10 Games To Be Forgotten

image source

As a follow-up on my contribution to the 15 Games That Will Always Stick With Me meme, my better half suggested "10 Games I Would Rather Forget" as a follow up. The rules are a simple modification of the previous ones:

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. List 10 games you've played that somehow didn't click with you. These might good games, but something about them wasn't fun, a game that just didn't reach its best potential, or even a bad experience with a game you really like. List the first 10 you can recall in no more than ten minutes. Pass the meme along if you can, and link back so other can follow the responses (or just post them here).

To be clear, I intend to include games I like and play,

1. Striker (GDW) - Miniatures rules for Traveller, with a detailed construction system that let you create you own soldiers, weapons, armored vehicles and aircraft in the full range of Traveller tech levels. VERY COOL. The down side is that it came with no very little in the way of pre-designed soldiers, weapons, armored vehicles, or aircraft, so if you wanted to play you had to create all of these things for yourself. This meant hours of paperwork and hand-calculations (this was 1981) to create the gun you wanted to mount in a fast scout tank, only to find out that it was too heavy and you have to redesign the gun or redesign the tank. Very frustrating. File this under "Too far ahead of it's time."
2. D&D - Yes, this was on my "Stick With Me" list too, but this time I am specifically referring to persons or player groups that were just unbearable. My example is a Dungeon Master who only wanted to feed his own ego, and letting him be in charge of running the game was just a bad idea. File this under "Bad Experience."
3. Mechwarrior 3 - The Lifepaths character creation system from this RPG is practically a game in itself, and is perhaps it's best aspect. Character creation can also be tortuously complex, so it's also a bad aspect. After all this work, you either end up with a character that is mediocre at everything, OR, if you work extra hard to twist things to turn out a certain way, you could actually have a really good skill level in one area. None of this matters much, because the 2D10 exploding dice skills system tends to minimize the importance of skills anyway. File this under "Why did I bother?"
4. Life - Sort of a personal thing, but I got "fired" in the game shortly after losing a real job, and it stung. File this under "Well, that sucked."
5. Trivial Pursuit - Fun once in a while, but the amusement quickly fades. There's little worse than being stuck in a group of people who are keen to play "just one more round" after you have already played 2 or 3 games. File this under "Enough Already."
6. Battletech Total War - Battletech is another game from my "Stick With" list, and the single game I have played more than any other. - BUT - The were some rules changes in the new Total War edition of Battletech that never should have been. The Battlemech will always own this game, but in older editions it was possible to play armored vehicles (tanks!) and have fun challenging the new kings of battle. Under the Total War rules, already weak vehicles were totally emasculated by critical hits and motive hits. In a typical game, your vehicle is quickly immobilized, and then it explodes. If you are lucky enough not to explode, then you can enjoy playing a pillbox for as long as you can (but usually not long). The critical and motive hits rules are a good addition to the game - they add interest - but they are unbalanced. This has sort of ruined vehicles as being interesting and fun, where they used to be a good feature of the game. (Don't ask me what I think about WiGE's.) Mea Cupla: You will find my name among the playtesters for this book; I complained then, but now I wish I had complained louder. File this under "I'm going to catch some heat for this."
7. Diablo - I enjoyed playing Diablo, until I tried playing it online. I thought I knew what "bad behavior" in online gaming was, until I tried playing it online. If the transcendence of WoW is any indication, some of those issues with early online communities have been worked out. I sure hope so. File this under "Does not play well with others."
8. Zynga games - 'Nuff said (but I'm lookin' at you, Facebook.). File this under "Exploitation of privacy."
9. The Lottery (most any lottery will do) - Otherwise known as a tax on people that can't do math. File this under "Tax the poor."
10. Dawn Patrol (TSR) - I like air combat games, or at least I think I do, because I own a small  fleet of them. I don't own Dawn Patrol, but it illustrates a serious flaw. I expect an air combat game to be about crafty maneuvers and outwitting your opponent in an aerial duel. In Dawn Patrol the planes are generally mobile enough to get a good shot at whomever may have moved before them, and moving first is a death sentence. There is no strategy, no outwitting your opponent, just luck in who happens to move first or last. Interestingly, this same thing often occurs in Batteltech, with 'Mechs forming a "conga line of death". The outcome in these situations is much more uncertain in Battletech, and the player generally has a chance to either escape or go down fighting. File this under "Barely Interesting."

