Bloodbowl Combine 1 2014

I have been trying to get back into tabletop wargaming for the last few weeks. During this time I have been collecting some Warhammer 40k Space Marines, and the Bolt Action main book. Well I learned that MuGu Games had a Blood Bowl league. I haven't played the miniature version of Blood Bowl in over 8 years. Of course I had to look into it.

I talked to a pretty cool guy named Jason and he told me about the Blood Bowl league website he hosts for this league at http://www.everett-bbl.org/. So today we had the first of three combines for the league before the Golden Tentacle tournament in April and the new Blood Bowl Season in May.

I had a lot of fun, I played a guy named Tim. I played a human team while he played an elf. I didn't do too bad, I lost 1-0 but it was down to the wire the entire game. Like I said though, it was great fun and now I need to look for a human team to buy. I am fortunate, Jason has a team I can play until then, but I really want to paint one for myself.

Here is a couple of pics from the game. The first is bashing down the elf line and the second I am trying to push my way up the field after the ogre had retrieved a fumble. I really want a better camera though.

 

The next combine is in two weeks. I might try orcs for that game, just so I can get a feel of the two teams. In addition I might check out the Bolt Action tournament the same weekend as well, I will get into that game I just want to see it played a couple of times before I commit to a force.

That is it for my weekend gaming update :)

Dreams

Strange dreams all night, the one with the most impact had me sitting in a burned out house, in the dark, and talking to my stillborn brother.

That hit hard.

It started with me sitting in what appeared to be a war torn area (or maybe super impoverished like Detroit, the destruction is similar).

It was cold, wet and dark out with sirens in the distance. I couldn't really see much in front of me, just a cold mustiness with flashes of cop lights in the distance.

I was talking with someone a bit younger than me. I honestly don't remember what I was saying, just that it was heavy.

I couldn't see him clearly, and he kept listening. After I had finished it was silent for a few minutes. I could feel him lean forward and touch my arm, I think it was meant reassuringly. That is when I recognized who he was and I snapped wide awake laying in bed beside jello.

Normally that isn't the brother I dream about. Normally it's "Bear", my actual living brother I talk with sometimes.

Dream definitely set me off in a weird mood today.

TYSK Civil War Battles 03 Aquia Creek May 29 - June 1 1861

TYSK: Users and Professions of Accounting - Acct Edition

Another video of mine from Things you should know!

Work

Last few weeks of work have been weird and uncomfortable. The job itself is fine, I don't mind finding people avoiding taxes and honestly for the most part I don't mind nailing them. Unfortunately it isn't my job duties itself that is bothering me.

My work schedule is killing me. In order to drop my 3 hours of commuting to about 1.5 hours I need to leave the house by a few minutes after 5am (meaning I have to be up around 4am). This is bad enough, but on top of this I get anxious about work, if I get anxious and I need to get up too early, I end up waking up even earlier (around 2:30 am after going to bed around 1030pm). Now, that last part isn't my job's fault, it is just a program bug in my head. However this is resulting in my being exhausted all the time and not wanting to do much but nap. Although on a good point, I might be exhausted but I am not depressed anymore from my other horrible job.

I found out today that I won't be considered for part time telecommuting for at least three more months (originally a month ago I was told February). This is frustrating, especially so since I took a 25% paycut because of the flexibility of this job. However, it is turning out there isn't much flexibility. It is ok though, it will keep us going until Jello graduates.

The next problem is training is all over the place. I can do the audits, but the fine details are still not completely explained to me and results in a fairly steady stream of "please do this again and do it "x" way". I never have to repeat this, but it bothers my own sense of self that this keeps popping up because I wasn't told how to handle specific circumstances.

What worries me is that both the nitpicking and the moving back my date of telecommuting by months came after I mentioned in passing my husband's proper pronouns of  he/him. I can't say for sure my boss realized what I had said, but the behavior has changed since then and alarmed me. In all fairness though, my agency is undergoing some upper echelon changes so maybe it is that as well. That would almost be worse as it would be a sign that the agency itself is going downhill and that would be bad.

I have talked to my husband and will continue to use the she/her pronoun forms until my probation is over in May (I haven't come out to my work on the transition, they had interviewed me before Jello had decided to go all the way so at the time I had talked about my wife). I absolutely HATE doing this, hate hate hate, but I cannot risk being able supporting my husband financially until he has graduated and is working.

