The Giant Geek Thread. +5 to hit/+6 damage

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
101

WHY did I post so much? Sheesh! :slight_smile:
The thread in here is getting a little hard-to-follow. I didn’t even see the 2nd page until after my post. :slight_smile: Maybe we should develop a few sub-groups for general chatting about certain topics… (The Civ2 discussions I can’t follow at ALL. Now I just wish I’d played the game more so I could contribute. Hehe) I DEFINITELY think we need to have a section to relate our favorite PCs and role-playing experiences… Always makes one feel better to shoot the breeze about RPGs. :slight_smile: (One of my old Rolemaster campaigns had fairly horrible GMs… We had more fun badmouthing them and chatting about other games after they left than we did DURING the games. Hehe.) WORST experiences are fun to compare, too. :slight_smile:

–and if one really wants to set up an online RPG, there’s no better system than Amber. :slight_smile: It’s diceless, so you can toss the random-rolling aspect to the winds, it concentrates on the players’ imagination, and usually the plot/political trickery is so think that even the MOST evil of GMs will have trouble keeping ahead of it! :smiley:

And amusingly, as much as I’ve been ignoring the american comics of late, the fact that Claremont is back on X-Men means I’ll have to start reading them off the shelves again. :slight_smile:

“I’m a Son, not a Brother. Mind ain’t my gig.”

–Fred Robbins, Son of Ether, and just a little hopped-up after too many days at the drawing-board

102

Cthellis
tell me where I can play Amber - I assume it is based on the Zelazny series (oh, urm, please…see I know magic words already)
& I don’t know why reading makes you a geek - mayne cos we do it without moving our lips?
nor do I know why sf&f is considered geekier still - perhaps becuase it has ideas & concepts? & I’m not twisted & bitter & cynical…

OK, I’m cynical, but not the other two!

103

If you do, tell me how they are. Because, man American comics have pissed me off of late. Some of the new Batman stuff sounded interesting, but I’ve never been much of a DC fan (unless you count Vertigo, but even then, I stick to graphic novels), and I simply never got around to it.

As to your “if you liked Bastard” series (sorry, I forgot the name), has it seen domestic release? If not, is there a fansubber/distro you could point me towards? And before I go, I swear there’s a decent plot to Berserk, but I’ve only seen the first seven or eight eps so I’ve only seen it hinted at…

As for CivII, great game. :slight_smile:

104

Having Claremont back is like night and day, I swear. X-Men sucked it up for a while, and then they put Kelly and Seagle on (I’m a fan of Kelly’s from when he was doing Deadpool), and it started to get good, and then Kelly and Seagle left. And they put Alan *@%!ing Davis on the books (may he contract anthrax during a romantic barnyard escapade for what he did to Marrow alone), and everything just went to hell for a while. As for Onslaught, and Operation: Zero Tolerance, and The Twelve, and whatever other crappy “events” they’ve been trying to incorporate into the books in the past few years, I spit on them. Even Inferno was goofy as hell as storylines go, but I at least enjoyed reading the chapters that Claremont wrote. So now he’s back, and they’ve got Warren Ellis writing X-Force, which means I may actually have to start reading it, and I’m liking Steve Skroce’s work on Wolverine. Guess they figured that with the movie coming out, people would actually start reading the damned comics, and they decided they should actually put some effort into them. Marvel’s actually been getting better in the last couple of years about hiring decent writers, for which I give them props. I stick mostly to a few X-titles, but from what I hear, a lot of the mainstream universe books have been benefitting from good writing, too. I just hope they keep it up.

105

Usually I end up playing both. I conquer all but one city and then play out the spaceship game. Sometimes I save right before AlphaCent and play the same game both ways.

That’s what I’m doing now, and it’s working quite well. I’m only second in technological advances.

106 
You don't get more than that? I usually get more, as if I get it I minimize the research rate and don't build libraries at LEAST until I get Smith - and nearly until electricity if I don't get Smith.

