for chasing after kids with a samurai sword.
When you say RPG, my mind automatically thinks of tabletop games. I miss playing D&D and would love to be back in a group. Schedule just doesn't permit these days. Plus, 4th editions sucks.
And samurai swords just serve as a reminder that The Walking Dead is back on soon!
Ditto, Dino. Ditto.
Also, Leah -- I collect shot glasses from different states/cities. I'm not saying that proudly.
Flash writing in progress. Time will tell, but the unconvincing Buck Swope best sums up my feelings:
When I was a boy and my parents were at work I'd play with my grandfather's WW2 era marine sword. I'd take it outside and trim the hedges. One day I swung it around to stab it into the ground and I stabbed it into my ankle. I still have the scar. I'm not allowed to play with swords anymore.
Thanks, Otis. I think I'm a different type of nerd. I see RPG, I think Rocket Propelled Grenade. I think of a ton of useless information (unless you're a writer, that is).
Love the nerds though. My last girlfriend wasn't nerd enough, unfortunately.
Gah, Gordon. You're wigging me out with your well chosen pop culture references. KEEP YOUR HAPPINESS TO YOURSELF.
One of these days I'll tell a story using nothing but memes, and it will unfortunately be my most precise, insightful creation ever.
Chris, If you're calling 8 bad it can only be because you've not played it through. You have to give it a chance! 8 is one of my favourites. I haven't much cared for anything after 10, though (I liked X-2 for the completion of the 10 story but it was a different beast), and I agree it's Sound that 7 kind of spoiled the genre (though in other ways it improved it, too).
Otis, thanks for validating my nerdiness. I'm not just a hot chick in glasses (real nerds hate their glasses).
WW: I've been playing tabletop for years, and love it. Babies and marriage keep destroying my groups these days, so boo.
And re: swords. Last year a dude in Minneapolis stabbed another dude with a "samurai sword" after "a dispute at a gathering". My first thought upon reading the news was, "A katana or a tantou?" and my second was, "This was clearly a gaming session gone bad."
Emme, I would have thought the same things about the stabbing :D
The Asian dating ads on the right side of the screen are totally unrelated to the gaming talk.
Just a coincidence.
Birds of a feather, then, m'dear!
I had no idea swords were a thing. Is that a thing? You krazy kids and your kollege kutups.
My weekly RPG group has played these games in the past 6 months:
We also play a lot of M:TG, and deck-building/board games: Settlers, Dominion, Tanto Cuore, and my favorite, Penny Arcade Here are the upcoming games in the rotation: Star Frontiers, Gamma World, D&D (box set), Top Secret, Call of Cthulu.
I just printed hardcopies of my War stories along with four older ones to do some line editing. I forgot to enter in some sort of version of the titles in the headers though, and I've already lost track of the page orders. Reading them like this is surreal.
Weekly, JGB? Now you're just bragging. Love Cthulhu. AD&D 2nd edition will always be home, but my group (which never meets due to the aforementioned babies) is on 4.5 and I'm finding the bright patches. Deva and aasimar as PC's? Yes, please. Weak-ass PC's, but PC's. However, I will always miss my THAC0, and FUCK GRAPPLING.
I've been dying to play Shadowrun and Earthdawn again. They've got the best magic system, as far as I'm concerned.
I've been known to lose entire weekends to Dominion.
Ahem. Carry on, people.
this looks cool
I played a few way back, but I don't miss tabletop games at all.
I think Earthdawn had some great concepts going.
Oh! Oh! I can participate sorta kinda! I played FF 8. I mean, it's the only one I ever played. But I liked it fine.
I spent my twenties deep in D&D. I DM'd a campaign that went from level 1 to level 20, and wrote up regular stories for the outcome. In the end I had dozens of devoted readers, 56 game sessions of campaign told and a long-assed story. I just checked the wordcount: 252,335
I say this like I'm proud, but really it's a self-defense mechanism against realizing that I really did spend my twenties as a D&D dude.
Rock on, Avery!
Tom: 1-20? That's impressive!
I once hung out with an ex-boyfriend and his D&D group while they created characters and got ready to play. But they never actually *started* playing, so I got bored and left.
Does that count?
i <3 Leah's short attention span
Oh, Leah. D&D is what got me into Buffy. After we gamed each week in high school, the guys would stick around to watch it, and I usually needed a ride home from one of them so I was stuck. Had fun making fun of her awful first season clothes and hair, got hooked along the way.
