And There Go My Eardrums Again...

I recently picked up the Edge of the Empire Beginner Set and decided to see if there were any actual plays out there so that I could see how other people had run the game.  I wasn't really expecting to find anything but lo and behold, there was a podcast that covered it!  And then the screaming began but that's only to be expected with...

Focus: Dungeons and Dragons 4e actual play.

Audio Quality: Three and a half sonic screams.

Content Quality: Four tangerines.

Average Length: About an hour to an hour and a half

Release Schedule: weekly

I gotta be honest, I really wanted to hate this podcast.  Between the random screams and the sonic hyena laughs, my ears probably would have loved me more it I had just turned around and walked away but for some reason I listened to more... and then I got hooked.

As I mentioned, the first of their games that I listened to were a short series of Star Wars APs and that is just an absolute train wreck.  Between the players screaming about strange dice and them just running around  blindly attacking everything in sight all I could think was "WTF?"

Just to make my pain complete, I decided to check out their regular 4e feed to see just how bad it was in comparison.  I don't know if my senses had just been deadened from the previous exposure or I had been driven to the brink of madness but I actually kind of liked it.  The players have a much better handle on the rules in 4e so there is a lot less complaining about the dice and a lot more actual playing.  There are still a ton of tangents sprinkled liberally throughout the episodes and if you're listening on headphones you still need to watch out for those ear splitting moments, but overall this podcast has been a lot of fun to listen to and I'm looking forward to more.  Until next time...

Random Reivew: Poppin' Up The Tees

While cruising through Facebook recently, I stumbled across an ad for Pop Up Tees.  I'd never seen them before but they were running a sale for some Star Wars and Firefly themed t-shirts and I decided I had to get a couple.

Rogue Leader and Best in the Verse

It took a little while for them to ship (they don't mail them until 7 to 12 business days after the current sale ends) but they finally arrived and I have to say they look really sweet.

Unfortunately there are some downsides to how Pop Up Tee works.  Apparently they run sales featuring certain shirts for a limited amount of time.  Once the sale ends, they start processing and shipping the orders which as I mentioned is not the fastest of processes.  Another downside is that once the sale ends I don't know when or if they offer those designs again so you need to swing by their site pretty regularly to see just what they are offering at that time.  Last but unfortunately not least, I did find some complaints about their customer service.  Personally I didn't have any trouble with them at all and I'm really happy with my shirts but I think its only fair to let people know that there have been some issues with them in the past.

Even with all this in mind, this is a site that I'm going to keep my eye on because I'm definitely interested in see what else they come out with.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Games On The Go!

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, we headed all the way across the country to visit my folks back in Vacationland.  We had a lot of fun visiting but let's face it, we're a gaming family at heart.  How could we travel all that way and not bring some games with us?  You'd think this would be easy enough... except for the whole luggage fee.  $25 per suitcase one way?  Really?  In the end I decided that the best option was to get them there the old fashioned way; stick 'em in the mail.  This sounds easy enough but how the heck do you fit it all in one box?

The answer... Zip Lock bags.

While some games out there use the space in their box very efficiently (Small World is a perfect example of this...) there are lots of others out there that come with some inherent dead space.  By packaging most of these games into Zip Locks and leaving their boxes we able to get all of these games into that box with a little bit of room to spare even!  Of course the key to doing something like this is making sure you label the bags so you can easily find all the components.  To make our lives even easier I also noted how many players can play in each and also how long each one takes.  While knowing this might not be a big deal if you are just hanging out with gamers, that extra bit of information can be priceless when non-gamers get into the mix.

Unfortunately we weren't able to put our games to as much use we'd hoped but the times that we did made it all worth it in my mind.  Of course I can't wait to break them out again with the gang back here in Vegas... once the games actually make it back here.  Helps to get them back into the mail a couple of days before you leave so they'll be there when you arrive.  Whoops!  Ah well, still cheaper than bringing another suitcase.  Until next time...

Random Updates: Welcome From The Other Side Of The Country!

Anyone else notice that right after I post that there is more coming that nothing happened?  Yeah, well currently me and the family are on the other side of the country for a family reunion/vacation/look at where grew up trip.  It's been a ton of fun but the blog has been the last thing on my mind.  I have more planned for the future though so be sure to check back in a couple of weeks.  Until next time...