A Busy Saturday of Games
Aug. 15th, 2004 12:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aWell, yesterday was of those very busy days that I just about never have, where I was going from when I woke up to when I went to bed.
Peer Reviews
I got up in the morning, engaged in my morning abulutions, and then set to peer reviewing a couple of articles for the MMPGems books. I have to review 5 as part of my commitment to the project [hmm, I just note that I still haven't received a contract which is a bit annoying], and they're due on the 22nd. I'd scheduled two to do this weekend, one over the next week, then two for next weekend. The theory was pretty good until I discover that one of the articles was 60 pages, as much as the other four put together. Ouch.
In any case, I read one well-written, well-organized, well-argued article that I largely disagreed with, and one article on a pretty basic topic that had some issues with the writing [it reminded me of when I used to proof for the business school paper at Berkeley; you inevitably had people with big ideas that they couldn't entirely articulate]. The first article got just a few comments, the second a bunch of line edits.
Nonetheless, I found the topics interesting and think this is going to be a good book.
I was pleased to realize that I personally know the authors of two of my five articles. It's good to have contacts in the industry you're working in.
Gaming, Gaming, Gaming
The main part of the day was spent board gaming, up at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
christophera_'s place. I really should have been at my roleplaying group instead, but I haven't been to one of Chris' gettogethers in a long time, so I decided I wanted to for this one-off week.
I ended up playing seven games over the course of the day: Castle [3 or 4/4]; perennial favorite Ticket to Ride [5/5]; a well-respected game that I'd never played before called I'm the Boss [3 or 4/4 or 5], which also really wasn't my style because it required too much naked meanness to the other players (and too much socialization); filler Coloretto [5/4 or 5]; random filler Guillotine [4/4], which I hadn't played in quite a long time and still enjoyed; Titan: The Arena [3/5]; and Bohnanza [5/5].
I would have liked to play a few more serious games (like the Amun-Re and Union Pacific I'd brought) and less fillers, but it was still an enjoyable day. I mean, I just never get to sit around and play board and card games for 12 hours straight.
The only real issue with the day (and probably the reason that more serious games didn't get run) was that one of Chris' guests brought a CCG he was playtesting, despite the fact that it was really not the type of game that people were looking to play, and was also waving around NDAs that he was trying to get people to sign. Based on that and his very long explanation of the rules, he didn't seem like he knew a lot about the board/card industry. As a result a couple of people got roped into a game that wasn't really their thing, and it really disrupted the game flow toward the end of the evening (because most of the remaining guests were suddenly playing an unending playtest game). I personally refused, because, dammit I do work with games enough and I was just planning to sit around and have fun yesterday.
The designer clearly picked up the vibes of the crowd and was very unhappy on his way out. He also was entirely pissy during a final game he played after his playtest games got broken up (because everyone was tired of the game), which was generally disruptive and uncool. I doubt he'll be getting invited back. Moral of the story: don't try and take over someone else's entertainment with your business.
Anyway, that was a relatively minor annoyance, especially since I just stayed away from the playtests and did fun stuff instead.
As far as I know the only game that picked up multiple plays during the day was the Ticket to Ride I brought, which talks toward the game's continued playability. I was sad that I missed out on games of El Grande (though I'm not actually sure that completed) and Princes of Florence, which are both classics, but I was learning and playing I'm the Boss at the time, and I was defintiely more up on trying something new.
TV
When I got home it was already after 1am, but K. and I watched the newest episode of Big Brother before bed. Ah, quality TV.
I was still wired enough that it took me a while to fall asleep.
Busy day.
Peer Reviews
I got up in the morning, engaged in my morning abulutions, and then set to peer reviewing a couple of articles for the MMPGems books. I have to review 5 as part of my commitment to the project [hmm, I just note that I still haven't received a contract which is a bit annoying], and they're due on the 22nd. I'd scheduled two to do this weekend, one over the next week, then two for next weekend. The theory was pretty good until I discover that one of the articles was 60 pages, as much as the other four put together. Ouch.
In any case, I read one well-written, well-organized, well-argued article that I largely disagreed with, and one article on a pretty basic topic that had some issues with the writing [it reminded me of when I used to proof for the business school paper at Berkeley; you inevitably had people with big ideas that they couldn't entirely articulate]. The first article got just a few comments, the second a bunch of line edits.
Nonetheless, I found the topics interesting and think this is going to be a good book.
I was pleased to realize that I personally know the authors of two of my five articles. It's good to have contacts in the industry you're working in.
Gaming, Gaming, Gaming
The main part of the day was spent board gaming, up at
christophera_'s place. I really should have been at my roleplaying group instead, but I haven't been to one of Chris' gettogethers in a long time, so I decided I wanted to for this one-off week.I ended up playing seven games over the course of the day: Castle [3 or 4/4]; perennial favorite Ticket to Ride [5/5]; a well-respected game that I'd never played before called I'm the Boss [3 or 4/4 or 5], which also really wasn't my style because it required too much naked meanness to the other players (and too much socialization); filler Coloretto [5/4 or 5]; random filler Guillotine [4/4], which I hadn't played in quite a long time and still enjoyed; Titan: The Arena [3/5]; and Bohnanza [5/5].
I would have liked to play a few more serious games (like the Amun-Re and Union Pacific I'd brought) and less fillers, but it was still an enjoyable day. I mean, I just never get to sit around and play board and card games for 12 hours straight.
The only real issue with the day (and probably the reason that more serious games didn't get run) was that one of Chris' guests brought a CCG he was playtesting, despite the fact that it was really not the type of game that people were looking to play, and was also waving around NDAs that he was trying to get people to sign. Based on that and his very long explanation of the rules, he didn't seem like he knew a lot about the board/card industry. As a result a couple of people got roped into a game that wasn't really their thing, and it really disrupted the game flow toward the end of the evening (because most of the remaining guests were suddenly playing an unending playtest game). I personally refused, because, dammit I do work with games enough and I was just planning to sit around and have fun yesterday.
The designer clearly picked up the vibes of the crowd and was very unhappy on his way out. He also was entirely pissy during a final game he played after his playtest games got broken up (because everyone was tired of the game), which was generally disruptive and uncool. I doubt he'll be getting invited back. Moral of the story: don't try and take over someone else's entertainment with your business.
Anyway, that was a relatively minor annoyance, especially since I just stayed away from the playtests and did fun stuff instead.
As far as I know the only game that picked up multiple plays during the day was the Ticket to Ride I brought, which talks toward the game's continued playability. I was sad that I missed out on games of El Grande (though I'm not actually sure that completed) and Princes of Florence, which are both classics, but I was learning and playing I'm the Boss at the time, and I was defintiely more up on trying something new.
TV
When I got home it was already after 1am, but K. and I watched the newest episode of Big Brother before bed. Ah, quality TV.
I was still wired enough that it took me a while to fall asleep.
Busy day.