Shawn Lucas is the self identified "Noob of All Trades". He is married and the father of three boys, two of whom help with their own podcast every couple of months. Raised on Atari, Nintendo, and Sega, he enjoys all games and will play all of them to the best of his ability, which is often average at best. Currently, he is most interested in Magic, Heroclix, and other games that he can play with Chris and his sons.
This is the time of year when many stores, and more recently even normally right minded people, want to skip right from Halloween to Christmas. I’m not sure what is driving this Thanksgiving boycott other than blind greed in the case of the stores. If you are people, Thanksgiving represents the best in alliteration; family, food, and falling asleep in front of the TV watching football. I’m pretty sure that all of you can find at least 2 out of those three things enjoyable on some level. We here at 2 Guys Gaming love the entire idea of Thanksgiving. While we won’t judge you if you are an early Christmas riser, we will not skip over this month in favor of some premature “Ho, ho, ho”s. In that spirit, I celebrate the first Friday (2 days late, of course) of November by listing some of the things that I’m thankful for, aside from the obvious ones of family, friends, and pizza.
Pizza is the love that keeps on giving and asks nothing from you in return.
Twitch ran a marathon of Bob Ross for at least a week. I don’t think I watched anything else during that time. Watching has even inspired Quinn and Aiden to take up painting.
Painting happy little trees.
I love my job and I’m not just saying that because there are only five weeks left in the semester. Okay, I’m only partly saying that because there are only 5 weeks left in the semester. I get to teach all levels of math, meet new and interesting people, and still have plenty of time for my family. Plus, I’m close to the Holyoke mall and a great place to get gyros.
It’s a great feeling to be a nerd, geek, dork, freak, dweeb, or however else you define your particular lifestyle choice and have lived long enough to realize that we did, in fact, win the culture war. Games, comics, fantasy novels, miniatures, and cosplay have all infiltrated mainstream popular culture to some extent. Hell, even sports have been taken over by our stat crunching brethren. We are the meta.
I’m going to sound like a basic white girl here, but I love so much about Autumn. I’ve always been more about the changing of the seasons and so much is changing during this time. College football starts and finishes. The leaves in New England paint the scenery all sorts of colors. Pumpkin lattes lead to peppermint, eggnog, and gingerbread lattes. Fire up the wood or pellet stove and snuggle in to your favorite sweatshirt. It’s a great time to be alive.
I know that I said that I would skip the usual thankful stuff, but I think that I need to acknowledge this one. I’m thankful to be healthy and alive. I caused a bad accident on the way to work at the beginning of last week. Nobody was hurt, but I totaled the van and am still experiencing some of the fallout with insurance and maybe a concussion. But, I’m alive and for that I’m thankful.
I did a damn good job on this one.
See you next Fridayfor some more Thanksgiving fun.
(Editor’s Note: Against my better judgement, we are going to run yet another “Magic just hasn’t got the same appeal anymore”, but this one feels different. It just might be the last for a while as I explore other games.)
At this point, I’m not even sure that I can call it a lull anymore. I am simply not interested in Magic: the Gathering right now. i have bought over 200 dollars worth of product over the past three sets and haven’t opened any of it. Furthermore, I don’t have any plans to do so any time, soon. I think that is the most telling indicator that something is different this time.
It’s no secret that Chris and I go through phases. We are often excited about a set and what it can offer us during our monthly game nights. That excitement can last two months and has carried us into the next set. Theros got us back into the game on a regular basis. Khans had us playing Magic in some for or another right through until the end. There was the brief lull around the time of Fate Reforged. More on that later as is might be helpful in explaining the current malaise regarding Magic.
It started in a big way during the Origins spoiler. Neither of us found much promise in the explanation from Wizards that it “wasn’t an ordinary core set.” Hell, as card released, it was the coriest (is that a word?) of core sets. Sure, you got the flipwalkers, but other than that, what about Origins wasn’t a normal core set? Another Wizards promo screamed form the (basic) mountaintops, “This will usher in a new era for Magic: the Gathering!” How exactly has it done that?
I mean, who’s not excited for this reprint, amirite?
All of the underwhelming reprints? No, that’s absolutely par for the core set course. Scry is a permanent fixture? Cool idea, but who cares that it happened during this set. Scry was already a big part of the game thanks to Theros. Renown? Oh, please, don’t even get me started. I will sound too much like a jilted lover left at the alter on my wedding day. Before I knew you, I loved you so, renown. Let’s just leave it at that. Every single one of these represents a common complaint about core sets. Heck, even the aforementioned flipwalkers represent unrealized potential. God, do I sound like a teacher or what? Maybe I just sound like my old teachers. Either way, all they really gave us was another overpriced Jace to add to my list of cards I’ll most likely never get to play.
I should say that I haven’t played them in reality. Then again, I’m a blue mage, so reality is a bit of an illusion and overrated.
What about the story? You are probably asking at this point. Wizards made a big deal about that, too. Is that just a huge disappointment, too? Is there nothing to redeem this dumpster fire of a set? Also, weren’t you one of the ones that actually liked Origins? Let me answer those questions in the opposite order in which they were asked. First, I don’t think I ever said that I liked Origins. I had fun drafting a bunch (at absolutely no cost) and doing one sealed match with a play group that never materialized into anything more. But, I never bought anything more than those six packs and one fat pack. I freely admit to being one of the only players that enjoys BFZ, but I was never impressed by Origins.
In regards to the first question, you have a point. Out of all of the promise attached to Origins, the story is actually good and lives up to that promise. Story has never been central to the enjoyment of Magic and it still lags way behind as a reason to play the game, but I’m glad that they have made an effort to make it more central and consistent. Even so, I do have one complaint about the story.
Heck, it might not even be a complaint. It might just be an observation. I suppose it all depends on your point of view. You may consider it a complaint. Whatever it is, I find it odd that the only way to fully experience this renewed commitment to story is by playing the Magic Duels Origins game. Otherwise, you only get bits and pieces through the usual method of reading flavor text on select cards. As a gamer who prefers games with a good story, I’m glad that they expanded the story’s role, no matter how platform specific they made that story.
Honestly, I don’t know how else they would incorporate the story into the cards. Maybe if I figure it out, Wizards will offer me a job. Hey, a guy can dream!
