ICONS - thoughts about what could be great!

I have been reading through ICONS rpg game. The game has a lot of potential but it also has a high barrier of entry for the new gamer and the new DM/GM. The game makes it really easy to create a character along with powers and specialities. So here I sit with a bunch of kids who have characters and we are looking at a book full of "gamer terms" that none of us are familiar with. I understand that this game drew inspiration from a lot of games. The sad part is that ICONS now comes with a lot of verbiage that may not be known to all the readers.

Using "gamer slang" isolates the game from a wider audience. What is "retcon"? What is "tagging", "aspects", and "determination"? I know that there are lots of back and forth discussions on rpg.net and the yahoo group regarding clarification of parts of the documentation. The creators of the game need a second edition that clears up the terminology. They need a step by step from character creation to combat. If they can accomplish that then they will have possibly made a game my kids can run.

I really, really want to like this game. I want to run this game but when I have to spend all this time figuring out concepts borrowed from all these other games it makes me think that maybe playing World of Warcraft would be easier. It at least gives your character a set of tasks that grow you from newbie to semi-experienced.

Let's hope for a better day!

What happens when you REALLY read the rules!

I have played Ticket to Ride : Europe between 35 and 50 times with the same group of 3 - 5 players and tonight was the first time in a long time we had a conflict. At the end of the game I played a train station to complete a route and didn't have the station touching one of my legs. The argument was that we "NEVER" played that way before. SO. . . . out came the rules. The rules were read and read and read and read OUT LOUD. Guess what we have been playing it wrong.

Admittedly, we normally go through a game and never use train stations. Tonight just happened to be a game changer. No one accused me of cheating but there were some folks really questioning if I was playing by the rules.

I suggest that you should about once a year read the rules of your favorite game again. It might just be that you have some rule that you are playing with that actually is not in the rules or that you are playing wrong. Maybe not but it is worth checking out. If anything, just to make sure there are no hurt feelings.

Well this is my first post. I came up with the idea of this blog from looking for super hero minis on eBay. I played and still own MechWarrior minis from WizKids. The drifted off into a lot of different games before Topps shuttered the doors. HeroClix was one of their really cool lines. Sadly, when I went to eBay I found that they are nearly as cheap to buy as my old MechWarrior stuff.

I like role playing games and Smilin' Jacks Bar and Grill podcast had a good idea of using minis from HeroClix. Good news for me is that they are not really expensive. Bad news is that it pointed out how often I get into a game on the decline. The games are bad but I just seem to come to them when they are on the downhill slide.

I know many people play games when the parent company goes away but it just felt really surreal when I was looking at eBay.

If you have games you play even after the company has gone away. Don't stop. Just because you cannot buy new add-ons does not remove the enjoyment you have in playing it. You might just have to look harder for someone who knows how to play.