Q&A
By Alex Ness
March 14, 2022
I don't know why, but I received a ton of questions. Some less important questions, some interesting questions about life, the world with Covid/Covid Protests, Comics, Football, RPGs, Games you can play as solitaire and more. So I'll try to respond as I am able.
THE QUESTIONS
Unnamed emailer says "What is your favorite laxative? Reading your work always make me take an enormous shit!"
Well it must be contagious as I am flushing your email down my toilet. I recommend Kaopectate or Bananas for your condition.
Another unnamed "Do you know where my car keys are?"
I don't know where they are, but probably lost forever. If they are still findable, my guess is somewhere near your parked undrivable 1977 pick up truck, and your keys will be found wherever you last fell asleep after you got high or drunk, or both, likely a couch, a sleeping bag, park bench, or police holding tank.
From an unnamed emailer "Didn't I read on Twitter you excitedly tell everyone how much you love Biden? So of course you got vaccinated, you need to have been sterilized too."
While I have sympathy for those having fair, medical concerned worries over taking a vaccine, I don't think most who did take it are necessarily Biden fans. For me and many others it was a pragmatic choice and nothing more. If I voted for Biden or not, I can tell you this, he isn't by any means enough for this job, but I can say he is more presidential than the previous office holder. America has been really going off in the wrong direction, for at least 2 decades of leadership. For the record, no, I never said on twitter that I love Biden. I tend to look at politics from a distance, and rarely find myself moved enough to lose my non partisan online voice.
From an emailer calling themselves Canadian Trucker "What did you think of the Trucker protest?"
I think civil disobedience is a most reasonable response to authoritarian rule. In America I've grown to appreciate the 1st Amendment defenders since I think the police in America have grown to consider the civilian population as a people to rule over and control. Review the police in Loveland, CO PD who've broken bones to dementia victims, and given each other high fives for it, tackled and arrested witnesses of car accidents to make them comply to their questions. In the face of authoritarian excess, I trust the people more than those who hold power.
Protest isn't always just, and police are by no means always wrong. I think that in Canada the trucker protest is in response to an overly heavy handed response to Covid, but Canada wouldn't be such a wonderful place without the government it has had. Some of it is a protest because the current situation for everyone sucks, and some of it is specific to Justin Trudeau's choices as leader and his practice of power. In such a crisis, citizens of any country, except maybe North Korea, blame their own leaders.
Syd from Toronto, "Did you watch the Super Bowl? What would you say is the reaction to people to how badly the SB was officiated? I think it sucked, sucked really big. Also, Go Argos!"
I didn't watch the game, as I don't have a TV, or cable. I can watch youtube or other video sharing sites, so I did see the various highlights, and saw at least a couple of really mindblowingly bad calls, or non calls. I honestly don't get why at this point of importance of a game, the championship for goodness sake why there aren't officials in the booth to call down to the field and say, pause the game, look at the missed call. I think the right result (the Rams winning) made some of the outrage go away, but it might not have. And yes, Go Argos. Let 2022 be the Double Blue's year!
COMICS
Ed from Australia "I know a person who worked with a certain creative talent, and they said when they went to comic conventions together that that certain creative talent spent the entire show cruising for 15-18 year old girls to have carnal relations with. I know you know him, and know you probably think of him as a friend. Do you know about this guy's behavior and would you tell me if you do?"
I don't have any knowledge about anything re:your specific questions. I'm not friends with the certain creative talent, as I barely know him, but I do like his work. And yes, I'd say in
any direction, yes or no, good or bad, if I knew the answer to your question, but I do not. The person who is the friend, who you know is someone I think is a rumor spreading shit disturber. They are talented but I wouldn't give them a second of my time in any situation.
RPGs
Reader Charles former Minnesotan, now in Florida writes to say: "I've read your column since
Robin Goodfellow and Slush. I am older than you, but have read the same
kind of comics and books, and from your reviews I am certain that we
share the same taste. I'm retired and have been for 10 years, I live alone, but my son brings his two
children over and rather than play video games, which I've never been a
player of, we are looking for a shared experience. What is not a video
game but offers joint play of fantasy, and, what is your taste
experience regarding those games?"
In response, I can only briefly say from what I've played, and what I thought therein.
Basic
D&D teaches you the concept, and remains easy enough to fully play,
and offers flexibility enough to enjoy. I liked the expansion of it
with Hollow World, actually a lot. My first full adventure, Keep on the
Borderlands was fantastic and worth celebration.
AD&D
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was my go to, as it was easy and if
unrealistic worked in gaming to create a vehicle to allow players to
create an epic story of their own. If limited by an alignment system to
center people around making characters that could work together, it was
also flexible enough to not worry over it.
Tunnels and Trolls I
really liked the idea of T&T before
beginning play, but, sadly I couldn't get others to play. That is ok,
and you might well appreciate it too, because it is also able to be
played in solitaire fashion. The creator of the game had an interesting
twist upon the common theory of RPGs, where Trolls were heroic, Dwarves
greedy and violent and other juxtapositions.
Harnmaster was
limited, in some ways, in the mechanics and the possible idea of any play outside of the setting. Harnworld was a wonderfully wrought and thoughtful
setting of a gaming world. It utilized all social science considerations
of a real world for fantasy play. Harnmaster felt like it could
only work in Harn, and maybe that's ok, but my players also didn't want
to play in Harn. However good it was they preferred my own setting and preferred AD&D.