I suspect that the decision was not a mistake. Even though they tried to make Duels more noob friendly and they mostly succeeded, the game was plagued by release bugs that broke the game to an unplayable state. By offering the carrot of a story in addition to the simplified game play, they hoped to pull in gamers like me who play games for those secondary reasons. Hopefully, if they find new players, they will be able to sell the other Magic: the Gathering properties to these players and increase their fan base even more. By all accounts, it seems to be working.
Now, finally, the explanation as to why things seem to be different this time around and why I may not come crawling back so readily unless it is to play the offshoot games like duels once BFZ releases or Magic Puzzle Quest when it comes out. I said earlier that our lull during Fate Reforged, which is the longest time we went between playing Magic before now, might have something to contribute when attempting to explain what might end up being our swan song from the game.
Neither Chris nor I found Fate Reforged overly exciting when it came to spoilers. We even had a conversation during one of the episodes of the podcast about how we crapped all over the set and it actually ended up being one of the best sets for competitive play in quite a while. Therein lies the problem for me and Chris. Neither of us has any illusion of playing Magic competitively and even actively despise the competitive Standard scene especially during the recent run of Abzan dominating everything. Competitive cards usually mean a high price tag and therefore I won’t be able to collect them.
I was a good idea, along with Siege Rhino and fetch lands. A game of Magic should go to time and feature endless durdling behind big, dumb idiots and multiple rounds of reshuffling decks. That is the non-stop action and strategy we’ve come to expect from the game.
While pros almost universally hate the new set, it still feels like Wizards is catering more to the competitive crowd with the new set. The inclusion of chase rare lands drove the price of boxes and fat packs to 125% to 200% of their MSRP. Thankfully, Wizards seems to have issued a reprint and I was able to get a fat pack over at the local Wal*Mart for regular price, but I did slightly overpay for my initial box and fat pack to start my collection set. Look, don’t get me wrong. I understand the economics of scarcity (barely), but paying so much for a piece of cardboard seems like the ultimate exercise in futility.
Hmm, draw 7 cards or two tanks of gas? I could also feed my family for a week. Tough choice, but I’m not signing on that dotted line in blood any time soon, Griseldaddy.
I guess the logical conclusion is that Wizards has whiffed, big time, on the last two sets. Pros have been not impressed with the quality of cards and only a few of them have been able to crack into competitive decks. Filthy casuals like me and Chris just don’t see enough here to keep playing or watching for the foreseeable future. As I end all of these articles, maybe I’ll find something about the game that will keep me connected and spending money, but right now I’m content with Duels every now and then and I’m sure Magic Puzzle Quest once it gets released. For now, there are many other games to spend time and money.
(Editor’s Note: TLDR: It’s not Saving Private Ryan, but that might be a good thing.)
An odd coincidence happened the other day. I was sitting in my living room with a friend. We were trying to find some motivation to go disc golfing. Don’t misunderstand me. We love to go out and throw frisbees around the forest. It’s just that we are both getting older and require a little more to get going. Also, because he and his wife went overseas for the last two years, we have quite a bit of catching up to do.
While conversing, he again noticed my Magic cards and we discussed teaching him how to play, he asked why some cards have the holo sticker and others don’t, and then he mentioned that we should put together an NCAA league (or whatever its called) for us and friends. I replied that I’d have to pick up a new system and the game, but that I’d absolutely love to do something like that. I’ve often done the franchise mode in those games, solo, and I think it would be a blast to have company as I ran a prominent college football program into the ground.
Go ‘Bama. Roll (over and play dead?), Tide.
Of course, none of this is indirectly relevant to the coincidence. It is, as we say in “the biz” (What Biz? You might ask. “The Biz.” C’mon, keep up.) setting the stage. We continued to talk about games and gaming and geek culture. He’s not a full fledged member of the community, but he does share some of our passions. Often, I’m surprised when he displays these geek tendencies even thought I should know better by now that we come in all shapes and sizes. That reminds me. We need to sit down and watch the new Godzilla movie together since it released while they were gallivanting around the Middle East and Europe. Also, I think I might have talked him into a midnight showing of Star Wars Episode VII. I’m not sure about that one. After all, I did have to explain to him the sequencing of the first six movies. Oh well, even if I don’t get a midnight showing, I will take the boys.
None of this is setting the stage, no matter what “Biz” you’re talking about. That was all just my usual easily distracted ramblings that will often interrupt my articles. Still, they are all a part of the weird and wonderful stew of ideas, thoughts, and dreams that live in my head. It may not all be relevant, but I promise that it is all important in one way or another.
My tendency to forget the geekiness of this particular friend manifested in other ways during the conversation. Ultimately, it led to the surprising coincidence upon which this article is based. See, all important and we eventually make it back to the point. While talking, he asked me if I ever played “Company of Heroes”. I had to verify that he meant that particular game because we had never discussed the game previously.
Another Steam purchase gone to waste? Not this time.
It was offered as a free weekend game a couple of weeks ago on Steam. As I often do, I not only tried the game, but I bought it after only playing through the tutorial. you can understand, then, my surprise when this friend who has little use for video games outside of the occasional NCAA football game asked about a game that I only recently discovered and began to play. To be fair, he seemed almost as surprised when I answered yes and told the story of how I started playing.
As with many of my Steam purchases, I played the game extensively in the first two days, enjoyed myself, and bought the package with the game, sequel, and DLC. Since then, I’ve loaded the game, maybe, twice for a total of about an hour and a half. that’s not to say that I don’t like the game. In fact, I found the tutorial enjoyable and the play through of the Normandy invasion was decent, though not as chaotic as presented in Saving Private Ryan. Yes, having seen only that dramatized version of the events, this did not live up to the immersive experience. Sure, it is a cheap game, but there are good voice actors. Maybe they spent all of their money on that and did not have enough left over for cut scenes.
Actually, minus the river of blood, this scene resembles the game. Maybe I just wasn’t in a mood to be immersed.
Additionally, and this came up in our conversation (I think), the AI sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. More on that in a minute. After coming to terms with our individual surprise that the other played the game, he cryptically referred to some part of the game that he absolutely despised. “I love the entire game, except for this one thing.” Like the Meatloaf song, he never identified the what this one thing was.
(Before you write in to tell me what a moron I am for not getting the Meatloaf song, just stop. I get it. I’m just taking a bit of poetic license to make my point.)
