Gamegrene Open Forum 2

 

With the Convention season starting to kick into high gear, we'd like to know where your loyalties lie. Which cons do you plan to go to? Which ones aren't worth the price of a one-day admission? Do you dream of GenCon and fantasize about Origins? Let us know.

With the Convention season starting to kick into high gear, we'd like to know where your loyalties lie. Which cons do you plan to go to? Which ones aren't worth the price of a one-day admission? Do you dream of GenCon and fantasize about Origins? Let us know.

I'm kicking things off with a Con this weekend. I will also be going to one in April. Since this will be the last year for Gen Con in Milwaukee, I'm planning on attending on the smaller, regional cons to get more playing in and save a little cash.

I'm looking forward to the largest gaming convention in Western Michigan: Marmalade Dog 7 (www.wmgg.org).

My husband and I hit GenCon every year, or at least try. Have to go this year, it's the last one in Milwaukee.

We also do http://www.theblackroad.org - The Black Road, because I'm one of the organizers. It's an Amber Diceless convention in Massachusetts.

We usually also do one more con. In the past, we've gone to http://acn.ambercons.com - AmberCon North, but this year we were planning on going somewhere else. However, the in-laws took us to Las Vegas for a week last week, which ate up our vacation time. So it's just TBR and GenCon this year.

But I was fortunate enough to save/win enough money in Vegas to buy a PS2!

Hi. I remeber years ago, Ssi made these great dnd games with tsr (but my favorite was actually some weird buck rogers game). Anyway, years later, im trying to find the online again, but im not having any luck. I dont know much about computer though, so maybe someone else has found them, any luck? Id really like to take a crack of the pools of raidance again...

no......its all a cover up.......this site is right into it too..

Do people like to go to gaming conventions anymore? My local conventions used to be "big time", yet they are drawing fewer and fewer people each year. Is it because of CCGs or Miniatures? Have people burned out on gaming or is just the enonomy? Anyone have an idea?

Thanks to anime based ccgs like pokemon and yugi-oh, DnD isn't drawing in the teens or kiddies. The adults are just too busy being gainfully employed.

Pool Of Radiance violated my very soul with it's shocking awfullness. A shocking chunk of video game turd if ever there was! The only reason I don't return it to the shops and get my money back is because I use the promotional mouse-mat. (Shudders)

Oh, you poor misguided soul

RUBBISH! Mind you, I had already purchased Neverwinter Nights AND Icewind Dale II, so it's not entirely their fault.

I live in conless Maine.

::pout::

A friend of mine got to go to Stash Bash 2, which was cool..... for him!

I have absolutely no idea what that means...

I want to live in Maine...well, in the summer.

I'd hate to live in Maine. I'm never living there. Not after what Steven King taught me.

Ah...

Steven King has taught many people that they are gullible...

So... Tim Curry doesn't hide in the sewers dressed as a clown? And there isn't an iffy-looking, stop motion giant spider dwelling under the town?

*getting tranq-dart ready*

[Sharp pain in side of neck] What? Chief Usabe? Is that you?

Aaargh... Poisoned Dart... Venomous... Lobster jism... Left... Side... Paralysed... If I can... just... reach... the switch... on my cane...

*aims four more darts at Olly's weak spot, his arse*

NOOOOOOOOO! NOT MY ARSE!

Don't be alarmed, but the end of my cane is about to glow red...

P.S. Damn, you guys have got to watch Dr. Terrible's House Of Horrible. It's brilliant, and inspired a fair few D&D adventures in it's time, I can tell you.

P.P.S. Oh yes! Hang Man Chang is now alive and well, and a villain in my Oriental Adventures campaign!

Any Britishers out there managed to catch Dr. Terrible's House Of Horrible? It was a great show. Not as good as Alan Partridge, but better than Paul Calf.

I think you can buy the DVD on Amazon somewhere...

... No? I think I'm the only one interested...

Well, Olly-me-lad...

I think if your the ONLY Brit who frequents GameGrene. You should spread the word over there. It won't take long, you live on a bloody island.

Yeah, you're right. I'll tell the prime minister about it...

(Shouts out of window)

OI! MR. PRIME MINISTER! TONY!

Um...
I hate to be the bearer of bad news...
Wait a sec, no I don't. I LOVE to be the bearer of bad news.
Anyway, Stephen King was right.
About all of it....

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

For those not cool enough to know: Stash Bash is a con of sorts that is put on by Kevin Smith and View Askew, the people behind the following films (if you have not seen them then shame on you) Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, Drawing Flies and the ultimate twisted clown film Vulgar (a must see).

