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 May 15, 2008
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David Fair
The collected columns of David Fair, who has this to say about himself:
David Fair is father of two boys, a husband of a very forgiving and
wonderful woman, a database administrator, and a gamer.
He came (back) to boardgaming in 2002, when he picked up a copy of Guillotine at a yard sale for $.25, then bought copies of Settlers, TransAmerica, and Carcassonne from a retail store the next month and planned a Board Game Day for his friends on Labor Day Weekend. Slowly but surely, boardgaming edged out RPGs. New games kept showing up, there was the discovery of BGG and SpielFrieks, then in October of 2003, he began attending game nights hosted by Games Club of Maryland.
In January of 2004, he founded a GCOM affiliated game night, meeting every Friday. The group struggled a bit at first, but now seems to be doing well, with an average attendance of 22, and many regulars. He also started a bi-weekly game night at a Borders Bookstore in a nearby community. This group is also doing well and has a strong core of regular attendees.
David enjoys almost all games (even a few that might be classified as wargames, to his own surprise) and plays as often as he can.
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HeadlinesFebruary 6, 2007 - David Fair: Change is HardJanuary 25, 2007 - David Fair: Tabasco and Playtesting September 18, 2006 - David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Five & Six September 9, 2006 - David Fair: I am Gamer, I come with Pieces June 10, 2006 - David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number, Part Four: Voted Off the Island May 5, 2006 - David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Three: No One Will Ever Love You Quite the Way I Do April 6, 2006 - David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Two: Why Can’t You Be More Like Your Brother? March 30, 2006 - David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number: Part One: Long-Distance Love Affairs March 24, 2006 - David Fair: Cthulhu only had the munchies; I know what real hunger is. |
Articles
David Fair: Change is Hard
Much of the gaming I do takes place in my home on Friday nights. That’s when I host the GCOM-Damascus chapter. I’ve been hosting gaming there since January of 2004. Wow, that seems like such a long time. In that time, we have had some great games, and some not so great games played, and we have had more than 50 different people play there.
This year, while I was out of town at Origins, we had 18 people attend. This is doubly remarkable as I had 2 other regulars with me. We have a great pool of about 25 or so people who come at least once a month. At our last session in January, we had 18 in attendance again.
At this point, I need to mention that I live in a townhouse. I have 3 tables suitable for gaming, and a total of about 16 chairs. When we have 18 people show up, there just isn’t much we can do to accommodate everyone.
David Fair: Tabasco and Playtesting
I like spicy foods. I don’t usually go overboard with it, like when I order Buffalo Wings at my favorite wing joint, the place that has six levels of heat (Mild, Hot, Extra Hot, 911, Torrid Zone, and Flatliner), I just get the Extra Hot. It has enough heat to get my endorphins going, and I can still taste the chicken. I can’t imagine what the other levels are like, though I know you have to sign a waiver in order to get served an order of Flatliners.
Knowing this about me, some good friends got me a basket of hot sauces for Christmas. Now, the hot sauces I have been using forever have been Tabasco, Tabasco Chipotle, Red Hot, Crystal… the standard hot sauces that you can find in your grocery store. I had a vague knowledge that there were some new designer sauces available, but I was happy and didn’t ever really look into them.
David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Five & Six
David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Five: I Don’t Know Where We Went Wrong & Part Six: Too Long, Too New, Two Player
Every year, a lot of gamers talk about their “Five and Dime List�. I usually find the first couple of them interesting, especially if the writer has taken time to add a little commentary to the list. After a while though, you just scan them looking for pithy commentary. I thought it would be an interesting change of pace to examine the 151 games that I played only once each during 2005. These 151 games fall into several different categories, and over the next few articles, I will examine each of them.
David Fair: I am Gamer, I come with Pieces
It’s been a long time since I wrote here for BGN, and I thought I would shelve my “One Is The Loneliest Number� series for a bit longer, and bring you some random thoughts on a few different subjects.
Gamer: The Beginning
I have a buddy who has been coming to my game nights for over a year. His wife, we’ll call her “Liz� (because that is her name) came a few times at first, but then, not again for a long time. Liz just wasn’t interested in gaming, though the socialization was a draw. We got together for dinners and other things, and would sometimes play a game or two, but gaming just wasn’t for her. Scott (my friend) tried all the classic wife games: Ticket to Ride, Lost Cities, etc., but she just wasn’t that interested.