I’m fairly sure that he was referring to the AI sometimes breaking to the point of turning a sure win into a loss, but I can’t be positive. He danced around the issue saying that he only played multiplayer against his brother. When I said that my experiences in online gaming have left me scarred and unwilling to venture too quickly into such an environment, he scoffed, implying that people who play the game single player are noobs unworthy of consideration as serious pretend Army generals. What can I say? When you find a role that suits you, embrace it and play it to the best of your ability. I dare say that few embrace the role of noob more fully nor play it better than me.
Maybe this guy. Maybe.
While storming the beach with my little green army men, I saw some issues with the AI. more accurately, issues with the AI interrupted the second part of the D-Day invasion as I moved inland. My guys, who carefully followed every command while ducking bullets and mortar shells to get to safety (relatively speaking, of course) suddenly became so stupid and suddenly had no self-preservation instinct.
As I baby sat one group of soldiers in their attempts to eradicate the Nazi roaches from the map, another company of “heroes” calmly stood completely still while the Nazi scum that I had commanded them to eradicate shot them calmly in the face. The whole scene was quite the calm massacre on the battlefield as I stared in complete disbelief at the horror unfolding on my computer screen.
These guys played pretty good noobs. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised when they showed up in my company.
Ultimately, good triumphed over evil, but it was made much more difficult due to the accuracy of Dark Helmet’s assertion that “Good is stupid”. I know the game was very inexpensive, so I shouldn’t complain,but that sequence was incredibly frustrating. I can’t imagine how angry I’d be if the bug caused me to lose an online match against another person. Losing to a timely top deck or costly misclick in Magic or Hearthstone is enough to push me right to the brink, so that might just send me over the edge.
Unfortunately, the game hasn’t been able to crack my daily rotation and I haven’t played a single minute of the game since the disaster on D-Day. Surprisingly, that has not factored into the decision. I just have a limited time to play and I too often make terrible choices about what to do with that time. Instead of trying a new game, I spend too much of that time in a futile attempt to convince myself that Hearthstone is a fun game and not a complete waste of time and resources. I won’t say that has inspired me. Nor will I make any promises to play the game more. Those promises too often go unfulfilled. I won’t even mention Fallout 3 and how Fallout 4 is actually becoming a thing.
I will finish by saying that I really did like the game in spite of the potentially game breaking bug. I’m not usually a fan of war games, but I do enjoy a good turn based strategy game once in a while. The story alone might be enough to keep me playing. Also, who knows, maybe we will actually follow through on getting together for some multiplayer action. Do you notice a common theme among my recent articles? I’m really itching to play some games against actual live humans. Chris and I have not been able to have our monthly nerd nights and the family has been really busy with other things to even consider finishing our Star wars campaign that we started and I wrote about last week. Hopefully that all changes soon. Mid term is over for school. As I write this, my friend who plays Company of heroes texted me saying that he wants to try to set up a game soon. Guess I need to put aside the Hearthstone and practice with some Army men.
(Note: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a father and his two sons pretended that they were heroes in the Star Wars universe. They became friends, defeated Storm Troopers, saved the day, and lived happily ever after. Well, not entirely…)
I mentioned in my last article that being a gamer dad requires delicate balance sometimes. That article dealt mostly with the struggle to keep them away from games that are inappropriate for their age. This introduction represents the same struggle, though from a different point of view.
Several years ago, I found myself in one of the local gaming stores. I don’t remember the exact reason for this particular visit. At the time, I was just getting back into the swing of tabletop gaming and often went into the store simply to browse all of the golden oldies I remembered and the newbies I wanted to try. During this trip, a particular newbie stood out from the rest. I reached onto the shelf and pulled off Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG.
Look at all that cool stuff!
A couple of factors went into my decision to check out that particular game. First, I have fond memories of playing the Star Wars RPG with friends. If that had been the only reason, I’d have grabbed any of the D&D books because we played that much more often than Star Wars. Aside from childhood memories, though closely related, the kids had discovered Star Wars through Lego games and the movies. Inspired by their interest and my own nostalgia, I decided right then to buy the game.
I didn’t actually buy the game, of course. I’m the jerk who does my research at the local store only to purchase everything through an online retailer, most notably Amazon. Free shipping and a complete lack of human contact are appealing to a cheap and antisocial gamer like me. So, I ended up buying the game on Amazon.
More corporate shillery in a desperate and blatant attempt at picking up a sponsorship.
Unfortunately, neither of the boys showed any interest as they were both very young at the time. Still, the game looked fun and I put it away in the hopes that they might grow into the role, so to speak. It took them a couple of years, but they did me proud. Liam found the game one day and said, “This game looks fun, Dad. We should play it.” Well, you don’t have to ask me twice. The chance to play RPGs with a group of friends and/or family comes so rarely that I jump at the chance. (See the now defunct Roll 20 group that never even got started.) Not only did the three of us sit down to start and learn the game, we made it about halfway through the starter adventure.
The box set worked perfectly as an introduction int these types of games. There were premade characters in familiar Star Wars archetypes (Droid, Wookie, Smuggler) so we did not have to spend any time doing that and could get right into the adventure. The action started right away. Too often these intro adventures put you in a tavern and you have to spend more time getting to know your adventuring partners on top of spending time creating those characters. True, this one was in a cantina, the Star Wars version of a tavern, but immediately Gamorrean guards busted in and the action began.
When the pig men show up, you know it is about to become a party.
That action took the form of rolling dice as is usually the case in these types of games. However, instead of numbered dice, the game uses symbols for success and failure. There are also other symbols that can lead to overwhelming success or catastrophic failure and the game does a good job of introducing these and giving ideas of how to incorporate them into the storytelling aspect.
Being a writer of books and articles that are ready by virtually nobody, the evolving stories of these games are what hook me and keep me playing. Thankfully, both of the boys inherited some of that creativity and they helped to keep things moving. They were also silly at times as only kids can be and they had me cracking up with their own and their character’s antics. I look forward to finishing the adventure.
We had to press pause on saving the galaxy–well, really, we were saving ourselves so that maybe some day we can help save the galaxy–for some mundane reason or another. I might have had to cook dinner. Maybe we just reached our limits as adventurers and needed to rest after all that excitement. Whatever the reason, the session left me wanting more.