That's my 10, pass it on and link back (please). Or not.

15 Games That Will Always Stick With Me, Too

I picked up this meme from D20 Sapphire's post at 20 Sided Woman:

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. 15 games you've played that will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what games my friends choose.

You can probably tell this originated from Facebook, but like my friend Sapphire I'm going to skip the tagging part and link back to her instead. When I started my list I thought I would have trouble coming up with 15 games, but within 5 minute I was already trying to decide which ones to leave out. SO many choices! At risk of over-thinking the question, I have split this into two parts: board games/RPG's and computer/console game (of any sort), and Honorable Mentions are included along the way. Each will be roughly in chronological order, starting with the board games:

1. Risk (Parker Brothers) - I would go to slumber-parties with my friends and play Risk and Monopoly for 12 hours straight, fall asleep, then wake up and play for another 12 hours. We never got tired of playing (but we did eventually get tired). Honorable mention: Monopoly.
2. Dungeons & Dragons (TSR) - Starting from the blue box, I played all I could when I was a young teenager.
3. Ogre/GEV - Originally published by Metagaming, and Steve Jackson's first published game. This was my introduction to the "map, chits, and dice" wargame. Honorable mention: Warpwar, also by Metagaming.
4. Air War (SPI) - I'm skipping a bunch of other games to list this one. I played many combat/battle board games, but Air War was sort of the apex of these games for me. Air War is quite complex, and as much a simulation as it is a game. Honorable Mention: Armor (Avalon Hill?), a great tank combat game.
5. Traveller (then GDW) - Science Fiction role-playing. I played quite a bit, but it wasn't until I hooked up with a college gaming group that it really started to shine for me.
6. Champions (Hero Games) - Another game I found in college, and with the same game master, my friend Pat (who also GM'd Traveller). Honorable mention: The Fantasy Trip (Metagaming) - Another game by Steve Jackson. This was an a very simple RPG based on the Microgames Melee and Wizard, and the basis of the two best fantasy RPG campaigns I ever played (One GM'ed by Pat, again!).
7. Battetech (then FASA, now Catalyst) - Fastforward about 10 years - graduation, job, grad school, job-hunting, marriage - where I didn't play board games at all. I did play some computer game version of Battletech, Solaris 3025 (online) and Mechwarrior 2, and I bought a rulebook so I could understand the computer versions better. I wan't until I took a job in Milwaukee, started going to GENCON (when it was still here), and fell-in with a group of die-hard Battletech players that I really learned to love the board game. Maybe more importantly, Battletech re-awakened my love of painting miniatures, something I still enjoy just as much as playing.
8. Squadron Strike (Ad Astra Games) - 3D science fiction space combat, and I get to help the author with some of the mathematical aspect of the game too - something I ought to be writing about!

And now the computer games, which I hate: 

