Dave: The Game

I mentally classify years in much the same way that my friends had taken to classifying Balticons: “The Year of Drama” “The Year of Hunger” etc. This year does not get a nice classification, I can tell you that. It started poorly (literally an hour after the year began, it already started to suck) and mostly stayed fairly cruddy.

Here are some good things that happened this year, though:

• I traveled frequently. February was the D&D Experience, which was my first taste of 4e, and also what really catapulted Critical Hits to its currents heights (and sustained thanks to Danny any my other writers putting out great content). March was a trip to Florida to attend a wedding with Melinda (chronicled by me in nerdish fashion, but also in photographs). April was the annual Gathering trip to Columbus, which I have considerably mixed feelings about in retrospect. May was Balticon, which was somewhat subdued and involved very little of the convention itself, but I did enjoy a bunch of games of Tales of the Arabian Nights. June was Origins which allowed me to see (and play D&D with) college friends I hadn’t seen in a while, though like much of this year, I found myself embroiled in Edition War. July was 48 Hour Film Project, which even though we came in 20 minutes over deadline, I still consider a success thanks to the quality of the end product. August was GenCon, which was great for meeting new friends (who I had only emailed or message before), not so great for sleeping, spending, or actually playing games. Even though I was somewhat down on GenCon thanks to previous experiences, it might have been my favorite convention this year (with Origins also being in contention). September was Baltimore Comic-Con, a decidedly “meh” experience- I missed a few of the creators I wanted to meet, though getting to meet Darwyn Cooke was a huge plus for me. October and November featured no trips or cons, which is fortunate (as you’ll see), and for December, I leave for Miami (Florida, not University for once) in a few hours.
• My Spring ‘08 semester featured Magazine Writing, a useful and fun class with an awesome professor. Most likely, my writing portfolio will contain more pieces from this class than any other class. It also sits as my favorite class from my time in the Publications Design program.
• At the beginning of the year, I left Fedex Kinko’s (which is no longer named that) to start my new job, which I quite enjoy. Obviously, it also pays a lot better than my old job. My friend Kristin was instrumental in helping me get the job, and I can’t thank her enough.
• I was (twice) cleared of having cancer and instead just have very annoying medical issues.
• Get Bit! was positively reviewed by Tom Vasel and Scott Nicholson, two reviewers I respect very highly. The game breached the top 2000 for a time on Boardgamegeek, and currently sits just outside 2000.
• I, with lots of help, launched the RPG Bloggers Network. Though it’s had some serious hiccups at various times, I’m very happy on all the praise it’s gotten, and looking forward to making it better and better in the new year.
• I concluded my 3.5 game mostly successfully (final battle was something of a trainwreck, but it also made me swear off 3.5) and launched my 4e game which has been chugging along since June, with no end in sight.
• TV was really excellent this year. Both the stuff that I made an effort to watch new every week and the stuff that I finally got to see after being told how good it was. Off the top of my head: House, The Office, 30 Rock, Pushing Daisies, Journeyman, Chuck, Life on Mars, some of Battlestar Galatcia, some of Heroes.
• Two TMBG shows in one year, both awesome! Jacksonville, Florida show featured new stuff and old favorite I had never seen performed live, DC Flood show was Flood!
• With my income up, I bought a lot of stuff. Seriously, I had gone a long time scraping by with whatever clothes I needed and whatever equipment was absolutely necessary (plus a dedicated entertainment budget). Even as I try not to be someone driven by money, it’s very nice to not have to stress out about every single medication I buy.

Bad things of 2008 will not be posted, both in accordance with my golden rule of blogging and because I snuck some complaints into my best of.

Other miscellaneous year-end wrap-ups:

You can check out my music charts for the year if you’re interested in what/who I was listening to this year. Short answer: Vampire Weekend is the best new band I’ve heard in a long time and an instant favorite. Runner-up: I’m sad Self isn’t around anymore but glad they finally re-launched their site that allowed me to legally download much of their work. Honorable Mention: Postal Service needs to come out with another album. (I’ll be compiling a “Dave’s Best of 2008″ mix CD, which I’ll post the contents of when I’m done).

Favorite games of the year are mostly pretty obvious: D&D 4e, Dominion, Rock Band 1/2. Secret Project EMR-35 of Andy’s saw a lot of play, and will almost certainly enter my top 10 games when it’s finally released. And Werewolf has seen something of a renaissance lately, for reasons that I hope to disclose publicly soon.

This year also sees me growing increasingly dissatisfied with my Centro and Palm OS, and increasingly jealous of the iPhone. Yet, I cannot logically switch yet. Dammit.

I think that’s all I want to commit to the Internet’s collective memory about this year. Catch everyone in the far flung future of Twenty Oh Nine…

Grades are finally in. Typography, the class I struggled the most with (and spent the most time on) was a B, which was what I was expecting. Fine.

An A- in a class I felt was a slam dunk is annoying- especially when I gave a special presentation to the class about game design. (No one else gave a special presentation).

And a B+ in an insulting class with a terrible professor is just… well, insulting. I didn’t miss a single class. I hit every deadline for homework (of which there was plenty). I consistently demonstrated knowledge of the subject matter. I even attended the worthless field trip where the professor decided that it wasn’t worthwhile to discuss the place we attended. Is that B+ work? Come on!

Sounds like, for the first time ever, I’m going to be appealing a grade.

“It only takes one troll to start a flame war.”

