# New Moderator in The Game Room **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 2, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064 "2008-07-02T17:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/1 "2008-07-02T17:40:38Z")
InvisibleWombat has joined the Straight Dope staff and will be starting in The Game Room, effective now. We’re happy to have him working with us. Please make him welcome as your newest [del]jackbooted Nazi thug[/del] moderator. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/2 "2008-07-02T18:09:47Z")
But if he’s invisable, how are we supposed to see what he’s doing? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/3 "2008-07-02T18:15:44Z")
Nice choice, **Tuba. InvisibleWombat**? Yeah, he’s a gamer. 'Tis a brave thing you do. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/4 "2008-07-02T18:43:26Z")
She thought putting me in the game room was like putting me in a playpen where she could keep me under control. She didn’t realize that’s where all the dangerous gamerz hang out. And, Cluricaun, think of me as a stealthed rogue. Or a ninja. You’ll never see me coming! (and please don’t pit me this week, or Giraffe will win the pool) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/5 "2008-07-02T19:40:13Z")
Bienvenue, InvisibleWombat ! CM ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/6 "2008-07-02T19:51:20Z")
Merci, Cajun Man. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/7 "2008-07-02T19:53:04Z")
Gabba gabba hey! ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/8 "2008-07-02T20:25:45Z")
So, **Mr Wombat** , did you find the member initiation or the Mod initiation more traumatic? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/9 "2008-07-02T21:29:16Z")
The member initiation wasn’t so much traumatic as surreal. Especially since the goat was sick that day. The mod initiation is kind of like…well…you know…gerbils and waterboarding and listening to Marie Osmond sing Black Sabbath’s greatest hits and finding dead ants in your melted Kit-Kat bar and Salvador Dali meets Andy Warhol in a dark alley when they’ve both been painting under the influence of peyote. But I’ve probably said too much… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/10 "2008-07-02T21:31:21Z")
Welcome, **Invisible Wombat**. I welcome our new wombat overlords and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/11 "2008-07-02T21:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] The mod initiation is kind of like…well…you know…gerbils and waterboarding and listening to Marie Osmond sing Black Sabbath’s greatest hits and finding dead ants in your melted Kit-Kat bar and Salvador Dali meets Andy Warhol in a dark alley when they’ve both been painting under the influence of peyote. But I’ve probably said too much… [/QUOTE] That was the pre-initiation. You won’t remember much of the actual initiation, and the parts you do, you won’t want to discuss. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/12 "2008-07-02T21:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] She thought putting me in the game room was like putting me in a playpen where she could keep me under control. She didn’t realize that’s where all the dangerous gamerz hang out. And, Cluricaun, think of me as a stealthed rogue. Or a ninja. You’ll never see me coming! (and please don’t pit me this week, or Giraffe will win the pool) [/QUOTE] [You lose.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9963621#post9963621)😉😃 Congratulations! Hope you can keep the rowdies in there under control. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/13 "2008-07-02T21:56:29Z")
Aw, geez, **Gfactor**. Is that why Zotti was polishing that endoscope yesterday? If I give Tuba extra chocolate this week, will she take it easier on me? And I don’t even want to know why Dex keeps a capybara in his office. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/14 "2008-07-02T22:17:24Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Gabba gabba hey! [/QUOTE] One of US! One of US! Welcome, IW. Just one question - are you an Invisible [Common Wombat](http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=65322&rendTypeId=4), or an Invisible [Hairy-nosed Wombat](http://z.about.com/d/goaustralia/1/0/x/Z/wombat.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/15 "2008-07-02T22:40:39Z")
Common (_Vombatus ursinus_), if an invisible wombat can be said to be common. I do, however, have a mustache for purposes of solidarity with my hairy-nosed cousins. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/16 "2008-07-02T23:05:20Z")
Ah, the word “Wombat” always brings to mind fond memories of the Myth Adventures comic book by Phil Foglio… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/17 "2008-07-03T02:20:14Z")
Congrats **InvisibleWombat**. Are you strictly a gamer or also a sports fan? Any chance of giving us a short Bio? Jim ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/18 "2008-07-03T03:23:42Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Congrats **InvisibleWombat**. Are you strictly a gamer or also a sports fan? Any chance of giving us a short Bio? [/QUOTE] This isn’t an overall bio, but as for games/gaming: I have always been a board game fan, and had game parties in my apartment every Friday night when I was in college. They ranged from Scrabble to war games (remember the Avalon Hill games with the hex grids) to poker to Snits to Monopoly. My roommate and I had 47 different games in the closet, ready to play. I’ve been into computer games since I first played Moon Landing on a PDP-8 in 1975. I went through the original Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork, and so forth on minicomputers and mainframes. When I got my Apple ][, I played the ported arcade games (actually rolled over the score on Galaga), and really got into it on my Atari 800 (I still have both computers). Currently, I mostly play World of Warcraft (70 mage, 66 priest, 30 warlock, and low-level warrior, shaman, warlock, druid, and rogue). I wrote some computer games in the early days, but nothing that ever went commercial. I was involved in the chip designs for a couple of arcade games in the 80s, and I owned one of the first home Pong games. As for consoles, the last one I bought was an NES, but my son has a Wii, an Xbox 360 and a Sony PS3, so we can play just about anything. I love puzzles. All kinds of puzzles, but especially mind games and math games (I used to teach computer science and a bit of game theory). Sports are a bit of a different story. I used to coach kids’ soccer, and played in an informal softball league years ago. I bowl in the low 100s, and I could probably still remember which end of a golf club to hold. Sports to me means Scottish Highland Games (I just emceed one last weekend and I attended the world caber championships in Aberdeen, Scotland last month), rodeo (I’m not a PRCA member, but I’ve competed in team penning and wild horse racing), whitewater rafting, or fishing. I generally don’t follow sports on TV much, and there isn’t a major league football, baseball, soccer, hockey, or basketball team within 500 miles of here. Does that answer the question adequately? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/19 "2008-07-03T13:15:34Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] Does that answer the question adequately? [/QUOTE] Yes, thank you very much. Congrats again and please be kind to us 😉 Jim ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064/20 "2008-07-03T14:27:35Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Yes, thank you very much. Congrats again and please be kind to us 😉 Jim [/QUOTE] Kindness is my middle name. Well, one of my middle names. The full name is “Invisible Jack-Booted Kindness Thug Wombat.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-moderator-in-the-game-room/455064.md?page=2)