I guess I should write up our Twilight Imperium game, since not too much else is happening around here lately....

Aaron and I drove to Johnny's, snuck the car in through the security gate, and then waited for him to get back from work. Finally, INXS' "Jitterbug" blaring, he pulled up. After admiring his hand-made hamster cage and newly-framed nekkid lady picture, we got to it.

The first turn of the game was very, very slow, probably taking close to two hours to finish. Thinking about it later, TI isn't the most complicated game in the world, but there are three separate subsystems that each take a lot of time to explain. When you read it from the rulebook it isn't so bad, but trying to get it from an explanation would be a bit overwhelming. I think when I teach it to people in the future I'll do it like this:

1. On the first turn, teach people how to move through space and fight
2. On the second turn, start using the strategies (this is a Puerto Rico-like mechanic wherein everybody takes a specific jeorb and has to execute it sometime during the turn; for example, someone will lead the political phase, etc.).
3. On the third turn, start using the Command Counters, the racial special abilities and the technologies.

Once we got past the hump of learning the rules, the game went pretty smoothly. Actually, it was a lot of fun. My psychic snake people, Aaron's gross moss people, and Johnny's "peaceful" merchants all accumulated tons and tons of ships without having too many fights. Finally I snapped and made a grab for one of Johnny's systems. I took it, but underestimated the ferocity of his lion-like thirst for vengeance and the power of the Planetary Defense Systems. Then I went for Mecatol "Mexico" Rex (the desolated planet in the middle). Johnny promptly kicked my ass there because he'd managed to build these death-star like implements of destruction. Meanwhile, Aaron, whose race was nominally the most warlike, hung back and accumulated tons of victory points by peaceful means. Finally it got to like 1:30 in the morning and we had to go since Aimey had to work in the morning, so Aaron and Johnny had one final dust-up. I forget who won.

Notes:

1. As for their claims that you can do the game in three-four hours, I call bullshit. The shortest I can see, with everybody understanding the rules, is about four hours. I think it would usually take five.
2. Their claims to reduce player downtime were absolutely true. Each individual turn is now relatively short. You never have to wait more than a couple of minutes for your turn to come around.
3. The new Puerto Rico-type system works great; each strategy gives a primary ability to the player who takes it, and a secondary ability to all the other players. You really have to make some tough choices about what you want to accomplish during the turn.
4. The combat is lots of fun (even if Johnny can't execute his 10,000-Carrier strategy anymore). The ships are relatively cheap, so I think even in a game with more fighting, you wouldn't be completely fuxored if you came out on the losing end of a few fights.
5. The great thing was that even though we stopped before the game was over, the end was in sight. Looking over the victory conditions, Aaron (the least militaristic player) probably would have won in about an hour. I don't think we've ever played TI and been anywhere close to finishing!

Jitterbug.

I have a headache and am dizzy from polyurethane fumes

Johnny! We are on tomorrow for Twilight Imperium. I'll come with Aaron whatever time he feels like rolling.

I'll read the rules today. I'd appreciate it if you'd read them too, both to have two heads wrapped around the rules at once and also to avoid "Hey-Jon-let-me-see-the-rulebook"ism. :)

Hey, Eric!

Got a question for you from the Action Team auxiliary club. Janice is interested in starting a database which is linked to the point-of-sale unit like they have at Third Planet. Do you know what type of system they are using?

Back in Black

Johnny, I am sorry I didnt call you back new years day. I had the most fUcT hangover eVar. The champagne was not kind to me nor was the fact that I didnt drink any water. Anyway, Aimey and I would be into coming over Thursday. Although, Aimey will just watch TV or work on some letters instead of engaging in Twilight Imperium, but I will be Dunt-Da-Duh, Imperial. We can bring a side or two for dinner.

A-a-rone

PS Elrock: How is the special project going? I am very curious to see how it turns out. Tis a 'kewl pawty' project.

M-Bike: Where are you these days? Still in LA or moved onto GB?

writing from the crypt... onomicon that is!

I haven't slain any zombies lately and it is giving me some aggression withdrawals, but im staying off the Cmp-otoot-or games for a while. Imperial - Thursday? I'm in! I'll read the manuals when I some spare. I'll check that and raise ya, how's about a BBQ on top of the gaming? I'll make some steaks from the "a can, a man, and a grill" and just bring a dish or so and we can have ourselves a little Grill Luck. What say eh?

Bushes henchmen lost to the action team! Final championship score 53-78.

so how's everyone doing in 2005 so far?

Johnny

Damn! Has everyone been killed by zombies around here?

Johnny and Aaron -- what do you say to Twilight Imperium Thursday or Friday night? Johnny, feel free to read the manual, always good to have backup.