Olly, tell the Prime Minister we all think he's the shit.

Eater, I will, sir! However, I spit on your choice of movies, I watched Chasing Amy and fell asleep. So very dull. The only good thing to come from it was a Sailor Moon episode bearing the same name.

Although, now I'm never visiting Maine, ever.

Can't sa I blame you.

Can't say I blame you.

Nice one, adding one letter there, Chief. Very helpful. I would never have guessed what you meant otherwise.

Tony Blair is a'ight...

Most people in the US think HUGH GRANT either IS or should be the Prime Minister...whoa.

We'd all be up shit creek if he was. He'd be outside 10 Downing Street in his limo, being... erm... pleasured... by a prostitute, who looks a bit like a man, I might add.

I hate Hugh Grant.

Maybe Rowan Atkinson should run for Primey. YEAH! Have an election compsed primarily of celebrities...

hmm...

Sounds familiar. Has that happened somewhere before?

Hell, I'd vote for Mr. Bean and if I lived in California I would have voted for Arnold also. Of course, I would need to be registered to vote.

I would have voted for Arnold. I'd vote for him over that villain, Larry Flint, any how. Oooh, he's an evil sod.

I'll take Gallagher...

*smash*

Imagine Gallagher as President.
Well we went into Iraq today.
::tosses watermellon onto stage::
And were gonna go find Saddam and.....
::flails giant sledehammer::
SMASH!!
::splatters reporters with watremellon inards::
BYE BYE SADDAM!

Now that I think of it that's kinda what Bush is like. Minus the watermellon anyway.

>>

((SUBSTITUTE WATER-MELON FOR WIFE'S-MELON))

Have you ever thought that the waters were safe to swim in again? That the predators of the deep had been driven back? That your world was protected from the dark things that were long forgetten?

Que the "Jaws" theme music... Da dum...Da dum...Da dum...Da dum, Da dum, Da dum, Da dum, Dadumdadumdumdadum!!!

Shark loves ya all!

p.s. I guess I was naughtier than all the rest of you... yeah, and the world is really flat. I've spent the last couple of months at the back of some sushi bar in one of those big fish tanks eating all the koi, waiting for my capture and release program to go through the red tape...

Oh joy, its safe to go fishing again...

::puts on cainmail suit and climbs into shark cage::

Hey was that you in Tomb Raider Cradle Of Life? If I remeber correctly Lara Croft kicked your ass.

::dances a little jig around Shark::
You got banned form the website, you got banned from the website. Na na na na na.

And all I got was a polite request to quit it. But it's okay to be pointless here on the open forum right? I wish not to incur the wrath of the fearsome Morbus. That and Salavatore may still show up on my doorstep to kick my ass. But at least Olly's gonna be talking British for the opening act.

Yeah, that about sums up the amount of respect I'm gonna' be getting...

When I was posting about a three months ago, this whole site seemed just about dead. A few stragglers here and there, nothing to write home about (no offense to Sam and a few ol' timers). I felt, as did a few others, that it would be fun to add a bit of levity to the site and give the rugs a good beating. We did that, as the posts have been too many to count since those first couple of funny weeks. (man, that aztec cheif thing was a riot!)

I will admit that it has gotten a bit rough. I for one was not aware there was an open forum. I did not know that there was E-mail sent to the respective authors for every post. I did not know that it [silliness] was going to be much of an issue for anyone.

I do know that if a polite request was sent my way, I never received it (I don't check often, my bad). I do know that I enjoyed the posts twice as much as I have in the past. I do know that I was guilty of sidetracking in the worst way. Hell, off topic? I was completely off kilter!

So, this is my formal apology to the authors and readers whose sensibilities I offended. I come to gamegrene because it is a port of call for like-minded folk of similar temperament and interests. You see, there is only a handful of people who can even understand most of the referenced, cultural humor that longtime gamers share.

Getting banned didn't really bother me that much. It was just a bummer to read everyone else's posts and know I couldn't even post how enjoyable and uplifting it all was. Thanks for letting me post again. I will be a good fish. Really, it's okay to trust a shark, really. Just don't, you know... chum the waters... Especially with those Brit accent loons!

"I will be a good fish. Really, it's okay to trust a shark, really. Just don't, you know... chum the waters... Especially with those Brit accent loons!"

::tosses Olly into the water headfirst. Waits anciously for the bloodbath to begin::

So this is the new home for the "off-topicers" eh?

Welcome back, Shark.

[punches the time clock, puts on hard hat]

Why, thank you kindly John. It's good to be back!

[grabs jackhammer and plasma cutter]

"Ohhh Ollleeeee...."

