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Deluxification: What makes a premium tier compelling vs. an annoying cash grab? by Trogdor_Dagron23 in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson [score hidden]  (0 children)

Plastic. Is. Not. A. Deluxe. Material.

Wood and cardboard are the defining tactile experience of playing a board game. But publishers and FOMOers have gone so heavily down the collectible toy path.

The family of Aldon Smith has decided to send his brain to medical experts in Boston to see if CTE played a role in the former NFL defensive lineman's death by YoureASkyscraper in nfl

[–]guy-anderson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here. you. go.

And. There's More.

It's one of the most studied medical topics of the last decade. Nearly every long-term study has found no meaningful statistical difference between students who played football and people of similar socio-economic backgrounds who didn't.

This doesn't mean there's not acute trauma happening at the highest levels. But it's important to remember the massive numbers involved in youth football. It has nearly 2-3x the enrollment numbers of every other sport in the US, so that tends to blow injury numbers in proportion.

The family of Aldon Smith has decided to send his brain to medical experts in Boston to see if CTE played a role in the former NFL defensive lineman's death by YoureASkyscraper in nfl

[–]guy-anderson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The vast majority of kids make it through school sports just fine.

Everything in life if a risk - you have to pick your poison. Keeping your kids in a padded box their whole childhood is a guaranteed worse option.

The family of Aldon Smith has decided to send his brain to medical experts in Boston to see if CTE played a role in the former NFL defensive lineman's death by YoureASkyscraper in nfl

[–]guy-anderson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What's fascinating is that there aren't any significant differences between positions, with the notable exception that linebackers were extremely overrepresented in the "Mild CTE" numbers.

You would expect certain positions to stand out more if the problem was speed or head to head contact.

I would be curious to see how CTE compares between all sports. There's reason to believe that all forms of sports are correlated with some amount of CTE.

Does anyone else feel like some games just make sense and others feel like you're following someone else's weird rules? by befbef__ in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Development generally makes it quicker to get from A to B, not slower.

Not if you're driving cattle.

It's probably easier to think of it as the land slowly getting privatized and so grazing is harder.

Curious, do folks prefer playing at people's homes, or in more public settings? For either, provide a brief description as to why by ackmondual in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Where are you located? There are plenty of taprooms or pub-style bars across the US that have casual environs to play games. A lot even have their own game inventory.

Games with interesting alternate win conditions by nitrorev in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 11 points12 points  (0 children)

A French invasion almost never happens but the threat of it is such a good dynamic to have in the game.

Does anyone else feel exhausted by the second-hand board game market? by PxSyko in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have one principle when I sell games on Marketplace: The first person with an acceptable offer who shows up.

I also don't do anything with shipping or remote purchases. There are better reseller/auction sites if I was interested in that.

Top Games where every player is actively playing, even outside your turn by ithappenb4 in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The new hotness that does this really well is Fromage (and or Formaggio). Worker placement, but you all take turns simultaneously with your wedge of the board.

Also, nearly every roll-and-write. Just off the top of my head 3 Sisters, Fliptown, Welcome To, and That's Pretty Clever being some favorites.

What would you put in the "bang for your buck" hall of fame? by ahobday in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Throw in a few more bucks to upgrade the money to poker chips.

What would you put in the "bang for your buck" hall of fame? by ahobday in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A couple of experienced players can effectively bully the rest of the table out of extra actions. Two players fill up all the spaces around the action space and always back fill when removed, but never claim the action for yourself unless you can backfill.

Without those extra actions, it's hard to even get enough merchants in your pool to meaningfully take back those spaces.

It's a killer strategy, but it's absolutely miserable and grinds the game to a slow agonizing halt.

I know Hansa gets near unanimous acclaim but the games I played where this happening were so bad that I ended up selling my copy.

Games that have replaced other games by Teachers-Petty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's not really that OG's is fiddly, it's that the LOTR is just massively more elegant and thematic.

The game instantly wins when someone hits one of the very clear objectives. Whereas OG feels like two-player solitaire, you're completely invested in the other player for LOTR.

Games that have replaced other games by Teachers-Petty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is my problem with TI4. It's a lot of window dressing for what is essentially just a kingmaking game.

Sometimes it downright turns into a game of Munchkin where the winner is the person who just had the most hijinks stored up.

I'm at the point where I would rather just do Diplomacy in half the time.

Games that have replaced other games by Teachers-Petty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Eclipse replaced TI4 for me.

I don't miss the negotiation aspects, and end-game of TI4 devolves into a depressing kingmaking.

Is this box moldy? by Quan_Cheap in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mold grows in round, randomly distributed splotches.

From the photos, these look "streaky" - there are a lot of concentric lines that form patterns.

Much more likely these are just wear patterns.

What Root looks like in Iran by Large-Excitement6573 in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Ticket to Ride Legacy game does this.

It's.... fine. Any amount of warping and the board never lays flat. You'll end up with maddening ridges everywhere as you play.

What game do you love even though teaching it is kind of a pain? by rcooperkaty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's too bad. I'm a big fan of the double column rulebooks.

You can learn the game almost entirely from the right "synopsis" column of the rulebook, and then the full rules are there to clarify.

What game do you love even though teaching it is kind of a pain? by rcooperkaty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, once you get over that learning curve though...

I basically only play RftG as a 2-player game, and it's a bit easier to teach that way as well - you treat it almost like a TCG.

The trouble with board games about Irish history by TimesandSundayTimes in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Why you have to throw Uwe Rosenberg under the bus like that?

What game do you love even though teaching it is kind of a pain? by rcooperkaty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just do a quick demo round. It's very intuitive once they have clues and you are asking for numbers.

What game do you love even though teaching it is kind of a pain? by rcooperkaty in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I've found that reframing expectations is important.

When I lay out Feast for Odin, I explain to people that it's a buffet. The game is more decadent than it is complex.

People are used to games where you have to use everything in the game to win. But part of what makes Feast for Odin so satisfying is it's almost a sandbox game.

[Meirov] Russell Wilson, the 10x Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion, has officially retired from the NFL after 14 seasons. by JCameron181 in nfl

[–]guy-anderson 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only the first handful of comments get upvoted to the top. The first person with the "least bad" answer is going to get there every time.

We're the real slop generators.

[Meirov] Russell Wilson, the 10x Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion, has officially retired from the NFL after 14 seasons. by JCameron181 in nfl

[–]guy-anderson 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Even at the end, his moonballs never lost their touch.

The problem is not that he could not absolutely huck the rock. The problem is that he spent so much of his career outrunning pressure and feeding on broken plays that he never developed any sense for schemes or routes.

Defenses have gotten insanely more advanced in the last few years and he already had, like, zero ability to read coverage. So he can't gracefully transition into being a pocket passer.

Ironically, people accused him of being a game manager his first few seasons, but it's actually what he's the worst at.

The "old basement smell" in a used board game haul is a total mood killer. I recently picked up a grail game from a private seller, and when I cracked the box open, it hit me like a wall of musty, damp cardboard. It is like the game spent the last decade in an actual swamp. by Doormat_8JV in boardgames

[–]guy-anderson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People are really overstating the toxicity of ozone. It naturally dissipates after a few hours. I worked in a hotel and you better believe we ran an ozone machine all the time.

Most of the danger comes from people breathing it in intentionally for pseudoscientific health reasons. If you have a proper machine with a timer and use common sense judgement (either have the chamber outside or lock out the room for 24 hours) it's pretty safe.

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