New Years in SF

Fun times hanging out at Jon's place. Heather and scott, Jon's new roomates seemed cordial and pretty relaxed. A few highlights included, Jon's Chicken Chipotle or actually it's chicken, beans, chile and parsley cooked in a stew . It was really good with rice but I liked it more in the flour tortilla as a burrito. (It must have been the beans, but man... the next day, well let's just say it wasn't quite as nice exiting graciously as it went in.) Good still.

-Napoleon Dynomite - Had to stop this movie at the 45 minute mark as we hit midnight but some funny shite (ie Time machine... It doesn't work! I coulda told you that.)

- Squirt Glove
- Texas Holdem'
- Wow demo while jon is drunk -26th level and killing spot monsters
- TTR
- Tofu lasagna
- Airball

Finally... - GODSTORM: wait... under the box, there's more.

That was perhaps the best surprise of the night.

J.

Happy New Year everybody!

For you WFRP fans, here are the designer notes for the upcoming WFRP v. 2. Just scroll down the page a bit.

Well, I have a few minutes here, so I thought I'd jot some notes down...

But first a season's greeting from Blizzard's fan art section. Hope it doesn't mess up the blog again!!!



Anyway, it's turned out to be a pretty good year for me. The first part was aggravating and frustrating because I felt stuck in my parents' basement. But now that I'm finally up here, it feels like a fresh start. Of course I'm glad that I have backup up here! Yesterday Enron came by and together we kicked ass on the staining that I hadn't done. It's astounding how much less of a chore these things are with someone else around.

Originally I was going to a big party with my old roommate Ranjit, but I waited to buy my ticket and then the price went up from $30 and $40 and the drinks were only free until 10:00 anyway, so I have a feeling I would've ended up spending tons of money....

My relationship with World of Warcraft has finally calmed down. I still like it tremendously, but I don't feel the all-consuming need to play it all the time that I did. It's transitioned from a torrid fling into a long-term relationship. For the sake of my human relationships, my job search, and my physique, this is probably a good thing. Although when the PVP Battlegrounds come out, things might get scary again.

All in all, I'm really positive about the New Year! Sure I'm unemployed and poor, but I'm here! So, hope everyone else is feeling positive, and I'll see you all in 2005!

Wretched Sleep And Year end Recap

Last night I had the worst sleeplessness ever. Not only because I couldn't sleep but because of the few recurring brain activities. (It was like the dripping water torture on Donald duck)

1st - Too much poker. I played until 2 am last night and was up most of the night and on the last few hands managed to break even by making a few bonehead bets. I managed to learn a few antonyms of poker though which shouldn't be broken and works pretty well. All night though, I was betting Cathoders and kept thinking "if I bet a cathoder, they wont' bluff me." Weird.

2nd - Never eat half of tub of ice cream before bed and as a late night poker snack. Do'h. All night my stomach churned and had massive gas buildup. Every 30 seconds I shot some dry gas. It didn't stink though which was a good thing and finally at around 6:30 the farts felt a little juicier and I went to the potty. Felt good. I came up with a formula on Gas or (nitrous oxide)

Gaseous O2 = H20 + I2C2 (ice cream: half tub) + N2 = CO + NO + Non smelly gas

3rd - Kill the Hamster: One thing I hate about hamsters is they are naturally a nighttime animal. Great. So in the daytime, they sleep and make no noise. In the nighttime, THEY ANNOY THE **** OUT OF YOU BY RUNNING THE F-ING TREADMILL. I wish galoob will make a silent treadmill instead of the ones that makes that annoying churning sound.

4th - I'm getting sick. My nose is runny and my head hurts from insomnia. Today if New years eve and I was actually looking forward to hanging out. Now I'm not so sure.

and finally 5th - This didn't bother me as much, but I got the laid off gotta do something anxiety after watching most/all the short flash cartoons on Oddtodd.com. This passed an hour later. Gotta learn and write flash, program HTML, build a awesome web portal... yadda yadda. Then I was okay again.

That's all. I'm tired as heck.

YEAR END SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS-

1) I have been a good boy this year. No insane collusions with the devil or the mafia.

2) I am about to sell the largest stock loss in my portfolio. A crap stock called XOCM. I think I lost around 8000 dollars on this one. Overall, deducting this horrid choice of stock, this year I think I came out ahead. I'll see my year end tally.

3) Joblessness- Wow.. I've been "unofficially" unemployed (off the government statistics since it was a voluntary quitting) for a little over a year now. That's so odd to me, anyone else?

4) I am going to win the Yahoo sports fantasy football. I have rearranged my team solely to defeat the action team. This will set the precedence in 2005! Get ready for some canned ass-woopin.