How odd. Without a topic to stray from, how can we be offtopickers? This whole forum will probably degenerate into a scrambled mass of squid guano that no one can control! (like it hasn't already?) I suggest that we make a few ground rules, specifically so that we can break them.

For Starters... Olly may not respond to our posts! How the hell did that fart sniffer keep himself from getting banned! If I'm Tweedle Dee, he is without a doubt Tweedle Dumbass.

Second, we should refrain from ever calling someone a fart sniffer.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or shall we just ratify these two house rules? I'm sure Ass, Mo, Chief, and/or Dead (anyone who is a nit, really) can offer a suggestion or two.

NO! No... no... no...

No.

Mr. Tender-Arse (clearly beyond the level of nit) cannot have a say on the bylaws...

I agree, Shark.

DOWN WITH THE ASS!

::waves pitchfork in the air::

DOWN WITH THW ASS!

ARRRRR!!!

So...yuh blarney swabs be thinkin' you could rouse a mutiny while the ol' cap'n Ass be on holiday...eh?

*draws plastic sword and a small spoon*

I'LL CRUNCH-ITIZE THE LOT OF YUHS!!!

Ye shall be addressin' yours truly by me new title...

the self-appointed CAPTAIN ASSASSIN!!

ARRRR!!!!!!

*cough*

Riiiiight.

::coughpsychocough::

It's nice to have you back, Shark.

As we say in England, you're a top bloke. A diamond geezer.

He's the dog's bollocks, right?

He is indeed, sir. And the bee's knees, and the badger's nadgers.

[blushes] Aww...

Wait a minute ... the Badger's Nadgers. What the hell are you getting at?

But he understands the dog's bollocks.

And he's as happy as Larry...

However happy he is.

Hairies! You were gonna say it! Good thing I love you both in that wierd hobbit sort of way!

Ew. Hobbit love.

Sam: You don't see it, do you?
Frodo: No, Sam, I don't.
Sam: I'll go get a magnifying glass.

Gollum: He wants it. But we won't give it to him, will we my preccioussss.

Frodo: He wants my ring! He must not take it.

Sam from Quebec's going to have a hissy fit when he sees this. He didn't like it when I said that Sam was in love with Frodo.

Sam: We've been going in circles for days!

Sam: (smack) I think I'm getting the hang of it!

Sam: It's your Sam! Don't you know your Sam?

That's enough quotes for now. Let's talk about something else.

Sam's prefrences aside, that was one hell of an action sequence back in Forum 1. Hot damn, I'm all wound up still. Good thing the Cap'n didn't use his tranq needle in time. I think Count Von Sharkie and Count Ollsworth need to take a bow after that episode. Can't wiat to see what the Cap'n has in store for them next time.

[whistle blows, workers begin to punch out]

Well, time to go. See you guys next time.

Yeah, that was good. I want to thank God, my parents, David Blaine, Mr. T, I wanna thank Lenny Henry (OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKAAAAAAAAAAY!), I wanna thank everyone out of the Diff'rent Strokes, even the white guy, and I wanna thank Dr. Truman, outta Eastenders, and even his no good brother. Get yourself an' education, don't take drugs, cha'mone! Peace out.

Olly, have you read the DM cheating posts?

Yeah. Long, ain't they?

much too much words in there...getting...dizzy...uuuhuhhhnnnggg...

*thud*

Cap'n!? ... Whew. It's okay, he's just dazed. He just needs a few shots of this purplish fluid ... I think he said it was a healing salve ...

Man ... I was just COMPLETELY invalidated (on the DM cheating board) by the king of all writers ... Nephandus the Grandus [snickers under breath]. I wonder why I'm enjoying it so? Masochism? Inferiority complex? Your guess is as good as mine. Hehehe.

Shark spaketh thus: 'I wonder why I'm enjoying it so? Masochism? Inferiority complex? Your guess is as good as mine. Hehehe.'

Olly sayeth: Maybe, it's because you've just got a tiny cock. :-)

I'm hung like an acorn of majestic proportions.

The sad part is, the whole sarcasm thing just may pass right over his head. But, it would be very fitting. Plus, I like when you say Shark spaketh thus. It sounds biblical, which I am. In the Gospel, I was affectionately known as "tiny Peter." You can find it in the condensed version of John, also known as "lil' Johnson." But I was most famous for my work as King Solomon's jester, the midget Richard. That's right ... I was the lad they all called "dwarf Dick."

_l\_ <- It's so small ... :(

Ah, the subtle humour here. It makes Jane Austen look like Tom Green.