9. Asteroids (arcade) - I plunked a lot of quarters into arcade video games, and this is the game that started it. Gamers much younger than me won't recall a time when video and computer games didn't exist, but I do. I'd like to think that all of today's gamers would still be gamers even if there were not any electronic involved at all, but for many kids today, computer and console games are all there is (which is sad). Honorable mention: Donkey Kong.
10. Hack/Rogue - This amazing little dungeon crawl game was being passed around among the computer science students when I was in college, and I found it incredibly addicting - and still do. I have a version on my Palm Pilot now, and still play it from time to time. Honorable mention: Empire.
11. Harpoon - A computer version of Larry Bond's miniatures game, and a great naval warfare simulation. Honorable mention: 688 Attack Sub and Sea Wolf - Two submarine simulations that I spent a lot of time with. These games typically have long intervals of increasing tension as you hunt your target (or vice-versa), punctuated by a few minute of heart-and-keyboard-pounding excitement when the torpedoes start to run.
12. Master of Magic - Sort of a cross between Civilization and Magic, the Gathering. This game offered many different choices during setup that allowed for variety and interesting play.
13. MUME (Multi Users in Middle Earth (MUD) - A text-based "dungeon" adventure devoted to re-creating Middle Earth. This was my first experience in online gaming, and a terrible this to discover during graduate school, because it threatened to suck-up my every waking moment. I was never able to get a fast connection though, and this generally resulted in BAD things happening to my characters when this started getting tough, so I finally wised-up and focused on studying instead. I still log in every few years to see if there are still any of the old players still playing there (and there are). Honorable mention: Doom + Quake - Two games I refused of purchase because they definitely would have made me flunk out of grad school.
14. Starcraft - I've got to have an RTS in here somewhere, don't I? 
15. Gran Turismo 2 (Playstation) - The only console game I'm listing here, because it's the only console game I've spent much time with. Even then, I had to get up early on Saturday mornings to run the longer races (100 laps) before my son want the PS2 for himself. This isn't so much a game as it is a driving simulator, and it's as close as I'll ever get to driving a real performance car too. I have the newer editions of the game too, but they don't have the same memories.  Honorable mention: Netrek - Another online multi-player game, one if the first of its kind, and a whole lot of fun. This got demoted to "mention" status because I haven't actually played it all that much.

That's my 15 games I'll always remember, but I already know what number 16 will be:

Honorable mention: Gratuitous Space Battles - My first computer game purchase in a long time, and I am really loving it. Look for a proper review on these pages sometime soon.

God Bless Nerds

If you follow any web-comics or comics-blogs, you might have heard something about ComicCon happening this week in San Diego. You might also have learned that the despicable Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church Hate Group* were going to be there picketing the event. Con-goer heard this too, and they have responded in fine fashion. Blog posts with pictures, commentary, and video are available from:

Comics Alliance [photo to right]

TV or not TV [photo below]

Phyrangula [That wretched hive of scum and villainy where I acquired the other links]

WAY TO GO NERDS!

* You DO NOT want to know any more than what is on the Wiki page. Trust me on this.

Robosaurus

Just for fun, I give you ...

Robosaurus.

This isn't a Battlemech. Not quite. It is, however, well over 10 meters tall and masses about 30 tons, so it's on the order size for a light Battlemech ... and it transforms ... and it mounts a flamethrower.






Also of note is a bit of FASA history you can read about.






Robosauruses live at public events such as drag races and monster truck rallies. The typical diet of a Robosaurus consists of old cars and airplanes, flame broiled to a crispy perfection.




The Robosaurus site is an interesting read. In addition to pictures and promotional information, there are considerable details about the construction, engineering, and operation of this machine.



Also worth a visit is www.CanoSOARus.com the home of
Doug Malewicki's patented inventions and other engineering involvements. You might see some other of his famous inventions there too.

Year One

One year ago today I published my first post on this blog. Today I'm going back through the past year and meta-blogging about my favorite posts.

September -

Lucky Dice versus the Water Test

My first post other than just "hello world". Rereading this, I didn't explain things very well, and I think I have improved in that aspect. More recently there was a better version of this Fair Dice test at The Scrapyard Armory.

October -

If Battletech were a Card Game

Here I first described the connection between Battletech and cribbage - most wargames and cribbage actually.

Not a favorite: Tater Titan!, a knock-off post which continues to gather many hits from Google image search. Go figure.


November -

Anatomy of a Black Hawk H - Part III

I love painting, I only wish I had more time for it. This mini is still waiting to be finished.

December -

The Mathematics of ... Candyland???

I thought this was a decent post. I put it up and went out shopping with my wife. When I got back home I noticed new several comments, and my web hits were exploding. Hello Blogs-of-Note. That was really big break, and roughly half the people who follow this blog signed-up shortly after this. I still get web traffic from Blogs-of-Note every day.


January -

Graph Paper Race

Encouraged by the attention I got from Blogs-of-Note, I wrote seven Math-in-Games posts, of which Graph Paper Race was (and still is) the most popular.




