Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Oh CROM'S hairy nutsack, yes! As somebody who actually likes studying historical medieval armor, the crap that appears on the web now, the regurgitated third and fourth hand shit cribbed out of second rate computer game manuals and passed off as actual information, makes me want to puke so hard blood squirts out my ass!

I hear you. I've pretty much given up on trying to educate gamers, myself; seems like a waste of my time and energy.

Shrug. To each their own, I would have to say.

Originally Posted by David Johansen

The problem is that some people can't back down when they're wrong. Their self esteem (or warped variant thereof) is too tied to their 'expertise' so they rise to any challenge rather than listening, asking questions, and analysing. There's also a real tendency among the present generation to try claiming that they've read a book when they've clearly only seen the movie. Then there's the agreeing and nodding sagely when they clearly know nothing about the subject and later repeating the information and pretending they discovered it on their own.

But the basic issue is that new gamers come from video games these days and haven't read a damn thing.

I did have two guys in my store nearly come to blows over the Arab Israeli War. One had read a lot of books and played (solitaire) a few wargames. The other had served in the Canadian armed forces and spent time in Israel and had talked with veterans of the war. Neither one could respect the type of knowledge the other had thought I think both had useful information. The problem was their egos, I'm sure the war could manage without either of them.

Yep. This.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

First, Merry Christmas to everyone in this thread!

I find the "version of reality" comment worrisome and funny at the same moment, is all I can tell.


Yeah, I know. There was a guy who tried that in the HEMA group recently in FB, I think...but I skipped the subsequent hyena packing and didn't read.


I've seen a couple or more of these over my lifetime, too...
It's why I have adopted the saying "while you're talking, you can't listen".], which = I sometimes tell to people. Sometimes, it even causes those that are talking too much to shut up...


Usually it ends in everyone else laughing...


I don't mind those that do that to me. At least they're spreading good information!


Scratch "gamers" and "videogames". Replace with "people", "TV" and "Netflix".
It's stilll just as true.


Give them some credit - at least they knew about the Arab Israeli War!
Their respect for other people's opinion can't be commended, but at least they had some knowledge. (And it's quite possible that it wasn't just a matter of ego, but of identity, too).

All good points. I still find the need for 'political correctness in gaming' bizarre when one faction insists on excluding some other faction because they don;t hew to the first faction's particular party line. As a gay friend remarked, "it's just like gay bath house politics..."

Originally Posted by David Johansen

I'll freely admit I like the people who come in and buy stuff much better than the ones who come in, hang around, and drive other people away. I don't have a problem with people who add something by their presence but don't have any money. But if you don't have any money, why not at least try to be an asset to the community instead of an obnoxious prick? Do you know why I've never had anything shoplifted in five years of business? Because I'm a really nice guy and it's a part time store. If someone really wants something I'll find a way to help them get it. No, it's not profitable yet. It may never be. The store is really just there for product access and to defray the costs of having a really good gaming space.

Since my number one goal is to build a really good gaming community. The assholes really get on my nerves. But I still like the ones who buy stuff better than the ones that don't.

Agreed. Even though the Missus and I live on a pretty tight budget, I always try to find something I can use in my FLGS and give them the sale. I much prefer to buy from them then on-line as well, but my addiction to 25/28mm makes my choices fewer and fewer. Although TRE Games doe make up for it - I'm being very sorely tempted by their amazing building kits. You've seen the galley, too.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I truly wish the world worked in a way that your good deeds were rewarded by others.
As it is, I hope it is enough of a reward to yourself and am glad you can do it, if only as an example that such things exist.
=

Seconded!!!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

What makes this scene even better is that it's one of the outakes that got included because it was so funny. The actor playing the Roman officer is simply baffled, while Phil Silvers flubs his line and Zero Mostel steals the entire scene right out from under him.

And people talk about 'GM improvisation'... Watch enough of this kind of thing, and you'll be as good as Dave Arneson - he watched stuff like this all the time.