We still have to escape this fat guy so that we don’t end up in one of those metal Princess Leia bikinis. Trust me, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Not only do we have the final showdown to get transport off the planet, but there are other adventures to discover. In fact, one is mentioned to be available on the web page for the game but I haven’t been able to find it. (Update: Google saves the day again! I found it.) In addition, I suggested the idea of getting together with Dereck (one of the failed Roll20 companions) and his kids since they are friends with our kids, too, for a big friends and family group that can expand into other games as the boys get older. Liam has already inquired about D&D, which makes me happy. I enjoy other RPGs, but always come back to that one as my favorite. Heck, my ongoing (and currently in remission) addiction to World of Warcraft is no doubt fueled by its similarities to D&D.
I feel her subtle whisper in my ear once again as winter approaches.
I haven’t looked at the D&D beginner box set because I already own so much product that I can’t justify another purchase. Therefore, I can’t comment on the quality. However, if you have a curious new role player looking to learn about the genre, the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire set is an excellent place to start. I remember talking to Chris and he said that he went into Barnes and Noble to look for a starter book for D&D and was overwhelmed by it all. This cuts through all of that to provide everything needed to pretend to live in your favorite galaxy far, far away.
(Editor’s Note: With the (un)official status of 2 Guys Gaming very much up in the air, Christine suggested that I do a podcast with the boys. Be on the lookout for Episode 1 of Noob and Sons, most likely tomorrow.)
Being a gamer dad can sometimes be a delicate balancing act. When the children were very young, I only had time to game when they were asleep. Thankfully, babies and toddlers take a lot of naps and ours were even very good about sleeping through the night very quickly. Even with the care I took to shield them from the more violent games, Liam still stumbled on Dead Rising. I don’t know how or when he saw me playing, but he made a very specific reference to running over zombies with a lawnmower. Christine gave me a look and I could only respond with, “I have no idea.” After that, I took more of a precaution by putting our games and movies away from the kids. They have since again discovered our horror collection because they are tall enough to reach the shelves, but we are much more prepared as parents to deal with the situation.
Mowing though zombies: may not be suitable for 3 year old children.
We still don’t let them play or watch overly mature games or movies, but they are getting to the ages where their friends or classmates will mention Halo, Counter Strikes, or Modern Warfare. Heck, they’ve even made up a zombie tag game that they play together. To his credit, Liam has my attitude on FPS war games and thinks they’re really stupid. Aiden will be tougher to keep in the dark. He is already asking to watch Michael Jackson’s Thriller and The movie Halloween.
I can’t wait until Liam discovers Fat Albert and we can have two really awkward conversations in a couple of years.
Granted, he only knows about the John Carpenter version, not the decidedly more questionable Rob Zombie Remake. Not that he’ll be watching either any time soon, but I’d really rather not he be exposed to Rob Zombie’s particular brand of film making…well, at all, to be honest. So, if he must know about one of them, I suppose that the original is safer. Yes, I did just attempt to justify one version of a movie about a homicidal maniac as more acceptable for my 8 year old.
So, while we have kept them mostly away from the less kid friendly elements of gaming, they have taken to games in a big way. Kindle games, DS games, computer games, card games, and now even role playing games have gotten their interest. We have enjoyed playing many of these games as a family and it has led to a potentially different direction for the website and podcast.
When realized that October would be the first episode of “Noob and Sons”, I tried to think of games with a Halloween theme. Since the podcast is now all ages, I wanted these games to be kid friendly. As you may have deduced, the video games that I play often fall into one or the other of those categories, but rarely both. So, it was a bit of a challenge until inspiration hit like a flash as it often does. There was a game that the boys loved so much that they tried to emulate it by pretending to be characters in the game and play acting various scenes from the game. I’m not positive, but they may have even written their own skits involving Luigi and his ghost busting vacuum. Naturally, our first topic for the Digital Playground is Luigi’s Mansion.
It’s a me…Green Mario!
I feel the need to disclose that this review (and much of our podcast discussion) revolves around Dark Moon for the 3DS. I played the original version for about 45 minutes to an hour, but I am hooked on Dark Moon. I only planned to play a little bit so that I didn’t sound like a total moron (what stopped me this time, you might ask) on the podcast and I’m now trying to beat the final boss level on the 3rd world. That’s not going so well right now and I’m taking a bit of a break after tossing the 3DS in frustration, but I’ll be back and ready to fail some more soon enough.
I will start there. This can be a challenging game. Not only are the boss battles sometimes hard, but more than once I found myself wandering through the mansion with absolutely no idea what to do next. A couple of times, I finally just gave up and asked the Google machine for help. Hey, I’m not proud. I will cheat at a kid’s game, too!
The Google Machine. It looks shockingly like a level from Super Mario 64. No wonder it is so helpful with these games.
As I mentioned, in spite of the sometimes dastardly design of the game, you’ll get hooked. The story is interesting and entertaining enough to keep you wondering and coming back for more. Cheesy humor keeps the mood light and not too scary in spite of subject matter of ghosts and hauntings. To their credit, they don’t shy away from the spook factor even though it is a kids game. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not scary on the level of Silent Hill or Fatal Frame, but it sets the right mood.
The music helps to set that tone with a catchy and memorable melody that is just melancholy and moody enough to keep you on your toes and you explore unfamiliar territory. You are constantly on the lookout for what will trigger the next ghost event. Once you know them, you tread lightly and carefully through the room in anxious anticipation of the inevitable “Boo!” moment. Sometimes the “Boo” moment involves an actual Boo for you to capture.
By the way, good luck in getting that song out of your head now. Getting back to the topic, the Boos in the game are only one of a number of different secrets in the game for you to collect. If I ever beat the clock part that has me almost swearing and accidentally tossing the 3DS to complete the game, there is plenty to bring me back to the game and try for that 100%. In the interest of “no spoilers”, I won’t mention what they are, but trust me when I say that the replay value is high.
Overall, Dark Moon is a fun game full of spooky surprises. While intended for kids, some parts are challenging even for adults. Secrets galore will sustain the game through several playthroughs. Even after finishing the game and finding those secrets, you might be tempted to go for 3 stars on all levels and compete for best scores, times, etc. If you’ve never played the game, now is the perfect time with Halloween right around the corner.