I played laser tag last Saturday for my birthday with 13 of my closest friends. I enjoyed the hell out of it, despite some last minute discouragement of “have fun killing 12 year olds.”

…Of course, it turned it that is what we were doing, as we were combined with a birthday party. It takes 42 people to fill up a game. Despite that, I really, really enjoyed it, and would go again as soon as someone else suggested it.

Laser tag seems to engender two discussions:

1. The type of game play and course 

The course where we went was excellent, with all kinds of multileveled parts, places to hide, bases, choke points, etc. Game play was fairly standard, with some power-ups at random times to spice things up even more. It was “free roaming” which means you weren’t constrained to one side, which I prefer. It was also automatic recharge after getting “killed”, which has some issues. It’s fairly standard for laser tag, but I think I prefer the ones where you have to retreat to recharge. I would also enjoy “halo-style” where you have to actively not be taking fire (behind cover) for a while to recharge.

2. Paint Ball

“Adult Laser Tag” is apparently Paint Ball. I’ve never played it. However, I know I enjoy being able to be “killed” and jump back into the game, which isn’t the case with paint ball as I understand it. The pain-factor of being shot isn’t as big a turn-off as it previously was, though this is a dealbreaker for some friends of mine. And there are people who take it waaay too seriously. There are some of those in laser tag too, but they’re easier to ignore.

I would certainly like to try paint ball (provided no one playing took it too seriously), but it’s much harder to get together than laser tag. 

Of course, I’m also an adult now with an income who could just buy his own laser tag set and stage games wherever he wants. Hmmmm…

Not in order of when I drank them.

• Blueberry Lemonade
• Chocolate Cake Shot (I was so wasted by that point, I didn’t quite do it right to achieve the optimum effect)
• Dewer’s
• Hurricane
• Irish Car Bomb
• Jager shot
• Knob Creek
• Lemon drop
• Mango Margarita
• Nutty Bananas (without cream)
• Orange Cream Soda (my first and probably tastiest drink)
• Pussy Shot (that’s what the bartender called it)
• Whiskey (Bushmill)
• Zombie (provided for free by our awesome waitress at the Red Star who believed in the idea)

Plus… one “Whiskey Wild Card.”

Honestly, I hadn’t inteded to mix in heavy things like Knob Creek and Dewer’s, but I also wasn’t going to turn them down. I’m confidant I could have made it farther, and been less sick, if I had stuck to sugary mixed drink cocktails (of lower proof.)

Missing some… any takers?

Amaretto Sour
Brandy
Chocolate Cake Shot
Daquiri
Egg Nog
Fuzzy Navel
Gin & Tonic
Hot Chocolate & Butterscotch Schnapps
Irish Car Bomb
Jello Shooter
Kamikaze
Long Island Ice Tea
Margarita
Nutty Irishman
O
Pina Colada
Q
Rum Runner
Seven & Seven
Toasted Almond
U
Vodka and Cranberry
White Russian
X
Y
Zombie

Thanks to This Might Be a Wiki, which has made it way easier to do this!

1. Western Maryland College (Now McDaniel). What could compare to your first rock concert, away from your parents? The thrill of helping a friend sneak in your tape recorder to get a bootleg, the endless speculation before they came out whether they are actually giants or not, the momentary confusion of getting the two Johns voices backwards, the massive concert hall-wide conga line, and the pride in being the first guy to shout out “Encore!” as they left the stage. Oh, and my very first shitty opening act. Gravel Pit, I will never forget thee.
2. Newport Music Hall. TMBG Unplugged! I came up with a couple people from Miami U. I remember the crowd being fairly rowdy, and TMBG chastised them about not crowd-surfing onto the stage. Then a full blown mosh pit broke out near me, and the song stopped. I remember being freaked out at the possibility that the band had just decided to quit the show (right after “Boss of Me”) because of the crowd. Instead, it turned out that the entire area had lost power. While waiting in the dark, the crowd began to sing the chorus of “Whistling in the Dark” over and over again in unison, which drew some weird looks from a security guy standing near a generator-lit emergency exit. Finally, they came back out on stage, lit by roadies holding flashlights, and explained the power was out. They said they were trying to get a generator and would be back. Then, they came back out and played a few songs without power! Flans tried to tell the crowd to be completely silent so that it would carry across the hall, but that didn’t happen. Still, I was close enough to the front to hear it. Then they said they would adjourn until midnight and pick up the show. My college buddies all left for this unplanned intermission to go to someone’s house nearby, but I stayed in the dark (and was there when the power came back on) and tried to teach a drunk girl hitting on me how to play Aquarius. At midnight, it started back, and I had a prime spot. They finished the show, though with only one encore. The drunk girl asked my help to get on stage to nab a playlist, so I obliged and received a long hug in return (much to the amusement of the people I came up with.) Still, the highlight remains the 3 unplugged songs, illuminated by roadie-light. Also the surreal “whistling in the dark” chorus.
3. 9:30 Club. Previously explained.

I feel like there’s a 4th awesome set I’m missing, but it’s not coming to me at the moment. Thanks to TMBW, I may go back and try to figure out exactly how many concerts I’ve been to.

I STILL think it’s crazy to automatically add Ham to all calzones unless you specifically say “No Ham.” 

It’s like calling up to order a pizza, and having it automatically include olives, unless you say “no olives.”

And no, saying “that’s just how we do it” is not acceptable to satisfy me as a customer.