February -

Game Theory Week: Intro

My first attempt at a series of post all on one topic and all in one week. I discovered that series like this need a lot of work up front, and it helps to have a rich reserve of sources to call on. My other series (still in progress) are requiring me to create most of the material myself, and it's much harder.

March -

Battletech - One Versus All

Not my best month, because my life was very busy and my Dad was very ill. I had fun with this post though.


April -

Business Cards for a Games Blog

A good idea more than a good post. My Dad passed away a few days after I put this up, so April was a rough time for me. I've come to realize that I was writing in part as a release from the stress of worrying about his illness. Fortunately that is not the only reason that I write/blog; and this project has taken on a life of its own. I really think Dad would have gotten a kick out of this though, and I wish I could show him.

May -

The Origin of Battletech

Not a flashy post, but I like it because the history of games is interesting. This reminds me - it's time to follow up with John Curry and see if his new book is out yet.


June -

ORIGINS 2009: Day 3 - More Than Just Fun & Games

ORIGINS was definitely the June highlight, and this particular event really made the Con, the month, and maybe my year (still working on that bit).

July -

The Battletech Reader

July was a good month for me, with more ideas than I could write down coming out of my experience at ORIGINS. This particular post represents a different kind of success though, because it has lead to an ongoing connection with Steven Satak, and his creativity has spurred my own. Blogging is not just about writing to attract attention to yourself and speaking blindly to an unseen audience, it's about finding this kind of connection with other people that creates a conversation. Steven isn't the only one who deserves this credit (that will require another post), but serves as a good example of what I was looking for when I got into blogging. Thanks Steve!

August -

Playing Fair with the Chi-Square Test of Homogeneity

As I write this it was still August a week ago, so it seems a bit silly to "look back". This post brings things full circle though; I started and ended writing about fairness of dice, and that seems fitting somehow.

Next up: YEAR TWO

This hits close to home

Voynich Manuscript, from XKCD

What will people think of Battletech in 500 years? ;-)

PacMac LARP

[Via Jesper Juul at The Ludologist]

PAC MAN (REMI GAILLARD)
by nqtv

~

With a name like this ...

With a blog named Giant Battling Robots, how can I resist!

[Found on Stomp Tokyo]
Though I admittedly have little knowledge in the genre of Japanese sci-fi, I do know one thing: when a UFO crashes into the ocean near Tokyo, chances are pretty good that an attack on the city by a giant monster is inherent. Call it intuition.

---
How about a MMORPG, Exteel. I haven't played it, by IO9 gave it a nice review. Apparently it's more combat than RPG.





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[And this, from TVtropes]
Who needs an Abrams tank when you can have a 100-foot man-shaped robot with a glowing sword and a fist that fires off like a missile? There's no argument - fighting robots are just infinitely cooler than ordinary vehicles. Whatever their shape, though, they are all known as "mecha". The "mecha", or "giant robot", concept is ubiquitous in Japanese pop culture, and is more than adequately represented in anime. Despite the name, the robots need not actually be "giant" - some are merely human-sized, and some even smaller. They range from the boomers and hardsuits of Bubblegum Crisis, to the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann big enough to use galaxies as shuriken (no, really!).

---
Giant Robots Smashing into other Robots.
Needs more smashing!
But maybe they just want to get dome work done.



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Coincidence or Copycat? What is the difference between a Giant Robot and a Big Giant Robot anyway? I suppose there is room enough on the internet for the two of us. ;-)

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[from Mecha Image of the Day - here]
Finally, here is my kind of Giant Battling Robot from the game Battletech.









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So many robots, so little time. Maybe post your favorites here?

Why techies love games

Why techies love games -- and why it's good they do
By Tom Kaneshige

Everyone knows that techies love "Dungeons & Dragons," where they can prowl the bowels of a castle and cast spells on clueless managers, er, mages. After all, it's just a game.

Or is it?

Click through to InfoWorld for an interesting read on the connection between Tech skills and gaming. This article considers computer gaming only, but I think it certainly extends to tabletop games as well.