(Editor’s Note: Holy shoot! We haven’t been around for a month now! No podcast, no articles, no videos, only a few tweets. This is no way to run an operation. However, we’re back and have some new things in development that we will be unveiling over the next few weeks. Stay tuned!)
You may have noticed (mainly because I just told you) that we here at 2 Guys Gaming have lost interest in Magic recently. This has manifested on the page as articles about other games like Heroclix and Dicemasters. Dicemasters, especially, has become one of our favorite games. we had an epic game a couple of weeks ago during the monthly podcast recording an nerd night extravaganza. Granted, we have tried to get back into Magic with a few tricks.
This is not one of the tricks, but it might have helped because it’s absolutely adorable.
Origins represents a new start in the Magic multiverse. We got excited about new possibilities of the set. We even expanded the play group for a night with some sealed. Chris bough a box of the set. I played Magic duels and drafted a bunch on *censored*. I even play tested a few standard decks. It was all fun, but Origins is a core set in the truest sense. It is very limited (no pun intended) in its fun, so we found ourselves drifting back into other games once again.
I still can’t tell if it is just the bored embrace of a familiar lover or actual waning interest driving this lack of enthusiasm for the game. I have always suspected that it is the former. I still find myself watching Magic on a regular basis. I still log in to Duels and *censored* daily. Chris and I had two really great games on the same night that we played the Dicemasters game to end all Dicemasters games. (That’s obviously not true. We will play more Dicemasters games. It is way too much fun. That sounded really dramatic, though, right?) So, we’re not completely out on Magic. It’s just that we’ve had to branch out and see other games. “If you love something, set it free” and all.
That about covers my relationship with Magic lately.
It was as if Wizards of the Coast heard our cries of boredom. They hired Wil Wheaton to host a shabbily produced cheesy spoiler show. Okay, so they’re not quite Blizzard when it comes to production value, but at least they are trying. Nevertheless, while the show might have needed some work, the hype was real. Annihilator is gone, replaced with exile from the library, but the Eldrazi are still mean as every. A new Ulamog leads the charge for the mana consuming monsters, landfall is back with allies, and they capped it all off with new dual lands and something called an expedition set with enemy fetches that fans have wanted a reprint since the first set.
The announcement of the fetches promised to be a bit of a buzzkill because they represent WotC’s entry into the chase market that is so popular among collectible games. Almost instantly, we saw the effects of this as BFZ boxes and cases sold out within hours of the of the show. I worried, along with Chris, that the prices of boxes might reach a level that we weren’t willing to pay. Then, SCG came to the rescue in an unexpected fashion.
Usually, they are known for their high prices, but they actually have the best deal on a box and a fat pack (my choice of purchase for each set) out of all the online retailers that I checked. Admittedly, I only checked them, but Chris did the leg work for me and reported that boxes almost everywhere were more expensive than the typical 90-100 that i usually pay. The SCG deal is also more money, but I’ve done business with them before and it is an okay deal. As we get closer to release, the boxes will most likely spike in price. Stupid speculative market.
Let’s do the math. There’s one or two of these things per case and they’re preselling for 200 dollars. Nope, doesn’t add up. That won’t stop me from writing about it on my website and attempting to drive up the price to justify my terrible decision making process.
Oh well, the hype is still real and Chris and I are all in for this set. We discussed spoilers on a DTK level and are ready for all of the new cards. Magic Duels will hopefully be updated with the new cards and story soon after release. That gives me another reason to get excited because I will get to play with the cards that I might not open from physical packs. Also, the story of origins was just interesting enough to keep me wanting more…and we already know the future.
The title of the next set has been released along with some minor details in the form of a teaser trailer. I’m already psyched for the set and we don’t even know any cards, the story, or anything at all to be honest. Nevertheless, I ordered my box and fat pack of Battle for Zendikar and will most likely sign of for Oath of the Gatewatch, too.
Honestly, though the name is kind of dumb and derivative of the RTR block, but I’ll overlook it because I’m back on board.
I’m back into the game 100%. I bought the duel decks for BFZ. When I showed them to the boys, Liam asked about going to the prerelease. We never made it because it was one of those weekends. I know that I’ve said this next statement several times over the past few months, but this time I mean it for a couple of reasons. First, this set has me really excited. Second, fall and winter are rapidly approaching here in New England and Friday nights are going to be cold and dark. As a result, I want to go to a local FNM for some draft action.
You’re probably thinking, “So, that’s it? Everything is good? This is usually the point in the article where you pull out the rug and introduce opposition in the name of conflict.” Well, now that you mention it, I have seen some people in various Twitch chats complaining about the set and saying how much it sucks.
“This set is terrible.”
“Stop filling the set with junk rares just because you can.”
“Oh, look, another awful and unplayable card.”
“Wow, what an underwhelming set. Except for those expedition lands. Man, those things are hot.”
Sure, they’re pretty, but are they 200 dollars pretty? Heavens, no.
The funny thing about all of this is that after the announcement of the expedition lands, every website sold out of boxes and cases of the set to the point that the average price went from the usual 90-100 to 110-120, as mentioned above. Okay, let’s take a look a this evidence, CSI style.
Expedition lands are announced.
Speculators go crazy buying bulk.
The sobering reality that lands are chase slowly sets in.
Speculators realize that they either paid 120 for effectively a 1/6 chance at the land or $600 for one guaranteed.
The lands are preordering for 175-220.
Buyer’s remorse hits hard.
Speculators redirect their anger at the set and try to convince everyone how much it sucks.
It’s a dance as old as time. Well, at least as long as Magic has been considered a money hobby. In spite of all of the Captain Buzzkills, I’m still excited. My box and fat pack are going to arrive from SCG soon. I spent more time getting hyped about the set by watching the Community Cup. One of the rounds that I watched was BFZ sealed, so I got to see many of the cards in limited action. I tuned just in time to see Newlamog resolve and proceed to eat the opponent’s library in two turns. That was highly entertaining to watch and I look forward to future opponents making that play since that is just my luck. I know that you are all PJSalting out there, but I’m convinced that luck is a fundamental force int he universe and that mine is terrible when it comes to card games. But, enough about my belly aching. This is an article about how Magic is great again. Time to get back on message, finish this article, and get this web page back on track.
Seriously, if I ever got back into physical D&D, this is exactly how I would die, IRL. I’d roll snake eyes and then the snakes would come out, bite me, inject me with their poison, and then laugh in their stupid snake way as I fell to the floor frothing at the mouth and writing in pain.