CThellis,

 You honor us with your first two posts...how did you keep so much in so long?? :) Did they come out with the multiplayer CivII yet, do you know?
107

As for Amber, the game is typically in the “for sale cheap” section of a comic/hobby store. :slight_smile: You can find it online, however. The publisher is Phage Press, which as far as I know, has done ONLY Amber and one supplimental for it. http://www.wzrdstower.com/shop/cat97.htm is one site I found offhand… <shrugs>
And yes, it’s based off Zelazny’s novels, meaning it can be basically ANYthing you want it to be! :slight_smile: The “diceless” concept is a little hard to understand in the beginning, but once you read about and think about it for a while it becomes more appealing.
–and one of the handies uses I have for it is weeding out people I don’t really want to RPG with. Anyone who dismisses it out of hand (and there are a lot) I just smile and nod my head and go on my way. :slight_smile:

Combustible Campus Guardress, or Bakuen Campus Guardress, is commonly referred to as “Bastard’s kid brother”. Has the same humor and mass-destruction, and people still seem to be able to move about with half their body parts missing. HEhe. It’s also about the same length–4 half-hour OAVs. (And since Hagiwara Kazushi did both BCG and Bastard… :slight_smile: ) Near as I can tell, no US distributors have picked it up yet. But hey, 95% of my anime is fansubs, so go that way. :slight_smile: Of the ones I could find carrying it, I’d go with Soyokaze Fansubs: http://home.earthlink.net/~hsu2/index.htm

–and someone will have to tell me how to insert quotes, as for the moment I have to approximate–

***Originally posted by lurkernomore

CThellis,

You honor us with your first two posts…how did you keep so much in so long?? Did they come out with the multiplayer CivII yet, do you know?

I can’t claim to hold it in… That was the first time I’ve read through a whole thread on Straight Dope. I’ve been around on other boards and inflicted huge rantings on OTHER people. :slight_smile:

As for CivII… I wouldn’t know offhand. Even if they DID have multi-player it’d be a little odd… And I probably wouldn’t get into it for DIFFERENT reasons, like the fact that everyone would know how to play the game 1000x better than me. Hehe. If I could get some people for Diplomacy, however… THERE’S a cool game for lots of people with LOTS of time on their hands! Hehe

108

Not a Civ player. Fallout2 was enjoyable, prefered Baldur’s Gate for the modern CRPG’s, though Bards Tale 1 and Ultima IV are still the standards to beat in terms of originality and groundbreakingness.

RPGs? I still play a minimum of eight hours every Sat, and sometimes from Noon Sat to 11PM Sunday straight. I am a gamer.

As for Anime? Record of the Lodoss Wars is the greatest anime I’ve seen. Beats the pants of Macross and DBZ. Also great are Lupeta, Castle in the Sky, Kiki’s delivery service, and any of the Lupin III anime’s.

109

Thanks for the Amber info. I like the idea of diceless - this way, you would only get killed by your own stupidity, not just because a piece of plastic is having a bad day!

In return:

to do quotes:

Click on quote under someone’s post & it will quote the whole post in your reply. Edit out the not relevant bits but avoid anything between [ brackets.

If you want to refer to lots of things people have said, put:
{quote}{i}originally bb … {/i}
{B}copy & paste the bit you want in here
{/B}{/quote}

BUT replace the curly brackets with the square ones. Then put your comment, then do the same again for the next bit you want to refer to. It isn’t case sensitive & there should be more on it in About This Message Board. Always use preview reply when you do this, as it is easy to leave it all in bold, or forget a ].

110

Umm, old Cyberpunker here. I have all the books 1st and 2nd edition (prefer the latter 'cause that’s what I started with) I even have the Night City Source Book and City Map. My ex-corporate solo was a kick-ass bitch that nothing could kill - and she occasionally was seperated from appendages on the job, and oh my God, did she have a choice little arsonal full of toys of destruction.
If you want to get back into it, you could always find a game shop and find out what the boys in the back room are playing — now that’s geeky.

Am presently in the middle of Fallout 2. Whipped up on Fallout last winter, but my copy has since gone missing sigh.

111

I’ve tried Rolemaster and Hero, but my vote goes with GURPS. It’s deep but simple to understand, detailed and incredibly versatile - I’ve switched from fantasy to sci-fi to cyberpunk without changing the game system. I think that it’s the best system for people who like to invent their own game world. You can do virtually any thing you want with it.
Still, with that in mind, everfy year or so I find myself playing AD&D. Perhaps it’s because between myself and my friends we own every single thing TSR has ever published.

