Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Well, it does help me, and it's very kind of you to take the time to explain things to this ancient duffer.

See my comment to Gronan. While yes, I do own a nice little cargo van with 64 cubic feet worth of internal space, the big issue is hauling stuff in and out of the house and the venue. (Although space can get tight; I had to put my suit of armor in the passenger seat to get it down to gary Con this past March, which got me a lot of strange looks from passer-by.) It's moving the miniatures - they are fragile, heavy, and take up lots of space. The scenery and terrain, not so much; all that stuff lives out in the garden shed, in plastic tubs, and it very easy and fast to load and unload. (Carts are your friends.) People don't realize the amount of sheer hard work and time that big games entail, I think, and so I don't get any help 'cause everybody's busy.

Hmmm. I think you're right.

Gods, yes. The sheer amount of backbreaking labor that we expended sometimes makes me want to weep.

It's one of the reasons I bought a few baubles and trinkets from the dealers in keevas and trilium at last GaryCon; I know what it's like to haul all that crap in and desperately pray I won't have to haul it out again come Sunday. As I've said before, by Gen Con Sunday we were ready to pile it up in a heap and torch it as an offering to the Lord of Red Devistation. And I'm a Karakan worshiper!

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

In your case, "I must have a hole in my head" is more literally true than for most of us...

(damn, I'm a smartass)

Also... what's FFG?

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

The damn scar still itches, and in cold weather it contracts, pulling the skin tight over my skull and making me look like one of those old 'Martian Eye Popper' toys. I have to wear a special hat that makes me look like something out of "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". And I get tired out pretty easliy; no stamina, any more.

The FFG Event Center is Fantasy Flight Games' huge game facility in Rosedale. See here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/e...-games-center/

The place has a roughly 100; x 100' game room, very nicely appointed, with table and chairs; there's a retail outlet attached as well as a cafe that serves food and drink - literally; they have good beers on tap. There's also a second 100' x 100' room, which is a nicely carpeted aircraft hangar of a space, and that's where they run special events and tournaments. It's a really great facility, with great staffing, and I have a standing invitation to come and run games there.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

The damn scar still itches, and in cold weather it contracts, pulling the skin tight over my skull and making me look like one of those old 'Martian Eye Popper' toys. I have to wear a special hat that makes me look like something out of "Sgt. Preston of the Yukon". And I get tired out pretty easliy; no stamina, any more.

The FFG Event Center is Fantasy Flight Games' huge game facility in Rosedale. See here:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/e...-games-center/

The place has a roughly 100; x 100' game room, very nicely appointed, with table and chairs; there's a retail outlet attached as well as a cafe that serves food and drink - literally; they have good beers on tap. There's also a second 100' x 100' room, which is a nicely carpeted aircraft hangar of a space, and that's where they run special events and tournaments. It's a really great facility, with great staffing, and I have a standing invitation to come and run games there.

Holy....

Where the hell did the money for THAT come from? I may have to reevaluate my aphorism that there is no money in gaming!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

See my comment to Gronan. While yes, I do own a nice little cargo van with 64 cubic feet worth of internal space, the big issue is hauling stuff in and out of the house and the venue. (Although space can get tight; I had to put my suit of armor in the passenger seat to get it down to gary Con this past March, which got me a lot of strange looks from passer-by.) It's moving the miniatures - they are fragile, heavy, and take up lots of space. The scenery and terrain, not so much; all that stuff lives out in the garden shed, in plastic tubs, and it very easy and fast to load and unload. (Carts are your friends.) People don't realize the amount of sheer hard work and time that big games entail, I think, and so I don't get any help 'cause everybody's busy.

Wow. My players help me haul stuff in and out and everything I bring fits in the back seat of my not very big pickup with room to spare. All I bring is

A tacklebox with pawns. Sometimes.
My laptop
My backpack with pens and dice and such
Some poster maps. Sometimes
A small stack of books.
My small collection of terrain. Sometimes. A 5 year old could carry this without straining a bit.

and my players help me carry stuff. You have all that stuff and no one offers to help you carry it? Must be a different culture where you are.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Holy....

Where the hell did the money for THAT come from? I may have to reevaluate my aphorism that there is no money in gaming!

FFG is mostly a board game company. There's a lot more money in that.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Gods, yes. The sheer amount of backbreaking labor that we expended sometimes makes me want to weep.