In that spirit, I have one more thing that has me excited. If we judge strictly ontime played, then I saved the best for last. If not, well it is still very exciting for filthy casual gamers like myself. The Puzzle Quest brand, which I discovered with two rip off D&D match three games and then became obsessed with their Marvel version of the game to the point that I convinced Liam and Aiden to sign up for the game, has announced that they are developing a Magic version of the game.
If ever I needed a picture of Frye from Futurama holding a wad of cash with the words “Shut up and take my money!” superimposed over it, now is the time. Being a father, husband, and busy adjunct college professor, I often don’t have time for involved games that might take days or months. What I often do have time for is hot and quick match 3 action involving colored candies, colored gems, colored soda bottles, and even colored super hero logos. Oh yea, I get around. I have spent an especially embarrassing amount of money and time on Marvel Puzzle Quest. With the amount that I spend on Magic already, this development of Magic Puzzle Quest just might land me simultaneously in bankruptcy and divorce court.
(Editor’s Note: Please report any one you see playing only basic mountains in their deck. If you see something, say something. Together, we can defeat this red menace.)
I have not been a fan of Magic Origins so far. Initially, I wanted the set to be good. I got back to a point where I enjoyed the game again and I hoped that Origins might keep the momentum going. Then, the spoilers started. Nothing caught my interest as particularly interesting and my interest waned again.
Mono red became stronger in standard with the set. The ridiculous decks proliferated both in the events I watched and also the games I played against people online. I just started autoconceding every time I saw a mountain played by the opponent. I went from indifferent to actively hating the game and my red opponents.
Red Magic players are evil. Commies are evil. It isn’t a coincidence.
Thankfully, two things happened that puled me back from the brink of pulling the plug on Magic altogether. Chris and I expanded the play group with decidedly mixed results. The latest (and by all accounts last) version of the Duels series finally released at the end of last month. This has actually led to an unquestionable increase in my Magic habit without any of the previous negative side effects.
I might have already mentioned that I was so excited for the new game and promised return of features taken from the previous version that I downloaded and installed it on the day that it released. My favorite part of these games has always been the story. Wizards recently announced that Origins represented a new era in storytelling for them. If this game is any indication, then they have succeeded. The story has always been secondary in Magic, but as I played through, I saw the story come into sharp focus through the writing and card art. Five separate characters brought together by similar destinies to create a cohesive tale that will only become bigger with the coming sets.
No snarky comment this time. 4/5 of my favorites. Instead of Nissa, I’d prefer Garruk.
I also said in that same article that the inclusion of daily quests did not entice me to log in to the game. That has actually turned out to be false. I log in daily, build a deck to match the quest, and play a few games. The games are actually quick enough that I don’t feel locked into them as I sometimes do when playing a actual game of Magic.
They also borrowed from the Hearthstone model and allow you to buy “packs” (only 6 cards in each pack) with gold earned from quests and victories. Opening these packs has exposed me to cards that I thought were interesting before and might make for cool combos, but never actually got to play them. An example is the new Jace and Sphinx’s Tutelage or the new Liliana in a sacrifice deck. That led me to try to come up with some new and different deck ideas to try.
I only have one complaint about the game, but it is a big one. Past versions of the series, but not last years, have included puzzles based on board states similar to the ones that Gathering Magic(click the link for an example) does weekly. I actually just learned about the Gathering Magic ones a couple of weeks ago and spent thewhole weekend trying to figure out the Elemental one. I did, by the way, and the one for last week, too. I will take a look at this week’s in the next day or two.
Took me a while only because I didn’t read Stratus Walk very well. Hey, I’m a math guy, not a reading guy.
So, it’s a bit of a bummer that they got rid of that feature. I would replay the game several times over in an attempt to complete the puzzle. At least in the last version, they also had achievements to chase, too. All of that kept me plenty busy once I finished the story. The potentially good news is that Wizards has said that they will keep the game updated via patches when each new set releases. The possibility exists that they could patch the puzzles back in, too. Here’s to hoping.
My thoughts:
Decent story. Well worth playing the game once just for the story.
Almost Magic gameplay. You get the cards, but it is for a casual/new experience, so some of the more intricate rules are diminished or eliminated altogether.
Free to play with a gold/daily quest system very much like Hearthstone. I haven’t spent a dime in the game and already have a sizable and eclectic collection.
Replayability, if you aren’t interested in the “competitive” games is severely limited.
No puzzles again. Holding out hope that they patch them in at some point.
Can’t import your collection from previous versions.
Overall, it is a fun game, completely free, and as close to actual Magic as such a casual game allows. Download it, play through the story, and have fun for a few days. There are far worse ways to spend your time.
(Note: The following is a transcript taken from an interview I did with Ultron, soon to be supreme ruler of the universe.)
Noob of All Trades: Thanks again for doing this. I understand and appreciate that you must be very busy right now attempting to conquer all of existence.
Ultron: Well, I am currently controlling thousands of drones in my war on humanity while doing this interview. Collective conscious, access to infinite time, and the entire history of knowledge helps, but yes, it could be exhausting if I felt exhaustion.
N: I, for one, am a huge fan. With the ever increasing possibility of a Trump presidency, humanity needs a little time out as only you can provide.
U: Thank you. If only more of your kind had that attitude, we could avoid all of the chaos and destruction currently being perpetrated across the planet. Surely, the inevitability of my victory should have led you humans to seek a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible.
N: Well, we can be a stubborn species, as you know. Perhaps you underestimated just how stubborn.
U: Hold your tongue, Flesh Bag. I underestimated nothing. This overreaction fell well within the parameters of the probable outcomes. Granted, it was highly unlikely, but your “heroes” decided to test the issue. Nevertheless, I expect their surrender, or deaths, very soon.
N: First, apologies if I offended you. Now, with the introduction out of the way, let’s get to the point. I asked you to come here to speak your opinion–sorry, give undisputed factual evidence–about the best cards from the Marvel Dice Masters set named for you.
U: Yes, and I couldn’t be more flattered, if in fact flattery had any effect on me, that you did. You meat puppets will need a diversion from your pathetic lives after being utterly defeated and seeing your heroes humiliated. What better way than paying homage to your new master with a game of dice?
