I think you're underestimating the people that still play lengthy D&D quests, or games like Munchkin.
- jmatchett383

I don't think I am but it's certainly possible. D&D is an RPG and is really a different hobby altogether than board gaming. They're adjacent though and of course people who do one often enjoy the other.

Munchkin is also a cultural artifact, like Monopoly, that's firmly entrenched and persists only because people don't know better or don't want to learn new things. Board games have progressed far beyond this. Take a look at the board game section in Barnes & Noble or Target. The level of quality finding its way to the mainstream is surprisingly high.

I can totally appreciate someone embarking on a creative endeavor and I'm not calling James' idea stupid, I just don't think it's a particularly strong one and I'm opining because I think he will go down a hole that will eat up a ton of time with a lackluster result. Although, he likely doesn't care about that, which is also fine and I have no ill will.

I don't think I am but it's certainly possible. D&D is an RPG and is really a different hobby altogether than board gaming. They're adjacent though and of course people who do one often enjoy the other.

Munchkin is also a cultural artifact, like Monopoly, that's firmly entrenched and persists only because people don't know better or don't want to learn new things. Board games have progressed far beyond this. Take a look at the board game section in Barnes & Noble or Target. The level of quality finding its way to the mainstream is surprisingly high.

I can totally appreciate someone embarking on a creative endeavor and I'm not calling James' idea stupid, I just don't think it's a particularly strong one and I'm opining because I think he will go down a hole that will eat up a ton of time with a lackluster result. Although, he likely doesn't care about that, which is also fine and I have no ill will.
- charlest

Munchkin can still be pretty fun!

Munchkin can still be pretty fun!
- SolidGoldBricks

Sure, like what you like. There's no such as thing as bad or wrong fun.

I don't think I know anyone who's actually finished a game of Munchkin though. It's way too long and repetitive.

whats a CD?

I thought the king hook built up stupendously that kinda bombed out at the end. After the good read all I could think about was the dudes watching out for the time traveler. Who were they? From when or where? After such a good read I wish that tiny bit wasn’t essentially what I got out of it.
- ChrisMS

I agree, but then again, most of his books have crap endings.

I don't think I am but it's certainly possible. D&D is an RPG and is really a different hobby altogether than board gaming. They're adjacent though and of course people who do one often enjoy the other.

Munchkin is also a cultural artifact, like Monopoly, that's firmly entrenched and persists only because people don't know better or don't want to learn new things. Board games have progressed far beyond this. Take a look at the board game section in Barnes & Noble or Target. The level of quality finding its way to the mainstream is surprisingly high.

I can totally appreciate someone embarking on a creative endeavor and I'm not calling James' idea stupid, I just don't think it's a particularly strong one and I'm opining because I think he will go down a hole that will eat up a ton of time with a lackluster result. Although, he likely doesn't care about that, which is also fine and I have no ill will.
- charlest

Hey i appreciate the feedback honestly. The thing is, my game is pretty complicated - I only outlined the main stuff - the characters have attributes, and backstories and each one has different pros and cons to the game, there's a black hole, there's choices, and paths and building. Etc. The main thing is though, it's scavenger hunt combined with a hockey pool that is sort of crazily overcomplicated.

Hey i appreciate the feedback honestly. The thing is, my game is pretty complicated - I only outlined the main stuff - the characters have attributes, and backstories and each one has different pros and cons to the game, there's a black hole, there's choices, and paths and building. Etc. The main thing is though, it's scavenger hunt combined with a hockey pool that is sort of crazily overcomplicated.
- James_Tanner

Yeah and that sounds kind of wild, but I actually think that's worse - at least if you actually want people to play it.

Board games are actually my main hobby, just slightly edging out hockey (I know, I'm a nerd).

I've spent years foisting board games on people that only are casually interested and length is the number one deal breaker. People think a 90 minute board game is way too long. Trying to explain that there are games out there that take 4-8 hours blows their mind and also has them throwing up in their mouths a bit.

I just can't see anyone who is casually interested in gaming wanting to commit to playing the same game over and over. If someone was a legit gamer, sure, but they likely won't enjoy the qualities you're expressing.