*standing with legs apart*

Listen guys...could you please come up with something better...

*swoosh...swoosh*

...to talk about?

Spaketh Shark:
On January 7, 2004 12:47 AM, Shark the humbled... said:
Well Said Nephandus. I bow to the better writer. You may consider this my "apoligy."

Nephandus says:
D'oh, you got me with your clever sarcasm - and you got poor Sam from Quebec too! How clever! You say sorry, but ...wait for it... it's a SARCASTIC sorry. Did you have your fingers and toesies crossed too? That's another trick you could do, since I can't see them on the Internet!

Shark, I don't know exactly what your problem is. Perhaps you're one of those slightly autistic kids who like's to teamkill his mates in multiplayer games, over and over and over and over again.

Perhaps too many bullies stole your lunch money when you were little, and you now come to sites like these to prop back up your failing machismo, by *lol* making personal swipes at other people who disagree with your points on role-playing games *lol*. Whatever.

Weren't you banned from here? At some point, don't you wonder if *you* are the asshole?" It must cross your mind at some point.

With a history like that, why do you come here? It's a serious question - one I'm asking myself right now. What does this place serve for you? If you care even the slightest - what is your contribution?

BTW, this is a discussion board, right?

I'm not sure I follow why so many purveyers of one-line wonders seem to be popping into threads where people are talking on-topic, only to complain that there is too much to read.

I think some people prefer to "respond" to an article...not write one of their own. I also think many of us are at work whilst reading threads and don't have time to 'open up a good book'

I think instead of feeling that you must justify your 'essay ability' you should be aware of the percentage of readers with A.D.D. and just receive the sarcastic-criticizm with a sarcastic state of mind...

I'm certain nobody is TRYING to offend you, madame...

There definitely seem to be three basic types of people who post here:

1) Those who read the site thoroughly and regularly. These people want to discuss gaming, and do not tend to wander too far off-topic.

2) Those who regularly come to the site and are into gaming, but also like a bit of fooling around. They wander off-topic quite a bit, but they pay enough attention to be able to contribute an opinion to most topics.

3) Those who wander in infrequently, whether from search engines or other sites. They usually say something very specific about the topic that interests them, and then wander off.

I consider myself to be a member of group 1, though I wander off-topic more than some. I haven't always been too happy with the #2 group...for a while there, you guys were posting irrelevant stuff on every single thread at the top of the queue, and wading through it could be very tedious for those not interested in the banter (as I was not).

Morbus Iff may have had something to do with it, but lately I note that you guys have been much better about confining the banter to the open forum threads, and I really appreciate that.

And the #3 people, well, they don't bother anyone, for the most part.

I think there's room on the site for both camps, as long as we're aware that we have slightly divergent interests and retain a respect for each other.

Respect, in this case, means to me that group 1 be somewhat indulgent of group 2, and not slam them for every trifling departure from the topic. It also means that group 2 be aware that their banter is tiresome to group 1, and therefore keep it to a minimum except in the open forums.

Most of us, I believe, are of adult age. Let us strive for the maturity that everyone else says gamers lack, eh?

We've been doing fairly well there Cocy. At least I think we have. Maturity may be a long shot for us but at least lets do a 'Can't we all just get along?' thing. Like you said.

And Morbus, the self denied "Evil Overlord Of Gamegrene" was the man soley responsible for pointing out exactly how annoying we were all being. AT least we stopped and things got back the way they're supposed to be without any, or at least too many, hurt feelings or ruffled feathers.

Well...

I would say few hurt feelings and MANY ruffled feathers...

Okay, I guess that is a bit more accurate.

I wanna say big up Pogus Caesar for the (WICKEDDDDDDDDD!) photographs of the great Lenny Henry that's in the photographs section of http://www.oomgallery.net. Some other nice photos of Kwame from Casualty, Gary Beadle (Eastenders) and Paul Medford who was in the very first Eastenders...Keep the faith.

Yeah, am very impressed by tha prints...but you did'nt say that pogus caesar was a director as well! have read the biography, it seems that the man has had a very diverse career in tv, radio and art and has curated exhibitions in britain., he also made a film for artangel based on steve mcqueen's (the afro caribbean artist's) two films. on the oom site he's got a new exhibition (machine envy) all about cars, lust and desire, a bit of a mind opener and not a lot of text 'good', let the pics in glorious technicolor speak for themselves.

Thanks for the link to Pogus Caesar! His photo of the man with the burnt arm and ciggarette 'That Beautiful Thing' is truly breathtakingly stunning.

Woo!

I remembered my password!

Always the older passwords that stick in your mind.