See, I miss those sessions, Tom. Your game night and The Unusual Heroes game were my favorites. None of the new editions have the same feel. 2nd edition is where I started, 3 and 3.5 were fun. 4 strips the game of all it's life, in my opinon, and is simply not the same game.
My husband just started running Pathfinder for his group last week, but I'm on pixie duty. No game for me. At this point, I haven't played in a few years. My last gaming group was a 4e and I honestly wasn't to sad to see it end.
Lauren, I <3 you! And Emma! And Buffy! Because who DOESN'T love Buffy?
I was about to tell a true story about babysitting for people who were friends with Buffy/SMG in real life and, like, had candids of her on their fridge...then I realized many of you live in LA and probably, like, have breakfast with Buffy/SMG in real life once a week.
My stories are lame.
TELL ME THOSE STORIES NOW.
Let me ooze some nerd sauce on this nerd pie. (Wow... that sounds disgusting.)
FFVII is the only one I purposefully put down, and not for story (which from what I've gathered second hand is great) or because of mechanics (though I cringe at the thought of grinding out materia) but because of the graphics. Those early PS1 fill-the-screen-with-polygons-because-we-can scenes made my head hurt. Especially as they were the ugliest polygons they could have used. I always assumed I'd go back and actually finish it, but I still never have.
For my money VI was the best and XII was the most disappointing; not because it was bad, but because the guy who made Tactics and Vagrant Story should have made a better Final Fantasy game.
@Liana - DAoC was fun. I think it had the best faction/realm and world pvp system of any MMO. I think it's still running too. I keep meaning to look into Mechwarrior online though.
As for poor, poor ex-TSR properties, they each had their moments. I started with AD&D and played them all through 4th edition and while it was certainly the biggest change to the system (even more drastic than 3rd where we all bitched about them taking away our thac0, and then secretly loved them for it) in a lot of ways, it made sense. But for me the system was never what made those games fun, it was the groups. My favorite D&D games were from all editions: the AD&D game where we used two GMs because we had 20 players and split them into two groups working against each other, the 2nd ed. game when they introduced Ravenloft and the GM converted us into random undead, the 3rd edition game where I went through 3 characters in one night (one drowning, one possessed, and one killed by another party member,) and even my short stint of 4th had its moments: the halfling paladin with a satchel full of "throwing-gauntlets" who'd scream "the power of Tyr compels you!" while charging into combat, for example.
For me, none of the systems were any better than any of the other systems, because it was always when we broke the system, and were trying to do something that wasn't accounted for that was the most fun. We usually fell back on "If it'd look good in the comic book, we'd find a way make it work."
Except for the World of Darkness systems. Those were probably the most perfect/flexible role-playing systems I'd ever played or ran. (Except for Saturday Night Fire Fight which isn't so much a game as the combat mechanic from Cyberpunk 2020.) I never got a chance to explore Exalted as much as I'd have liked, but it was the same system. JBG also mentioned Paranoia, Toon, and Call of Cthulu... and those are hella fun games too.
@JY - That is interesting. Shadowrun was a neat world, and 2D turn-based games need to make a comeback; I miss X-Com something fierce.
@Tom - I hope you now feel better about being a D&D dude in your twenties... if not, I can also throw in my short adventures in LARP/Storyteller games and long debates about whether Shogun or Axis and Allies was the better board game... (The answer is Shogun, but if you're going to break out that many minatures anyway, Warhammer 40k is the way to go.)
So... anyone play Go?
Oh, wait... stories. How are you non-ousted writers liking the prompts?
Also, vampires are real.
I was listening to Joss Whedon's commentary on the Avengers disc over the weekend, and in detailing one of ScarJo's scenes, he said it was basically a microcosm of his entire career: the seemingly-overmatched girl who turns out to be stronger than everyone in the room. So true.
I played a little D&D when I was 10 or 11, then moved on to something called Top Secret, which was like D&D for James Bond fans. Now all I gots is a PS2 and maybe a couple bouts of Madden per year.
I used to love Top Secret! Such a great game.
The hell you say. Good day, sir!
I said good day!
I take it nobody is writing today.
I haven't even figured out what my story is about. I have til tomorrow. I've procrastinated to the final 12, why change up the process.
