Canuck

A good guide, from my perspective as a 38 D/D Brute. The only comment I have is that I have and run Death Shroud continually, and with slotting End redux into everything, it's become my number one most damaging power over time. It about ties with a couple of the attacks if I'm solo, but the bigger the group I'm in, the wider the margin by which it beats any other single power.

--The Canuck/Smish, Victory

I've been playing tabletop RPGs since 1981. They have gone through good times and bad, but I've never seen a huge upswing or downswing in the numbers of people playing. The player base has gotten a lot older, and some are now playing with their (grown) children, but on the whole, I don't see the RPG industry growing or shrinking by a huge amount. Basically, it appeals to some people and not others, and it's hard to change that. The barriers to playing are basically access to materials (books are relatively cheap), and access to a playgroup. The second is a lot harder than the first, but is still very doable. The numbers of people who say to themselves "Man, I've heard about this D&D thing, how do I get involved?" are I suspect quite small. It's mostly recruitment by and of friends. Tabletop RPGs also take time, which has to be scheduled. You have to get 4-7 people together for multiple hours on a regular basis, without distractions, and with a suitable location.

The computer game industry (and by extension the MMO industry) are the other way around. Getting people to play with is trivially easy. Either a game doesn't need other players, or they are available across the globe with the click of a mouse. The barrier here is materials, you have to have a pretty good computer and keep it mostly up to date, you have to buy the games, and you have to pay a subscription fee for some of them. Once you have that, however, you are set any time of day or night. I suspect that many people do indeed try video games because they look neat, rather than having a friend push them into it. After all, once you have bought the computer, why not get a cool game?

The play experience between the two types of game industry is quite different as well. Computer games are generally about reflexes and bright shiny colours, while tabletop games are usually about the socializing. There's stuff in each that you can't get in the other, and that's a good thing. Talking with your teammates online while playing CoH just doesn't compare to the DMs intricately crafted version of Amber, and the machinations leading up to the latest throne war, or to sitting around a basement and whomping orcs and laughing at what the cat's doing.

I play both. I appreciate both. Each appeals for different reasons, and while there's a fair bit of overlap, I wouldn't give up either one. I don't expect the computer game industry to have a significant impact on the RPG industry. It helps and harms it, by introducing new people to the concept, while it eats up the time of others.

--The Canuck

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4. If I Was A Deep One - Shoggoth On The Roof Soundtrack


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Drat! If only my Darkest of the Hillside Thickets - Shoggoth's away had come up, then we would have two Shoggothy posts in a row!

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That reminds me, I need to get some DotHT. I don't actually have any of their music, but I've been meaning to get some.

--The Canuck

Random:

1: With Or Without You - U2
2: Sword Fight (Bransle) - The Three Musketeers Soundtrack
3: One By One - Chumbawumba
4: Www.Nevergetoveryou - Prozzak
5: Calling You - Aqua
6: I Drove All Night - Cyndi Lauper
7: Easy Tiger - Depeche Mode
8: Stressed Out - St. Elmo's Fire Soundtrack
9: Crank Call - Billy Idol
10: Eternal Mystery - Midnight Syndicate

Random 4 and 5 stars:

1: Cartoon Heroes - Aqua
2: Tubthumping - Chumbawumba
3: Cry, Little Sister (Theme from the Lost Boys) - Gerard McMann
4: It Can't Rain All The Time - Jane Siberry
5: Sister of Night - Depeche Mode
6: Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
7: Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
8: Superman's Song - Crash Test Dummies
9: Maneater - Hall & Oates
10: The Traveller - Chris de Burgh

Why yes, I do like 80s music.

--The Canuck, Victory

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We found the bug and got it fixed on our side. I doubt you'll see it til after Thanksgiving Weekend, though. Just wanted to give a heads up to everyone. (I've gotten about 15 PM's on the topic over the weekend!)

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Another 11 months to wait for the fix? Oh noes!



Or, maybe you mean American Thanksgiving which is... sometime in November I think, not really sure. Ours was the second Monday in October, just like always.

Y'know, before the crops all freeze up here.

--The Canuck

Hey, Arctic! Good to see you.
We're in good hands, Arctic_Sun was one of two that taught me to play the Amber DRPG. If that's not all story, I don't know what is.

--The Canuck

I've taken Teleport as the only travel power on my Empathy Defender. I've 6-slotted it for range. I don't have Stamina, Hover, or any other safety net. All I need is Recovery Aura, and I'm good to go, if it wears off I just perch somewhere until it's back. I'm consistently the first one everywhere (other than in Dark Astoria), and Recalling the other to me. It's great, I wouldn't change it for the world.
Teleport is not, however, for everyone. It's by far the worst for exploring, and it's the most dangerous one in general (rivalled by SuperJump, I suppose). It's the hardest to get the hang of, and although it is the fastest, it's also the least wieldy.
I also wouldn't suggest it for anyone who suffers from lag.

--The Canuck

Your guide is amazing. I read it again and again. I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me. It was better than Cats.
<the above is all said in monotone>

--The Canuck

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Greyhawk?

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Greyhawk is pretty much an archetypal D&D setting. It's the first and (IMO) best, and is still going strong. It's not high fantasy like Forgotten Realms, it's not survivalist like Dark Sun, or philosophical like Planescape. It's not about exploration like Spelljammer, about politics like Birthright, about horror like Ravenloft, about swashbuckling adventure like Eberron, or about Persian flavour like Al Quadim. It's whatever you want to make of it. It's pretty much a blank slate, and it can be all those things above, sometimes all at once. All those other campaign worlds are great (and I own much of the Planescape materials among others), but Greyhawk stands on its own as open to whatever you want it to be.

--The Canuck, D&D player for 24 years now

I suspect that the difference to a hardcore anti-demon person is that in CoH all the demons, zombies and such are villains to be defeated. In many other RPGs you can play characters who either summon or are these types of characters. I can see that making a difference to someone's opinion of a game.

--The Canuck

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What else can I say? I should be working on my LARP that I have to run in less than 24 hours. No other game in my life grappled my attentions so bad that my other games start to suffer....

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I second this. I also have to run a LARP in... 24 hours and 10 minutes. I'm unprepared. I'm likely to be playing CoH tonight instead of preparing.

--The Canuck, Victory

Thanks for everything. Most games I play for a couple months, and then take up something else. This one I've been playing hardcore (for me) since a month after release when I bought a new computer just to play it.
I haven't been this hooked since way back when I was MUDding.

--The Canuck, Victory