5) Discovered Latex - o wait... that was already done.

ok... i'm tired and babbling. I'm going back to sleep now.

Johnny

Oh, and by the way..


For my unemployed or unhappily employed brothers, I highly recommend www.oddtodd.com as a limitless source of mirth.

Wait, I told that wrong..


On Party Poker, the main problem you have to deal with is the rake and patience. Even if you play the odds correctly you will only win about 1BB per hour and that's if you're really, really good unless you're playing against totally incompetent opponents anyway. The only way to reliably make money is to "grind it out".. otherwise it's more or less a crap shoot gamble. Unfortunately, that means that it takes 6-8 hours a day to make any money and then only if you can afford to risk playing at the mid-to-high limit stakes tables when it's strongly recommended that you hold at least 300BB to play at a given level so you can ride out the highs and the lows in your statistical progression through life as a poker player.

Playing no-limit is likely to win a lot more money but equally as likely to lose a lot more money. It's almost a completely different game from limit poker.

I played on PP for a few months at the low-limit stuff and did ok, but we're talking about building up a small, small bankroll of about $50 to $150 in a little over a month which isn't exactly ruling the world. I just don't have the patience or inclination to sit there and grind it out on 2-3 simultaneous tables to make any money at it. I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather play for fun once in a while and win or lose as I go. So, I guess that makes me a fish.. but at least a fish with a few teeth.. hehe..

The holidays are exhausting, I like to see my family but I've been up and down to LA so much that it's been a hassle. I really wish either Thanksgiving or Christmas were more towards the middle of the year so my family visits would be more spread out.

My family functions are blessedly free of the kind of harassment that seems prevalent at so many families' holidays. I think there are two reasons for this: 1. no booze, 2. everybody in the part of the family I spend holidays with is pretty mellow. We're all passive-aggressive. Instead of arguing, we plot in the shadows and wait. I'm kidding.

Due to various factors nobody had any time for Christmas Shopping, so besides the Swiffer, my parents basically gave me 200 bucks and said "buy yourself somethin' nice." I'm planning to carefully track my purchases from this pool and then submit an itemized list, which so far consists of:

1. "Time Off! The Unemployed Guide to San Francisco" -- $21.65
2. Classic Pin-Ups: 2005 Calendar (thanks, ma!) -- $14.09

Hopefully some gaming goodness will be added to this list.

OMGSTFULOLWTF!?


So, I've survived a week-long foray into the land of the out(in)-laws with nary a scratch, but I still feel like I've been beaten daily with an aluminum bat the entire week I've been gone. Christmas was good, visited with my fam a bit and spent the rest of the time donning my flak jacket and hoping the outlaws weren't going to start pistol whipping one another. The funny thing is, they're really quite pleasant one on one but if you get the whole pack together, they start acting like hyenas. Ugh. I'll try to type/talk more later when I have some time.

Nice ornaments below.. woot!

Hey keeds!

Well, it was nice to see approx. 3/4 of The Action Team the other day, especially the elusive Dr. Michael Anderson! Big-Ass Wok is always good for a big-ass stomachache. I hope everybody had great holidays. I got some awesome adult-type stuff like a Swiffer, some socks, and a lasagna pan, and was honestly thrilled to get every one. Also some anonymous wag in my family gave me a gingham apron to celebrate my move to San Francisco.

Despite missing my flight by an hour and twenty minutes, leaving my keys at home, and interminable transit delays, I'm finally back home in my newly-Swiffered room enjoying a fine cup of hand-roasted coffee. I hope you LA kids can come up to the Bay Area for a mammoth Action Team event! As long as you don't mind sleeping bags, there is a -ton- of room at my place. I can make espresso upon demand, and you can admire my roommate's fine handmade rugs.

It was nice to see Azeroth once again as well! :( I'm sure I'll play again tonight, although my participation might be limited because one of my roommates is threatening to run D&D.

Oh, and here's a fine picture from the car ride to GenCon that I thought I would share, to demonstrate the depths of depravity found in Enron's pervmobile.

HAppy Holidays!

I've been too lazy to do a proper Blog post, but thought I'd give it a go. Anyways, how you been Art??? How's the family? You guys have a mellow xmas or what?

Jael: How'd that bidness trip go? You get some T.H.'s or what? ;)

Mike: Dude, sorry I missed the gamin/lunch today, but next weekend I should be pretty free so maybe u eric and I can hangout!

WoW related: You WoW peeps need to get the Cosmos UI Mod: www.cosmosui.org It gives me a left and right vertical spell bars (instead of flipping thru the lower one) and all kinds of other goodies like being able to make MAP notes (like for Greenwardenm, etc) AND it even has an alarm clock, so I can set it to one hour to make sure I don't game too much! :) slash cry

-Rico