Last month, I picked the latest edition of an RPG I liked at the local game store. I would have ordered it through my own store, but my distributor doesn't carry the publisher. With my pre-order discount and store credit, I got the book for twenty-five dollars off, otherwise I might not have purchased it. Or I could have waited until this past weekend and purchased it at 40% as part of a pre-Halloween sale at the store. Whatever. I wanted to see for myself if it was a bad, or good depending upon the social media feed, as I had been hearing. Personally, I found the game lacking. Not completely horrible, but not really memorable either. Basically, mediocre. I will be writing a review on the gaming forum I'm on later today. Actually, I will be writing the first part of the first phase of my review process today. See, I am thinking about writing multiple reviews based on different criteria to better relate the true impression of the game. Currently, I'm planning four reviews. One, based entirely on the game itself divorced from any other outside influences. Phase two will be comparing it to the other new games in this line. The new games introduced some features that appeared to be highlights, and I wanted to see how well this game carried through. Phase three will be a comparison to the previous editions, seeing how much was changed and how much was maintained. This is where I'm expecting the rating to start going down. Finally, phase four will be about how well the game stacks up with all of the 'issues' that have come out about its development since it was announced a year ago. I didn't want to use 'controversies' so as not to show any unfair favoritism. However, it is not looking too good. These reviews would just be a prelude into my real goal--expressing my ideas about how to reconcile the current edition of the game with the older ones. It could get pretty complicated, but by starting with this review process, I might be able to accomplish something I've been putting on the back-burner for quite some time. When I first discovered these games way back in the 90s during my 'bleak' years, it changed me. I was able to re-invent myself. Sure, I was still not able to actually play with others, but I found something that opened a new avenue for me. At one point, I was seriously thinking about trying my hand in game design. Table top RPGs as opposed to computer games. I do not have the programming knowledge to go that far. I am a geek not a nerd, regardless of what others think of me. In fact, as was very close into looking into how to work for the original company, when most of my game collection got destroyed in the 2003 flood, and the game company switched to a new business model soon after. I seriously thought about asking again once I felt comfortable with the new model. I even had an okay rough draft for a new game that I have mentioned a few times in earlier posts on this blogcast. Then the original company folded before I could accomplish anything more. I won't go into the messy details, but things eventually turned around with a new company founded by some of the people from the old place. Unfortunately, the IP ended up with a video game company from Sweden who doesn't always have the same ideas on what to do with it as the older fans or the original creators. Still, it might have been a great fit for me if I could have gotten into the business. I almost certainly would not have become rich, but I might have been content. I'm probably too old to think about that now. Technically, I could still create a side project and make a few dollars under licensing agreements, but I just don't really have the self-publishing skills. It just seems so daunting to me to try and come up with this all on my own. At least I can share my ideas. That's better than nothing.
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