BTW, not only does Jordan rip off Dune, he also rips off Donaldson’s Covenant books.

112

How about Geeky Board And Card Games? ™

I have a gamer friend who collects them like some people collect comic books Some of the games we’ve enjoyed playing in the past:

Card games:
Illuminati (Cheating is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!)

Nuclear War (The gaem that everybody can lose!)

Magic (This very nearly became chocolate covered crack to me. fortunatly, I sold my set for a profit and stayed away from it with my wallet intact)

Gulletine(SP) (The winner is the person who gets the most head. Insert rimshot here)

The Great Dalmudi (this one is really cool. Players compete for rank, and the lower social levels have to give up some of their better cards to their superiors. The higher classes also gives the peons shit. “Make sure you shuffle the deck right this time, loser!”)

Suzeran(SP!) (In this Middle Ages game, you build up your knights, peasants, and nobles, while striking the other players with fun times cards like Famine, Pestulance, Treachery, and Mob Revolts. you try to aquire a prince or princess, then marry them off tio another player’s prince or princess, forming your own dynasty)

Board Games:

I’ve played too many of these to remember them al. Here are a few of my favorites:

Car Wars (Anyone who’s played Interste '76 has a great idea of what this game’s all about. Drive around, and shoot other cars and motorcycles with your guns, missles, flamethrowers, ect. )

Talisman (Cheese! Cheese, I say!)

Any of the Rails games

Titan (Build up your monster armies and crush your enemies)

Hacker (Haven’t played this game in a while, but it’s fast and easy to learn.)

Mississippi Queen (Riverboat racing game)

Dogma (Form your own religion! “Church Of The weasil: Jesus used a body double on the cross, then moved the rock and hid the body”)

Outpost (A great combination of poker and Monopoly. Beat your enemies by out producing them, and outbidding them for technology)

Fast Food Franchise (Like a Monopoly game that you build yourself. Players pick a franchise that ranges from plenty of chains and cheap, to few chains, expensive, but a major payoff from whoever lands on it. Cards gained as you circle the board give you plenty of opportunities to Screw Your Neighbor)

O.G.R.E. (I know my friends and I weren’t the only ones to play this game!)

Battletech (Giant robots. nuff said)

Board games

113

Yeah, this would be the guy who said Howard wasn’t an influence - but when he wasn’t a big name he wrote 6 Conan novels?

114

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by fierra *
**

Thanks. Handy to know. :slight_smile: The eye just skips right over those tiny buttons under the posts… I was looking for an option from within the Reply screen.

But since I’m not psychotic to want to quote EVERYbody, I’ll just go down the line:

Narile – Record of Lodoss War is certainly cool, though it took a bit too much time to develop and “get into”. This anime is heartily recommended to ANYone who’s ever played an FRPG! Hehe. Have you seen the TV series as well, or just the 6-part OAVs?
Laputa and Kiki’s delivery service are certainly cute–and films that Miyazaki is known for–but if you’re going for the GOOD Miyazaki stuff, watch Princess Mononoke and pick up the Nausicaa MANGA. The anime doesn’t go nearly as far as the manga series did, and you don’t know how good Miyazaki is until you see him in proper form. :slight_smile:
And as much as I agree with disparaging DBZ comments, don’t knock a properly-handled Macross series. Even Robotech was better-handled than most of the early “imports” to american television. To date Macross: Do You Remember Love is STILL one of the highest-quality movies! And it was a lot more striking back when it was released. (Though Minmei was more of a bitch. <grumbles> )
And even the amazing and incorrigible Lupin has his off-days… (And off-anime)
Cyberpunk was sorta spiffy, but I soured on it quickly. Perhaps because I was mis-handled by the GM… I spent a lot of time trying to develop a character, but he couldn’t get me “into” the group well, and basically forced me into situations where I’d “flub up”. That, and he spent too much time with one particular character (by an AMAZING coincidence, his best friend’s PC). I tend to prefer Shadowrun for a cyber-punk feel, but if you’re not one to mix genres, then CP is a good enough game. :slight_smile: (I always liked Cyber Space, though. By an AMAZING coincidence, CS was ALSO done by ICE… Hehe)
I discovered GURPS early on as well, though after I was already into Rolemaster. The fact that there were only 4 stats when I kept making fun of D&D for ONLY having 6! Hehe. That, and the fact that I could NOT create a certain character concept under their point-based system, knocked the system down a few notches. (This was early on in high-school) I rediscovered GURPS in college, and after re-evaluation found it to be more workable. And THIS time I could build the same concept. (Still unworkable with starting-level points, but the GMs AND player’s let me create the design how I wanted. Back in HS there was too much “player conflict” and jealosies that would erupt from what was viewed as preferential treatment.) I found the system interesting ENOUGH, and workable ENOUGH… it just didn’t go as far as I wanted.
I wasn’t as interested in the modularity because I don’t really approve of flipping genres at a moment’s notice. We did that for a short while in 5th Age, but it was for specific plot purposes–we weren’t taking the story there for long. If I’m playing FANTASY I want to play FANTASY, and by the gods, I want to go as FANTASTIC as I can possibly get! Hehe. (And again, the fact that I enjoy FRPGs more than others is why I prefer Rolemaster. If my preferences were different, I probably wouldn’t be as fixated on ICE’s games. Space Master and Cyber Punk just weren’t handled as well) I enjoy an even mix of playing warrior-types, and magic-types, and a lot of fiddling with the “image”. (My friend made a plate mail-wearing Magician, but I tend to be not GROSSLY out-of-form like that. I want to be sneakier. :smiley: Plus, he was mostly doing that just to see if he COULD! Hehe. He could.) Rolemaster has hands-down the best combat system I’ve seen in any FRPG to date. It’s TOTALLY expansive, and lets warriors do everything warriors SHOULD be able to do! You just have to think PAST all the charts, not get hung up on them. And the magic system is as expansive as they come as well, and both lend to each other. (I like GURPS, Hero, and Ars Magica for the spell-structure, though. If that were all I wanted, I’d be harder-pressed to choose)
Still, GURPS is hands-down better than D&D. That just doesn’t take much doing…
And to sealemon88… You have a lot of great games up there. :slight_smile: You’re missing Settlers of Catan, however. And Diplomacy and Civ/Advanced Civ. Though the last two you need a LOT of spare time for. Hehe. (Then again, Titan ain’t no spring chicken in that department.)

ILLUMINATI!!! (Had to be said)
As for CCGs: I still feel that Magic is the best of them, structure-wise. The game is intelligent, and almost “moving” so it doesn’t become stale. I don’t like the tournament scene as much, and lament that that’s what basically destroyed our large-spread Magic-playing group. <sigh> (What I commented upon in my first post about games becoming “too competitive”.) We still occasionally pick it up play for fun, but it’s a lot fewer and further between.
Two other WotC CCGs are good, but don’t get the M:tG airtime–Jyhad (or Vampire: the Eternal Struggle) and Netrunner. V:tES has the most fun “combat” of any of the CCGs, and is great for groups of people who enjoy a long-running game with political trickery. Do NOT play this game with 2-3 people! It is not for duelling! However, no other CCG supports 8 people quite as well. :slight_smile: Netrunner was their only NON-multi-player game, and is a shade on the complex side, which I figure led it it’s downfall. However it’s a smart game, and fun to play. (I believe there are “broken” decks in it… Don’t use them. In fact, don’t look online for strategies to ANY of these games. Get your friends together and have fun!)
The best CCGs out there at the moment include Legend of the Five Rings, Doomtown, and Middle Earth: Wizards. They’re not the SIMPLEST of games, but if true card game fans wanted simple we’d all be playing Go Fish. Still, they’re some of the best-handled and most-immersive, and fun both to duel with and in multi-player. (The first two certainly have the added support of WotC and the DCI behind them, and have huge storyline tournaments fuelling the process, which certainly doesn’t hurt.) L5R and Doomtown are both also story-driven (yes, CCGs CAN support a story! What magic does is BS), and player-influenced. They tend to be the most fun CCGs to get “involved with” if you choose to, because you can see an impact.
I’ll refrain from commenting on Jordan further, as I just ate.

115

Dammit, now I’m bold-text’ed. I must’ve erased something I shouldn’t have… Hehe.

116

They’re dead, Jim.