It's one of the reasons I bought a few baubles and trinkets from the dealers in keevas and trilium at last GaryCon; I know what it's like to haul all that crap in and desperately pray I won't have to haul it out again come Sunday. As I've said before, by Gen Con Sunday we were ready to pile it up in a heap and torch it as an offering to the Lord of Red Devistation. And I'm a Karakan worshiper!

Agreed. And same here; I got a very nice Ral Partha 'Sea Elf with Pike' all painted up from one of the dealers, as a memento and in memory of Phil.

And all that work we put in; we did have fun doing it all at the time, but these days it just doesn't seem worth the effort given the issues that some people seem to have. Driving down to Lake Geneva this past March wasn't too bad, but getting my teeth kicked down my throat afterwards made the trip seem like a waste of time. Ah, well; saves me $800 or so and a lot of effort.

These days, the 'smaller' game table in the game room - 4' x 4' just seems small, given what we used to do back in Ye Olden Dayes - lets me play nice skirmish games that move along right smartly. If I feel the need for a 'big table' game - 60" x 90", or the biggest at 60" x 120" - then I can set up the lawn tent in the back yard and run what I want when I want. Sure, 'big table miniatures' are limited to the spring and summer, but I can still do RPG any time in the warmth.

And, I have to admit, these days I'm a lot more focussed on my writing and my painting. Small games seem to suit my outlook,and still give me lots of room for fun - and photo opportunities!

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Holy....

Where the hell did the money for THAT come from? I may have to reevaluate my aphorism that there is no money in gaming!

FFG is a 'mass-market game company'. They sell stuff on the order of WotC and Piazo, and have a huge budget to play with. The Event Center is 'marketing', as it's like having a game convention in-house every weekend. The place is usually packed, and both the local game con and FLGSs are more then a little worried, as FFG promotes the place as a 'destination' venue. And it seems to be working just fine, too.

Originally Posted by yosemitemike

Wow. My players help me haul stuff in and out and everything I bring fits in the back seat of my not very big pickup with room to spare. All I bring is

A tacklebox with pawns. Sometimes.
My laptop
My backpack with pens and dice and such
Some poster maps. Sometimes
A small stack of books.
My small collection of terrain. Sometimes. A 5 year old could carry this without straining a bit.

and my players help me carry stuff. You have all that stuff and no one offers to help you carry it? Must be a different culture where you are.

Nope; my friend from Milwaukee commented on this. Now, for RPGs, the baggage is a lot less, but for 'big table' miniatures I can fill the van. See also the photos of games on my Photobucket page.

I don't know if it's culture, or just being taken from granted. Phil's letter files are full of his annoyance of being treated as "Phil TV" by his players in the middle to late 1990s, where they assumed that he was there to entertain them. I get all sorts of people making all sorts of noises about "Yes! Yes! I'll help!" and then they don't show up at all or show up very late. It feels very very much like a 'consumer society', rather then a 'producer society'.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

I'm learning...On Tekumel, more brains, less brawns(if you can). You live longer...On the road, the right amount of Kaigars can cause blindness and forgetfulness too!!!

And there you are - it took us several years to learn this lesson, and rather painfully at that. "Think it through!" was out mantra, and I think it helped that we were all pretty smart and clever as players. There is always something deadlier then you are, so thinking becomes a really useful survival skill.

Work within the culture; you get what you want, a lot less painfully.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Agreed. And same here; I got a very nice Ral Partha 'Sea Elf with Pike' all painted up from one of the dealers, as a memento and in memory of Phil.

And all that work we put in; we did have fun doing it all at the time, but these days it just doesn't seem worth the effort given the issues that some people seem to have. Driving down to Lake Geneva this past March wasn't too bad, but getting my teeth kicked down my throat afterwards made the trip seem like a waste of time. Ah, well; saves me $800 or so and a lot of effort.

Yeah, GaryCon was great, and I feel bad for you for what happened after.

Not to mention, as Obi-Wan said, "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." I'm 60 years old, and frankly half a dozen trips from the Coffman parking garage to the third floor isn't as easy as it used to be. Paul Stormberg brings the miniatures for the CHAINMAIL battles -- 40 mm Elastolins, no less! -- so all I have to do is show up.

For that matter I wouldn't mind buying some of Phil's medieval 25s, but the notion of getting them for the prices I'd be willing to pay seems pretty nugatory. I want them to WARGAME with, not worship. Or have sex with.