If you could even get people to commit, I'd honestly wager actual money 9 out of 10 groups would never finish. I'm not sure what would happen in this instance, would the owner of the game keep the money? Try and give it back when there's no record of who kicked in what?

There's also a major issue in that the biggest problem with fantasy sports has been imported. What do you do when someone has 4 keys and two or three other players feel like they're so far away from winning they don't even want to play or risk anymore money?

Truth be told, fantasy sports are terrible from a game design standpoint, but they succeed because they enhance our appreciation of something else, not on their own merit.

I actually think there's some neat ideas in your concept, but the ideas which are the most radical and interesting are also the ones fraught with the most issues unfortunately.

I see the Pumpkins box set in there. Good piece to have & not all that common. I once spotted it out in an episode of New Girl too. Thumbs up on that piece James! Decent sized collection of cds for sure. But quite frankly I'm a tad underwhelmed. I expected to see a more serious habit. I don't think you're quite at quelling level yet. And if you're going with quality over quantity then that is even more reason not to quell!

Boy did I get suckered in. I really wanted to find out what Tanner's all decade team really had on it.

Boy did I get suckered in. I really wanted to find out what Tanner's all decade team really had on it.
- MJL

Thats more typical of an EK post - especially the ole...Rumors coming routine!!!!!

Yeah and that sounds kind of wild, but I actually think that's worse - at least if you actually want people to play it.

Board games are actually my main hobby, just slightly edging out hockey (I know, I'm a nerd).

I've spent years foisting board games on people that only are casually interested and length is the number one deal breaker. People think a 90 minute board game is way too long. Trying to explain that there are games out there that take 4-8 hours blows their mind and also has them throwing up in their mouths a bit.

I just can't see anyone who is casually interested in gaming wanting to commit to playing the same game over and over. If someone was a legit gamer, sure, but they likely won't enjoy the qualities you're expressing.

If you could even get people to commit, I'd honestly wager actual money 9 out of 10 groups would never finish. I'm not sure what would happen in this instance, would the owner of the game keep the money? Try and give it back when there's no record of who kicked in what?

There's also a major issue in that the biggest problem with fantasy sports has been imported. What do you do when someone has 4 keys and two or three other players feel like they're so far away from winning they don't even want to play or risk anymore money?

Truth be told, fantasy sports are terrible from a game design standpoint, but they succeed because they enhance our appreciation of something else, not on their own merit.

I actually think there's some neat ideas in your concept, but the ideas which are the most radical and interesting are also the ones fraught with the most issues unfortunately.
- charlest

This is actually a really good point. The main reason I posted about this today was for this exact kind of thing. When trying to make a game, you keep coming across problems you'd never considered before.

I see the Pumpkins box set in there. Good piece to have & not all that common. I once spotted it out in an episode of New Girl too. Thumbs up on that piece James! Decent sized collection of cds for sure. But quite frankly I'm a tad underwhelmed. I expected to see a more serious habit. I don't think you're quite at quelling level yet. And if you're going with quality over quantity then that is even more reason not to quell!
- Salami_Tsunami

You can't really see it, but on top of the left side case is another Pumpkins box set - the Mellon Collie box set. It's really cool.

Also, the one on the left spins, and it's full on the back as well. I have a closet full of CDs I've never listened to (only ones i'm finished with get shelved) as well as probably 50 or so in our cars, another 50 or so upstairs in my office and bedroom, and like five or ten that still have cellophane on them.

Not counting the ones in the closet, there's roughly 2500, some I've had since I was 10 years old.

You can't really see it, but on top of the left side case is another Pumpkins box set - the Mellon Collie box set. It's really cool.

Also, the one on the left spins, and it's full on the back as well. I have a closet full of CDs I've never listened to (only ones i'm finished with get shelved) as well as probably 50 or so in our cars, another 50 or so upstairs in my office and bedroom, and like five or ten that still have cellophane on them.

Not counting the ones in the closet, there's roughly 2500, some I've had since I was 10 years old.
- James_Tanner

Got me beat. I only made it to about 1500 before switching to vinyl. Paying to have someone digitize them all was expensive

Is this supposed to be an insult? If so you suck at it.
- James_Tanner

yawn.

you've given up.