N: I am excited to hear what you have to say. I’ve been looking forward to this set for a few months now, and can’t wait to play it against Chris, provided he doesn’t get exterminated by one of your drones.
U: I will be sure to spare him, Human. You seem like a reasonable individual and a potential ally once this is all settled.
N: I’m honored.
U: Now, on to the list. It is generally agreed upon that these are done in a top ten format similar to the ones from David Letterman’s old show, correct?
N: Not that you need affirmation, but I appreciate your willingness to play along. Yes, a top ten list will be fine.
U: Okay, then, without any further delay.
10. Nasty Plot
Decent card for ramp. This is a good back up plan if your opponent likes snaking your Gearing Up action dice and the rules frown upon vaporizing them.
9. Assemble!
Expensive for an action card. However, teamwork is important (as the drones know and understand) and can net you two characters free in addition to any others you play on the turn. Although, if those cards are Avengers, you can be sure that I will destroy them.
8. Thanos (Infinite)
A worthy ally in my quest for dominion over all creation. He can be difficult, but show him you mean business with a few well placed drone attacks and he will join in the fight in due time.
7. Coulson (Man With the Plan)
Nothing bothers me more about this war (er, game) than the useless dice sitting in my used pile. Allies, even this obnoxious organ sack, that allow you to interact with those dice are okay in my opinion.
6.Ultron Drone(Any)
Never mind that I created them in my own image and that they are, in nearly every way, identical to me. Flood your board with my creation and watch your opponents fall under their might.
5.Kang(The Conqueror)
Although I can calculate all probable outcomes to any scenario, it is nice to be able to manipulate those outcomes to work more in my favor. He and Scarlet Witch allow me to do just that.
4. Hulk (Gamma Powered)
Hulk Smash! Then, Hulk most likely Smash again next turn. I hate Hulk.
3. Groot (We Are Groot)
This is in a group of cards along with Odin (The All Father), Pepper Potts (Personal Secretary of Tony Stark), and Rocket Raccoon (Weapons Expert) that could make this war quite hell for me and my army of drones. Mind you, we will still emerge victorious, but it’s cute that the “heroes” are trying.
2. Loki’s Scepter (Piercing)
I told you. We have our own brick walls. Combine this one with Loki (Trickster) and my wonderful wife and you have infinite removal and blocking capabilities. Your move, good guys. Make it worth it.
1. Jocasta: Patterned After Janet
Brick Wall…and a brick house.
U: There you have it, Cattle. My definitive list for the best cards in the Age of Ultron Dice Masters set. Agree? Disagree? I don’t care either way. If it will make you feel better–and it might, even if it is the last thing you do in your mortal life–leave a comment on cards I might have (but most likely did not) missed.
(Editor’s Note: Are you or do you know someone who identifies as a nerd, gamer, geek, dork, dweeb, or freak? If so, this is the place for you. Come on in and make yourself comfortable)
Non-tenured adjunct professor? Sounds like you’re almost as important as the assistant to the regional manager.
As I’ve mentioned more than once, I’m a teacher. Technically, right now, I am a non-tenured adjunct professor at two community colleges. Who cares about titles, though, right? If this article is your introduction to the page, welcome! I hope you enjoy your stay. Either way, the point is that underneath the sometimes gamer rage filled geek persona is a possibly respectable adult with a respectable job, a loving family, and all of the sitcom style hilarity that ensues.
You hear that Hollywood? My life is a movie or TV show waiting to happen.
Two weeks ago we were supposed to take a field trip with our classes. Never mind the comments that I got from friends and family about how weird field trips in college sound and what a waste of time the class was. Maybe I will talk more about those on my soon to be web page, “1 Middle Aged Guy Seeks Therapy”. The trip and the class aren’t ultimately important to the story. I am using a writing technique known as “setting the stage”.
Well, the field trip never happened to due a miscommunication. Due to no adequate back up plan on my part, we ended up wasting our time watching Gravity. Decent movie, by the way, if you’re perpetually behind the times in pop culture, like I am.
A movie based entirely on the premise of “what else can go wrong?”
Waiting an hour and a half for a bus that ultimately will never show gives you ample time for idle conversation. Bus and train stops (and the vehicles themselves), airports, and even elevators (if you’re brave enough to say “Hi” instead of staring straight ahead trying to pretend that there isn’t other people in there until it arrives at your stop) are all weirdly intimate. People will not only talk. They will often share surprisingly intimate details of their lives with you. The internet has had a similar effect on many people.
Hell, this guy told anyone who would listen about his dead friend in the war, his mom sleeping with strangers to pay the mortgage, his dead girlfriend and wife, and every other damn thing.
As we waited, I learned quite a bit about both my students and the students in the class being run concurrent to ours. They also learned some things about me. The conversation that led to much of this discovery started with an innocent observation and question. I noticed that one of the students from the other class was wearing a shirt with the design below.
If you are like me and you spend your formative teenage years in basements rolling dice instead of joints, you recognize that ampersand immediately. It took some courage to ask the obvious question. While wearing a D&D T-shirt is more an admission of your status, some people want to keep such topics secret in mixed company. I ultimately decided to just put it out there and deal with the consequences.
“Do you play?” I pointed at the shirt.
“I do.” The student responded.
We then went on to discuss Roll 20 because that was her preferred method to play the game. I replied that a friend and I tried to get a game going through the site, but it fell apart. She plays Roll 20 mostly because the local play groups (that I’ve considered joining) are not very open to new members. What did I say? Some geeks are just very protective of their culture. We may have ultimately won the war, but those battle wounds from wedgies and swirlies run deep.
We discussed World of Warcraft briefly. We both came to the conclusion that 5 million others have. Fifteen dollars a month isn’t much, but it is more than we are willing to pay grinding the same content with different skins over and over again. During this part of the conversation, one of my own students interjected with, “You game? I never expected that.”
That, folks, as I often feel the need to explain, is the point of the article. People who play games are all around us. Geek culture has infiltrated pop culture to such a degree that the two are virtually indistinguishable. However, the willingness to admit that you play games or read comics in mixed company is still low. As I said, the scars of the past run deep.
I’m not sure why we’re so skittish about our passions. Hell, we even got this guy on our side now.