Warhammer
Fantasy Role Playing for me, not others, had limitations in how characters were created and
how it was played. However, I really loved the cultural flavor of it.
If Harnmaster's game system was limited and felt world centered,
Warhammer FRPG felt like it had a culture and flavor, but I didn't like
your options of playing within it. It could be used to have fun, but for me felt forced in character development.
Empire of the Petal Throne
was created by MAR Barker, a professor of history and linguistics (or
something similar, I am going by memory.) As such, it creates a real
feeling culture, it doesn't use white folks from Europe and Tolkien
influenced fantasy beings like elves and orcs as a replacement for real
sorts of beings, interactions, and geography. It is smart as heck, but
the RPG was limited, in that the two times I played it, my players tried
playing it as if it was D&D and it doesn't translate. Yes, the players were the
reason, but a game needs to be played in a group effort. People I
played with shrugged their shoulders over new things to discover, rather
than dive in and experience. They killed what beings they met, rather
than interact with them. It was a wasted opportunity.
Jorune
was a game setting that was worthy of praise, if the RPG was less
complete than the experience required. However, as with any RPG setting,
the player requires a depth of world knowledge, just having lived in
that setting. If you play a visitor to the planet that is one thing, but
the known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknown things made this
setting and RPG limited. However, the two times I played it I really
could see options and ways to improve the experience but the players
were slow to adapt, and didn't want more. It was disappointing in the
way Empire of the Petal Throne was, that is, the material was smarter
and better than the player's imagination. And that is sad.
Earthdawn
was a beautiful looking set of books. But, I did not enjoy the game
system, felt that the flavor of it seemed borrowed and the players were
so pretentious over the fact that they were RPGing and it wasn't like
D&D at all... but it was. It was just a beautiful looking product,
the art was superior to most other games, and it was something I don't
regret reading, but gaming it was not fun.
Dangerous Journeys is the black hole of RPGs. For all of the people who RPG today, those who were playing 30 years ago were excited to buy and try the Gary Gygax written and developed series for GDW. With many books, new ideas, it was released after a fight with TSR. It was an RPG and setting fans had looked forward to, and, had it been good, GDW's/Gygax's system would still be played. Gygax isn't with us any longer, but the game was roundly criticized for being overwrought, too complex, silly, and ultimately unplayable. I did own copies, but wanted to say, it wasn't in itself so horrible, but it had a feeling about it as being Anti D&D. So, despite the TSR lawsuit, it was anything but what D&D had been. For some reason after the disastrous failure of the game, TSR bought it and shelved the IP forever thereafter.
I've played many more games, but these are the fantasy oriented RPGs I played or invested time in more than others. Middle Earth Role Playing and Rolemaster from Iron Crown were miserably rules heavy games. Man, Myth and Magic felt like the designers weren't aware of the historical settings they wrote about. Chivalry and Sorcery was a game that felt much more like a clone of D&D without improving it. But, regarding any of this, my views are born from my experience, other people might well have found the games I disliked to be well worth their time. Maybe I'm stupid. ARS Magica was a game I wanted to play, but none of the groups I participated in had any interest. Sometimes whatever the experience one has, limits your ability to know, beyond hearing about games. Oh well, I didn't experience all of the games I had interest in, that's ok.
SOLITAIRE
Charles also asked "And, not just fantasy, but what games are out there, that aren't computer based, that are solitaire? I have tons of time, less than tons but some money, I don't have tons of games to play."
Gurps from Steve Jackson Games created some opportunities to play in the realm of the series the Horseclans by Robert Adams and it also had a solitaire opportunity. Similarly, they adapted Alan Dean Foster's Humanx setting and it has a solitare adventure for it.
Nemesis allows solitaire play in the Aliens world.
Tunnels & Trolls is fun, well made and worth play, and can be solitaire too. I've mentioned it quite a few times, as well, the creator of the game, and writer of many stories, Ken St. Andre. Ken is truly talented and what I love, he wants the reader or player to love what he creates. There is such a fun part of the experience, whatever else, you can use the book or game to rehab, restore, find enjoyment within a moment that gives you strength.
I'll not go into the war games showed, but they all can be played in solitaire fashion. I wish I still had access to play Raid on St Nazaire as it is based upon one of the most daring decisive events in World War II. I think war games are probably the most easy to make into solitaire, so I'd just say click the image and find the name of the games and look on ebay. They are almost certainly worth your money.
First off, I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email at Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. I no longer have a post box, although I regret that. It was a crushing defeat to no longer have a p.o. box, when I came to realize I was getting so little product it made no sense to pay for the privilege to not receive mail at both my home and at the post office. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.
MY LINKS:
My Poetry AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
Published Work AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
Amazon Page Amazon.com/author/AlexNess
Cthulhu Horror CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com
Atlantis & Lost Worlds AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com
I have an email list for my blog AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com If you are interested please send me an email asking to join the list. Send an email toAlexanderness63@gmail.com to join the list. I promise never to sell the list or share it.
All works and art remain the property of the owners/creators and nothing more than fair use is asserted
No comments:
Post a Comment