David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number, Part Four: Voted Off the Island
Every year, a lot of gamers talk about their “Five and Dime List�. I usually find the first couple of them interesting, especially if the writer has taken time to add a little commentary to the list. After a while though, you just scan them looking for pithy commentary. I thought it would be an interesting change of pace to examine the 151 games that I played only once each during 2005. These 151 games fall into several different categories, and over the next few articles, I will examine each of them.
Prior articles in the series can be found here: http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/C75/
This article was a long time in coming. I hurt my right hand several weeks ago, after getting this about half done, and typing became a painful chore. I spend about 80% of my workday at a keyboard, so typing as a leisure activity became even less appealing. I am finally able to use my right hand again, so here goes.
Part Four: Voted Off the Island (36 Games)
These are the games that I played once last year, didn’t like, and didn’t play again. This is the fun list, the list that is going to get me in trouble; the one where nasty comments get made and I get to let loose my destructive, sarcastic and mean inner demons to vilify the games that wasted my time.
David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Three: No One Will Ever Love You Quite the Way I Do
Every year, a lot of gamers talk about their “Five and Dime List�. I usually find the first couple of them interesting, especially if the writer has taken time to add a little commentary to the list. After a while though, you just scan them looking for pithy commentary. I thought it would be an interesting change of pace to examine the 151 games that I played only once each during 2005. These 151 games fall into several different categories, and over the next few articles, I will examine each of them.
Prior articles in the series can be found here on Boardgamenews.com.
This column is a bit late (even though I am not on a set schedule with BGN, I had planned to be more regular). Most of the delay can be blamed on the Gathering, and the recovery from it. I don’t really feel much like writing a Gathering recap, and there are so many out there already that it is entirely possible that an independent observer could piece together much of what I played and who I played it with from everyone else’s lists anyways.
David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number Part Two: Why Can’t You Be More Like Your Brother?
Every year, a lot of gamers talk about their “Five and Dime List�. I usually find the first couple of them interesting, especially if the writer has taken time to add a little commentary to the list. After a while though, you just scan them looking for pithy commentary. I thought it would be an interesting change of pace to examine the 151 games that I played only once each during 2005. These 151 games fall into several different categories, and over the next few articles, I will examine each of them.
Part One: Long Distance Love Affairs can be found here on Boardgamenews.com.
David Fair: One Is the Loneliest Number: Part One: Long-Distance Love Affairs
Every year, a lot of gamers talk about their “Five and Dime List�. I usually find the first couple of them interesting, especially if the writer has taken time to add a little commentary to the list. After a while though, you just scan them looking for pithy commentary. I thought it would be an interesting change of pace to examine the 151 games that I played only once each during 2005. These 151 games fall into several different categories, and over the next few articles, I will examine each of them.
David Fair: Cthulhu only had the munchies; I know what real hunger is.
I was asked about a year ago by an acquaintance at work if I had any hobbies. I had just transferred to a new division in the same company, and no one knew me very well in my new office. My off-the-cuff reply was, “No, I long ago traded them in for an addiction.� I really didn’t know how true that was.
This morning, I am preparing my gaming space for a (much-needed) change. I am moving out a desk with a computer, and moving in a bookshelf. Or, I should say, “Yet another bookshelf�. The shelves I currently have in here are Billy shelves from Ikea. I really like them, and the size is great for my games. I have 3, 32-inch wide bookshelves that are just over 6 foot tall. I also have one the same width that is around 4 feet tall. Then there is a corner shelf unit of the 6 foot size, with one foot extension wings. Oh, and on the other side of the room is a built-in shelf that houses most of my 2-player games and smaller box games. And on my staircase I use the top of a shelf unit for storing my dexterity games.
All told, I have 1,247 linear inches devoted to game storage. Oops, forgot the top of the closet, make that 1,277 inches. Adding another bookshelf gains me another 210 inches. It will also open up the gaming room a bit so we can add another table when needed on game night.
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