There is a possibility I might get a call from my old job at SAO (at the Seattle office, which is about thirty miles from here), I am kind of hoping that it works out, but I am not holding my breath.
However, even if they don't hire me I think I am going to start putting apps out. Low pay with no flexibility is not something I want. The job is interesting, it is a combination accountant/auditor/private investigator but the payoff is just too little at the moment.

My husband is writing again!

I am excited, my husband Jello has a regular spot with Queereka as a writer (he has done it for a couple other places). He has his first article there entitled "But it's just a compliment". He is talking about his experience before his change and how men would aggressively harass a woman on the street.

It is a great article, he is a great writer and this Sunday he will be in a panel as well.

I am so proud of him!

LARPs: Roleplaying

My last post I talked about the pros and cons of LARPing, I figured for my first post specifically about a pro/con I would start with what a lot of people consider the most important part, role-playing.

Role-playing is the most identifiable part of LARPing. The interaction between people ranges from the most intense situations down to the worst ham acting known to man. Also people's attitudes about role-playing plays a big influence in this as well.

I want to note that this is my opinion, everyone has a different experience and your mileage may vary.

PROs:

The best role-playing experience I have ever been involved in was LARPing. There are times when a group all hit the same groove of being in the moment that all thoughts of the outside world disappeared. For those who have never role-played in any form, it is the ultimate form of escapism. You really feel like you are in another world.

This type of role-playing drowns out thoughts of work, politics, home problems, etc. All that is happening is the situation between you and the others. The relationships are an extremely exaggerated for both good and bad. You would die for your in game friends and would gladly salt the earth of your enemies' graves. It is like the most intensive TV drama you could name. After a really good role-playing session you are both exhilarated and exhausted.

A good role-play session will last for years in retelling. These sessions are usually what comprise a LARPers list of stories they talk about (ok, even if the people aren't interested in hearing about it, the LARPer will remember fondly).

CONS

1. Average level of role-play:
LARP role-play overall is lower quality in acting/interacting then all other mediums of role-play I have been exposed to (such as tabletop, online, forum/PBEM).

First it should be noted that LARPers are not innately actors, they don't do it as a living, and most don't engage in a lot of other speaking type hobbies (such as a toastmaster or other public speaking clubs). If you aren't really in the mood, too tired from being up too long, too distracted because of real life or just having a bad day can impact the best actor's performance. While I do think I am fairly good at role-play, I know some of my performances have been horrible, just like everyone else.

2. The role-play snob quotient: 

A second negative issue about role-playing at a LARP (and honestly this is probably more about the community which will be more in detail later) is the snob quotient.

I might talk about the average level of role-play being less at larping, there are a lot of other aspects that can make a weekend really fun (the sense of community, just being away from the real world for a weekend, sharing a hobby with a few dozen others, etc). I have had weekends that were fantastic, that didn't have great role-play, but a great time hanging with people.

Unfortunately, some people focus as role-play is the only reason to be there. Now this is valid for them, and I can understand if that is their total focus. However, I have witnessed a lot of people act in a very demeaning manner to individuals who just aren't good at role-playing.

These people will ignore and cast out individuals that do not meet their "expectation". I know that it isn't anyone's job to teach, but my opinion is if I claim to be one of the LARP's role-playing leaders, then it is my responsibility to help others so it improves the overall experience.

Someone who is not good at role-playing will not get better if you don't try and help them. In order to help them (in my opinion) is to invite them into your group, treat them as one of you and in my experience they learn and become better role-players and sometimes great friends.

The funny part about this is that there have been many people who claim to be great role-players, who demean and belittle others, yet the sadly ironic part is that they really aren't that good at role-playing themselves.

Conclusion:

I have not covered the relationships formed during role-play, I will do that during my post about the community itself.

It may sound in the end that I am bagging on role-play at larping. I don't really think that is the case.
LARPing is made up of much more than just role-play, and even the role-play can be intense and fun. Would I personally come just for the role-play, probably not. I feel I would get more bang for my buck on a tabletop game, however like I said there is more to it (and I will cover that later).

Role-playing is a great avenue at LARP, but it would not be the sole reason I recommend LARPing to anyone.