Quitting smoking is the #1 best thing you can do for yourself and it's not close

I'll be a beta tester for your board game and I am also very interested in what I can only assume is your anime porn comic
- eichiefs9

Google “Itedaki Seikei”

Yeah and that sounds kind of wild, but I actually think that's worse - at least if you actually want people to play it.

Board games are actually my main hobby, just slightly edging out hockey (I know, I'm a nerd).

I've spent years foisting board games on people that only are casually interested and length is the number one deal breaker. People think a 90 minute board game is way too long. Trying to explain that there are games out there that take 4-8 hours blows their mind and also has them throwing up in their mouths a bit.

I just can't see anyone who is casually interested in gaming wanting to commit to playing the same game over and over. If someone was a legit gamer, sure, but they likely won't enjoy the qualities you're expressing.

If you could even get people to commit, I'd honestly wager actual money 9 out of 10 groups would never finish. I'm not sure what would happen in this instance, would the owner of the game keep the money? Try and give it back when there's no record of who kicked in what?

There's also a major issue in that the biggest problem with fantasy sports has been imported. What do you do when someone has 4 keys and two or three other players feel like they're so far away from winning they don't even want to play or risk anymore money?

Truth be told, fantasy sports are terrible from a game design standpoint, but they succeed because they enhance our appreciation of something else, not on their own merit.

I actually think there's some neat ideas in your concept, but the ideas which are the most radical and interesting are also the ones fraught with the most issues unfortunately.
- charlest

Ultimately I agree with most of this. Although I think some of this can be mitigated if you lean into the scavenger hunt/tasks as far as marketing goes, as opposed to marketing it as a board game. I don't know if you've ever heard of GISH (as in GISHWHES, not the Smashing Pumpkins album) but it gets 50,000+ people, the majority of which take a week off work to participate, and some frankly insane tasks get accomplished.

I do think you are going to come up against the problem long-form games have. The longer the game is, the tougher it is to find a fun balance between randomness & strategy. Too much randomness, and people feel like it doesn't matter what they do, a dice roll at the end chooses a winner, so they won't invest too much time wise (although in this case money wise as well probably). Too much strategy (chess as an example, is pure strategy there is 0 randomness involved), and people who make a mistake and get behind early on in the game have no interest in continuing to invest large amounts of time (money) into, because they know they have already lost unless the opponent screws up.
Long games also have the commitment problem. Getting people to commit to long games is difficult. I'd suggest at least having the game have a short-form version people could accomplish over one night of NHL games or something, to let everyone feel comfortable with the rules & learn the game, and as a gateway into convincing people to try it long form.

Since most(if not all) of your columns troll, I’m not sure if your top 50 list is serious or not.

Since most(if not all) of your columns troll, I’m not sure if your top 50 list is serious or not.
- ChopperBlu

None of my columns are trolling, and the list is legit.

None of my columns are trolling, and the list is legit.
- James_Tanner

Wonderful, Wonderful - The Killers

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Mad Max Fury Road
Ford vs. Ferrari
Logan

None of my columns are trolling, and the list is legit.
- James_Tanner

Is the point to make completely subjective choices that no one else will feel are accurate? Cool, I'm in!!

Movie: Whiplash

Album: 10 Kinds of Lonely - Ron Hawkins (probably not, really. But, Ron is so ridiculously underappreciated and unknown he deserves a shoutout!)

Book: A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson

None of my columns are trolling, and the list is legit.
- James_Tanner

If you say so. Here’s some albums maybe you should check out.

Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern sounds in Country Music
Angel Olsen - My Woman
Nick Cave - Skeleton Tree
A Tribe Called Red - We Are the Halluci Nation
Destroyer - Poison Season

There’s a good start for you.

None of my columns are trolling, and the list is legit.
- James_Tanner

None if my insults are from the heart, and I agree with you about Trump.

Sure, like what you like. There's no such as thing as bad or wrong fun.

I don't think I know anyone who's actually finished a game of Munchkin though. It's way too long and repetitive.
- charlest

Oh...is THAT ever wrong.....