Why 4e is a bridge

After starting to fiddle with the translation that will be needed to move the Monday Night Group over to 4e, I'm becoming swiftly convinced that 4e is a bridge for two big reasons: (a) it's fun to play, and (b) they've finally offered a set of rules that make things easy to piece together balanced sets of scenes in a clear and swift manner. I still haven't really figured out how exactly 3.5e constructs scenes; by contrast, building scenes with the new rules is easy, adjusting and tailoring foes appears to be easy. The proof will be, of course, when these notes get put into play in a month or so, but from my point of view, point (b) goes a heck of a long way and helps explain why everyone seems to be taking to the new edition like ducks to water.

Why 4e is a bridge

After starting to fiddle with the translation that will be needed to move the Monday Night Group over to 4e, I'm becoming swiftly convinced that 4e is a bridge for two big reasons: (a) it's fun to play, and (b) they've finally offered a set of rules that make things easy to piece together balanced sets of scenes in a clear and swift manner. I still haven't really figured out how exactly 3.5e constructs scenes; by contrast, building scenes with the new rules is easy, adjusting and tailoring foes appears to be easy. The proof will be, of course, when these notes get put into play in a month or so, but from my point of view, point (b) goes a heck of a long way and helps explain why everyone seems to be taking to the new edition like ducks to water.

Sadness? Relief?

Apparently Don LaFontaine has passed away. It's not polite to see the death of someone as welcome. I'd rather have been able to feel relieved with Don's retirement: he has for some time been a source of intermittent irritation, more and more in recent years. I have no idea whether he was a decent man or not, so to those who thought he was, you have my sympathies. However, the thought that, soon, I will never have to listen to that voice again, fills me with an odd sense of nostalgia and welcome anticipation.

Sadness? Relief?

Apparently Don LaFontaine has passed away. It's not polite to see the death of someone as welcome. I'd rather have been able to feel relieved with Don's retirement: he has for some time been a source of intermittent irritation, more and more in recent years. I have no idea whether he was a decent man or not, so to those who thought he was, you have my sympathies. However, the thought that, soon, I will never have to listen to that voice again, fills me with an odd sense of nostalgia and welcome anticipation.

Recently played: long weekend means boardgames!

This weekend was a fairly good one for the playing of the boardgames. Not, however, a tremendous amount of variety:
• Medici twice
• Agricola three times
• Age of Steam once (the Montréal Métro map, actually)
• Race for the Galaxy twice

( For some small commentary on the games, click through. )

Recently played: long weekend means boardgames!

This weekend was a fairly good one for the playing of the boardgames. Not, however, a tremendous amount of variety:
• Medici twice
• Agricola three times
• Age of Steam once (the Montréal Métro map, actually)
• Race for the Galaxy twice

( For some small commentary on the games, click through. )