Opinion: Legendary Mechwarriors

 Hey folks, today we’re going a little differently, and instead of reviewing a product from CGL, I'd like to share one of my opinions.  This isn’t going to be as long as my usual product reviews, so kindly bear with.  Today I'm going to chat about Legendary Mechwarriors in the context of them showing up in regular lance and Star Packs.  The way Catalyst currently does this annoys me for a couple of reasons, which I'm about to dig in.  Grab a shovel, we might find some worms to take fishing later.  

D & D E-sports and Gatekeeping

Hey Game Fans, today we’re going to have a little bit of a ramble about a topic that we all think we know everything about (Gatekeeping) and how none of us would ever do anything like that to new folks. Earlier this week, the CEO of Hasbro was interviewed by a big news network and made a comment to the effect that the Dungeons and Dragons properties are growing and expanding as a financial success and he thinks that one way to grow these properties even further was through the use of an esports style approach to life. Sounds like an okay thing (oh, and they announced they were bringing Eberron back and opening up the Magic the Gathering world of Ravnica as playgrounds for Dungeons and Dragons).

Changes and Renewal

First off, Don't panic, I'm not shutting down the blog or doing anything rash, but I do think it's time to make a few changes about the content I create.  I have been focused with almost laser like precision on Dungeons and Dragons, Battletech and Star Wars since January.  To be perfectly honest, I'm feeling a little bit of the grass is greener on the other side issue.  There are so many cool games and neat ideas to explore, I feel a little blegh towards my content focuses.  I know, it's a bad time for this, since Catalyst just released their 2nd Succession War book for Battletech, and Dungeons and Dragons is about to pop off with their amazingly cool Stream of Annihilation product line.

However, there are a lot of cool products and some truly neat games that are sneaking around the gaming landscape that I really want to take a look at.  So, we're going to be changing up what we cover and the articles we write.  Our continued insanity to produce 5 articles a week continues, and what we're looking at doing looks something like this. 

Monday:  Advice and Editorials (we are having a lot of fun writing RPG advice articles and hopefully helping you guys get into the game.  For now, we're going to continue with the Plot Traps (System agnostic, and you can use these for any game you like), but expect a few random zingers thrown in for maximum effect)

Tuesday:  Dungeons and Dragons (something related to the game, for now it will be a continuation of our feature of the Backgrounds, after we finish the Player's Handbook backgrounds, we're going to likely start Season 4 of Adventurer's League)

Wednesday:  RPG Roundup  (We're going to be taking a look at a LOT of role-playing games from a lot of publishers, but we're probably going to start with FATE, Fantasy AGE, Tales from the Loop, and Mutants and Masterminds).  We'll do some brief looks and see if we can't shine some lights on some neat games in the market.)

Thursday: Miniature Mayhem (We've spent the last fifteen or so years playing a couple of different Miniatures Games, and oh the stories.  We're going to show off a couple of different miniatures games, (Including Alpha Strike) but we've caught 8th edition Warhammer 40,000 fever, and we definitely need more cowbell.)

Friday:  Something, Something, Something (Mystery Box Friday lives, and anything we can't find a spot for will probably drop on Fridays.)

We're going to try and keep up our release schedule, and we are going to continue our Lakeport project for the Campaign setting we've been writing.  Keep an eye out for shiny new exciting things.  We're not abandoning any of our games, but we're broadening our horizons a little to show off more of the game community.  Keep your eyes peeled for updates and mischief.  Game On, Game Fans. 

One of the issues with Comic Book Movies

Hey Guys, today Im going to talk about something a little different from games, but it’s still very dear to my heart.  I love comic books, and I have since I was a kid.  I read pretty straightforward titles, Your X-mens, your Avengers, I love DC Comics, and I think my favorite line ever was Gotham Academy.  I don’t tread too deep into Independent waters, (though Hyper RPG is giving me good vibrations about the Valiant Universe).  But today we’re going to talk about Comic book movies.  I really want to like comic book movies, but some of them are very hit or miss, and it’s not necessarily the movie’s fault.

 

Expectations in Gaming

Hey Game Fans, we’re going to talk about a topic that came up over the weekend today as a special feature.  Our friend, Goblin Stomper (@Goblin_stomper on the twitter) posted an article on his blog about the potential expectations that shows like Critical Role, Acquisitions Incorporated, and other live played Dungeons and Dragons games can create among gamers and potential new players.  You can read his article on the topic here http://goblinstomper.blogspot.com/2017/01/critical-role-may-be-fumble.html and i think you should.  It’s a good article, and he’s an excellent writer.  Now our other friend, Terminally Nerdy (https://twitter.com/cbsa82 on the twitter) added some more thoughts on the topic and made a youtube video which you can find here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdmbLjNzlwI )  

Never In Doubt

I’m not sure how to start today off but with a sobering look at what america just did.  We have elected a Republican candidate to the highest office in the land despite the fact that he is vastly unqualified for that position by any reasonable measure of professional political experience.  He brings with him an Evangelical Christian with social policies towards distinct groups of our population that are barbaric.  We also managed to elect a Republican House of Representatives and a Senate that by all accounts should be perfectly capable of helping him accomplish whatever tomfoolery he’s decided to build his presidential legacy upon.  For those of us sitting in marginalized groups staring into a very dark hole, this feels like the end of everything.  

 

Op-ed (Political, only going to do this once, ever)

Well, I would like to thank both parties for putting on the most amazing, absolutely classiest debate about substantive policy issues and action plans to help ensure the future of our country last night.  St. Louis could barely contain the statesmen (women) at their finest, discussing their political perspectives and engaging each other on their policy positions rather than any of a myriad of potential social and personal issues.  America absolutely deserves these two candidates right now.

Op-Ed The Wrong Way to Play Dungeons and Dragons (Spoiler alert, there isn't one)

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the growth of people playing Dungeons and Dragons, but there are a couple of things that we need to discuss so you get the most out of your experience and actually enjoy the game you’re playing.  We around the office are of the opinion that you should probably enjoy the game you’re playing, it’s better for everyone that way.  

 

Op-Ed (Don't be the socially mal-adapted children you want to be)

Op-Ed

“You’re doing it wrong.”

“That’s not how that works”

“You’re rolling your dice wrong.” 

“Who the hell taught you how to play this game?”

“Your Fun is Wrong and you should feel bad for doing it that way.” 

How many times have you heard one of those thoughts escape from someone’s mouth?  How many times have you said this to someone at a shop, or your gaming table, or any of the myriad places you might end up catching a game?  Now we’re not saying there aren’t valid times and rationales that mandate correcting a mistaken rule, or checking with someone to make sure they understand the mechanics of a system.  However there are very rarely reasonable justifications to self-insert into someone’s game to “Fix Them.”