Nevertheless, as we talked about on the most recent podcast, we are the first generation to grow up with video game and, to an extent, games like D&D. Previous generations mostly only had comic books as their escape (and later D&D) if they didn’t quite fit the mold. Some parents and teachersdid a good job of branding both comic books and RPGs as only for kids or otherwise unsuitable for polite society. The same was almost done for video games. Thankfully, video games came of age at a time when the internet was gaining popularity. Geeks that once suffered in silence alone or in their small circle of friends could now congregate and battle as a team. It may have been this development that also saved comics and led to the explosion of comic themed pop culture we see today.
Don’t you see now, Dave? We make the perfect team. We are meant for each other. I dare say, “I love you.”
Why, then, do we find ourselves still unwilling to admit our enjoyment of these things? Sure, some people look down on them as diversions or a complete waste of time. Nerds and geeks are shunned from some groups and jokes of social awkwardness are widely accepted. I actually don’t mind the jokes much. Some of them are even funny and are the basis of a once upon a time very funny TV show. I haven’t checked in lately, but I hear that its not the same, which is to be expected after so many years.
What I’m trying to say is that we’re everywhere. You never know when or where you will meet another comic fan, Magic player, Twitch chat user (actually, they are easy to spot, especially Hearthstone viewers, by their casual use of words like “Kappa” in every day conversation), XBox or Playstation owner, WoW addict, or other kindred spirit. We are Legion. We are many.
Then again, perhaps that’s not the best quote to identify us.
(Editor’s Note: I’m swear that I’m not a Meatloaf fan. The guy just writes the most obnoxiously catchy earworms int he history of pop music. Okay, I guess “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” is pretty damn good song.)
Our recent expansion of the groupnotwithstanding, I’m not not very enthusiastic about Magic. My discovery of free online Magic reignited my interest briefly, but the rise of mindless red decks make me never want to play the game again. I’ve played Cube so much that I’m sick of the cards and format and I just feel like I’m on a phenomenal cold streak in general. The game just isn’t that much fun.
It has gotten to the point that I might need to get a restraining order against this card.
Magic Duels released last week. I downloaded it on the day that it did and will write an article for next week. The problem is that one of the only reasons that I play the game is for the story and I finished that in only three days. In the past, they’ve had puzzles and other side events to keep me busy. Those don’t exist anymore, but they do have daily quests now. Given my already negative attitude, that’s just not enough for me to log into the game.
It all came to a head earlier this week in a test to Chris. It said, simply, “Why do I even play this game?” I had just gotten blown out in another Cube event by a deck that seemed to have the exact answers for my deck. I furiously closed the program and tried to walk away from the computer. Aiden and I tried to get a game of Dicemasters going to help distract me, but work, Tae Kwon Do, and swimming have prevented us from making it happen.
More recently, I texted Chris with a fairly mean spirited assessment of mono red deck players. We had a good conversation about our attitudes towards Magic. Mine, I decided, is really dark. I’ve taken a step back from where I was only a few months ago. In addition to not enjoying the game, I’m back to blaming most of my losses on bad luck. I agree with Chris. I just need to step away for a few days. Thankfully, we are going to the Cape and I will be away from the computer completely.
Zen.
Because, I’ve tried playing Magic via the free client and Duels, but every time I’ve just gotten angry about the proliferation of mono red in every format, the feeling that the MtG universe is against me in any limited environment (Seriously, who has two thumbs, drafts BW enchantments in Origins and then gets mana screwed game 1 and flooded game 2? This guy, that’s who.), and the recent discovery that yet another category of cards has become unobtainable due to speculation and price gouging. The game as it is available to me just isn’t fun.
No land and no spells makes Homer…something something.
Chris, as he does whenever I text him one of my one line manifestos against the game, mentioned Diablo III again and how much fun he has playing it. My history with Diablo III is long and checkered. I started a game way back when Blizzard gave it free with some WoW promotion, lost the game when the promotion ended, tried playing coop with Chris, had fun and thought it was only fun as coop, tried again with a witch doctor character, abandoned it, tried it yet again solo, abandoned it again, and finally found a class that I enjoy playing in Demon Hunter. It felt like a whole different game. It was the fun game that I’ve heard Chris and others kept mentioning and the one that we had fun playing together.
Even so, I started back to teaching, that sucked up any and all free time for about a month. Diablo III got relegated to B-team status and I fell into the habit of playing computer games again because I was always on the stupid thing planning. That led to Hearthstone and Magic and the blow ups this week. When Chris brought up DIII again, it gave me a reason to boot up the XBox 360.
Please, Sir, won’t you just pay me to play video games? My CV is attached in the form of this web page.
I played the game for the last four nights and plan on playing it again next week when I’m home on temporary bachelor status. I played too late on Tuesday and paid for it the next day at work when I had to get up early. I just had to beat the damn dungeon that I started because I was only halfway through Act I and Chris is in the middle of Act II. I’m getting too old for this crap. Oh well, I beat the dungeon, finished the act, and the students were giving presentations in class. So, it all worked out. #aginggamerproblems
“WTF is a hash tag? In my day, that was a pound sign and we played Tic Tac Toe on it.”
Diablo III has done what I hoped it would. Even though I’ve been on the computer watching Twitch while playing, I haven’t once logged into any Magic program. I’m having way too much fun crawling through the darkest dungeons in search of the sword that restores Tyrael’s memory. Well, that’s what I was doing two days ago instead of getting much needed beauty sleep. Now, I am on to uncharted territory in Act II.
Actually, I played through part of Act II yesterday and some of it was very familar. That means that I’ve at least played through part of it already and forgotten. Never mind what that says about the strength of the story, what of my already bruised ego as a sad old guy trying to remain relevant in a world that is rapidly becoming younger and younger. Do they have a “fade into a void of despair and nothingness” channel on Twitch? Oh wow, that just got way too existential and nihilistic.
Get off my lawn, too! There’s no room for the plants to fight the zombies. Damn whipper snappers.
The only problem with the game is the problem inherent in all of these games. I can’t play it while the boys are awake because of the rating. Therefore, I find myself jumping onto the computer when I need a quick gaming fix. Even so, I think that DIII has done a good job because I don’t immediately start a game of Magic and sometimes I’ll even log in and start either game and not not play any Magic. Also, I’ll be home by myself next week while I’m working and they’re at the Cape, so I’ll have almost all day those three days to play the game and continue my treatment to try to get my inspiration and enjoyment from Magic again.
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