Leah: I finished 8, and I really, reeeeeeally wanted to like it, but I just didn't. I hated drawing magic for attributes, I hated taking tests for money, I hated that every summon animation lasted for about ten minutes, the phrase "Chicken Wuss..." It just all felt wrong to me.
Oh, and know what always annoyed the crap out of me with the story? Okay, so you get Irvine, this crackshot sniper, and your entire plan is to basically get in position and assassinate the sorceress, right? So you get him in position, he fires, and she blocks the bullet with her crazy-magic-shield-powers. Directly after this cutscene, you run down to fight her, and Irvine's default attack is TO SHOOT PEOPLE WITH HIS RIFLE! So you completely shift gears from "this one bullet will change the course of history!" to "POINT BLANK SHOT TO THE FACE! ...for 30 points of damage."
I realize that I'm putting way too much thought into game logic (why couldn't they just use a Phoenix Down on Aries?, etc.) but I always thought that was weird.
Also, XyZy, for my money, you're right - FF6 is the best game in the series. "Gotta wait for Shadow..."
I never played FF but FFVII came out on 9/9/99 and the only reason I know that is because The Sega Dreamcast came out the same day and I saved up and bought a dreamcast and all my friends got FF VII. They had rich, fun, FF adventures and I had a fucking console that they'd make like 5 games for and then discontinue. Fuck Sega post the Genesis.
The Dreamcast terrified me because every commercial ended with a whispered "It's thinking." Scary.
Yeah, it's thinking, "Why don't I have third-party support?"
Hey-oh!
My thumbs went numb playing NHL 2K1 on the DC. Numb, like I had to go to the doctor and they made me stop playing for 2 weeks. Those damn nubby plastic thumb toggles. And the memory cards with the screen. Sega, your dreams were too big for this small, small world.
Chris: On FFVIII, valid points, all. I had to Gameshark because 80% in I met a boss I couldn't beat because I'd not sufficiently levelled up my entire party before they were split in two and I'd not kept a save before the Point of No Return. That was a nightmare, but the ending was worth it.
Ok, Chris - your comment to me went WAAAAY over my head, so I am assuming it was meant perhaps for Emma? If memory serves she mentioned an 8 in one of her nerdy comments. :)
I'm the one with the short attention span who had to leave a D&D came because there was NOTHING GOING ON. :)
GIve me comic book movies any day...
Gah! Sorry, Leah. That comment was indeed meant for Emme. I'm just so focused on our match that I've started writing your name everywhere. In blood. On my pets. Honestly, It's starting to get weird. Ditto on comic book movies, though. Did you hear that crazy rumour about Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler being considered for roles in Guardians of the Galaxy? Insane.
And Emme (yes, Emme) :) I'll give you that the ending was pretty amazing. I remember being absolutely blown away by the animation at the time. It was like watching the future.
But Dreamcast, now that was something. I wish I could have my Chao garden back. VMU's - never forget.
@XyZy --- For me, the 2D isometric jams never stopped. With handheld and mobile games, and so many indie developers, I think we see way more 2D than many people might have anticipated ten years ago.
In honour of all this nerd talk, I just had to bring Jenova to the party. Story written.
Story submitted. Now I must sleep.
Chris, I know, right? "TomorrowHill" keeps appearing every time I close my eyes...it's like a plague...only creepier. That said, it does sound like the title of a good horror flick, though, so I'm not too concerned...maybe it'll provide inspiration! :)
And YES - I heard that - sorta strange, but sometimes people surprise me. And Jersey girl that I am, I have a special place in my heart for Adam Sandler, as he sometimes reminds e of my brother...
New stories to read today, right?
Tonight, I believe.
I just sent mine in. It's definitely not one I'm confident in. My prompt gave me NOTHING.
Wednesday morning
I'm quite excited for these matchups, which should make for the toughest voting yet.
Well if it's due today, I should probably write something!
Wow, I drop back in for the first time in a while and your talking RPG's. For me, from 15 to 30 yrs of age it was WHFRP CoC and of course Paranoia.
I still have fantastic memories of GMing 12 player games of CoC in the games workshop basement of the Royal Mile. A4 tombstones on the wall behind me and a musty draft blowing through the hole in the wall which led to Edinburghs undercity.
ahh Nostalgia