Today's cinematic offering on TCM was "The Robe", with Burton and Simmons phoning in their performances, and followed - in what I can only conclude was a sadistic move by the programming people - by "Ben-Hur". Parades, sea fights, and a really good chariot race. The last, by the way, can be seen if you're not into sword-and-sandal epics in a little film by a former film student who likes to do homages to great film-makers in his works.

Jeez, haven't seen "The Robe" since I was a teenager; it used to be an Easter regular. I'm WAY overdue to watch Ben-Hur again.

And when my oldest brother and I were watching the fourth movie in the series by that former film student, oddly released as "one", when the chariots locked "hubs" we laughed out loud.

Not to mention sometime later in the same film the shout out to Spartacus as the evil bad guy legions march in checkerboard formation across the rolling hills...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Jeez, haven't seen "The Robe" since I was a teenager; it used to be an Easter regular. I'm WAY overdue to watch Ben-Hur again.

And when my oldest brother and I were watching the fourth movie in the series by that former film student, oddly released as "one", when the chariots locked "hubs" we laughed out loud.

Not to mention sometime later in the same film the shout out to Spartacus as the evil bad guy legions march in checkerboard formation across the rolling hills...

Sometimes Sir Richard clicks, and sometimes he doesn't. "Where Eagles Dare", with him and Clint Eastwood as the comedy duo out to win the war, is one of those where he does. In "The Robe", he simply doesn't for some reason.

Oooo! Oooo! (Raises hand) Or the first / fourth one in the same series where the beautiful princess is being chased by the evil armored bad guys and is saved by the retired general and the two comic sidekicks! And then ends the film with an homage to another film maker, who was and still is Very Politically Incorrect. (Betcha nobody gets that one, my General!)

The Missus and I were comparing the 1959 'Ben-Hur" to the recent one, and the recent CGI version isn't nearly as impressive. On the other hand, you'd never be able to afford the insurance these days for anything else - the huge stink that erupted when the studio found out that Mr. Crowe was actually climbing up into the rigging does say a lot. The increase to the insurance rider nearly scuttled that movie - if I may use a nautical metaphor, there. The very idea of the bankable stars running around in an arena full of horses and people at speed would cause any studio head to have the vapors and grasp for a pen to approve the CGI budget in a frenzy of self-preservation.

Tomorrow? Yet to be seen...

Don't forget the 1925 silent "Ben-Hur," where the director thought the chariot race scenes were too dull so he offered the stuntmen $1000 to whoever won the race. In the first take in Italy one stuntman was killed. Nobody was killed in the second take in the US, but in both versions many of the horses died or were injured so badly they had to be destroyed.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Don't forget the 1925 silent "Ben-Hur," where the director thought the chariot race scenes were too dull so he offered the stuntmen $1000 to whoever won the race. In the first take in Italy one stuntman was killed. Nobody was killed in the second take in the US, but in both versions many of the horses died or were injured so badly they had to be destroyed.

Or, also from the 1925 version, the big sea battle fought actually out at sea - nobody had built a studio tank, yet - and it transpired that quite a few of the extras didn't know how to swim. After they'd gone overboard, of course...

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I truly wish the world worked in a way that your good deeds were rewarded by others.
As it is, I hope it is enough of a reward to yourself and am glad you can do it, if only as an example that such things exist.
=

Well it's not a roaring success. It might have worked better in a larger city. I need to work harder at making it profitable. From what I'm seeing that probably means painting miniatures to sell and doing on-line sales. I've been working on sculpting 1/32 stuff to cast and paint up as curios as many walk-ins just aren't looking to spend hundreds of hours and dollars on a new hobby. I need to try and do some wargame tournaments or events. Roleplaying just doesn't make as much money as miniatures. I also need to finish up some of my own games and try to make a few bucks there. I think there's light at the end of the tunnel this year. But sadly, I never did capture much of the market here.