Ava Jarvis: Musings by the Fireside—Gaming and Socialization

I usually want to fill my columns with heavy thoughts and meanderings on the mechanics and workings and the texture of games, but that window of opportunity is closing as the year wears on, so I thought maybe I would try my hand at the lighter forms of conversation instead. You can think weighty thoughts by the fireside, but really, it's a friendly conversation.

Which brings to mind gaming conventions, since this is one of the few times you can break out the Ys or Caylus if you're in a situation like mine. To start with...

These days I'm pretty busy. As for the quirks of my occupation, my job means little rest as the holidays roll in, and I have less time for anything that doesn't fit into an somnabulent weekend or my commute. It's something that comes with the territory and either you accept it or you get out of it.

During these times I turn inward, and it's difficult for me to think about gaming, which usually ends up being (if it happens at all) games of Carcassonne, Elfenland, and any Ticket to Ride variant I have. They seem to be the ones that work consistently with the some of the people I know well and who share my pain at around this time of year, and who are what we'd call "non-gamers". (Thurn & Taxis may add an extra dimension to my life this winter. And maybe BattleLore. You see why I cherish such things.)

Now, I'm an odd person, but perhaps not so odd among our crowd, when it comes to socializing. I'm a very private and retiring sort, and while I will try to get out during Spring and especially Summer, it's not something I look forwards to anymore. Gaming close by and with friends, that's the ticket.

But all that changes with a convention. These events are all about socializing---even if it is on opposite sides of a board. You have to get on a plane or in a car. Especially if you have no idea what's going on out there in town, you need to eat with other folks. You have a roommate unless you are pretty full of cash. And even if you go only a few times a year, it starts turning into a rare chance to meet people whom you now know as real friends, who share one of your most personifying interests, but they are friends across the country from you. Or perhaps they are just in the couple states, but on the other side of a mountain range, insane highways, or large stretches of very, very boring plains.

Some of us have the gusto to make it to many conventions, and I salute them. I don't have that, and many of us do not and/or can not.

What strange thing was it that drove me to make the trip to BGG.CON in the first place a year ago? Like my namesake on BGG, I am a homebody at heart. Yet I want adventure from time to time---to play games like Reef Encounter and Ra and Blue Moon and Canal Mania, maybe even Battlestations or Descent. And even a year ago, I wanted to see the friends I'd made online, because many of us still need that physical connection, even if it's only once in a while. It's my equivalent of visiting the elves and battling the occaisonal dragon.

It's a strange sort of life I lead, because I believe that games are primarily social affairs. But I tire of weekly gaming galas, where you meet up with a club that is all about gaming rather than popping by for tea. It's great to play something other than Ingenious (as much as I like a good and accessible Knizia), but there's something about doing it every week that turns me off. It's my personal and unfortunate quirk. And probably has something to do with the fact that there is the Sound between me and the concentration of gamers in the Seattle area, but I suspect I would mind even if I lived on the near side of I-5.

(I don't regret the island, despite that some told me I would. I'm truly of the way of Bilbo Baggins.)

But an occaisonal convention drags me out of my shell and opens my mind. I was very surprised how much going to just a single convention twigged some switch in my brain and made me look at the hobby in a different light.

Conventions are fuel for the aspiring gamer. I strongly suggest smaller ones like BGG.CON. In particular, I think it's something that you need, even if it's only once every year or so. Perhaps especially if it's just once a year or so. We are a hobby that is mostly dispersed over hundreds of miles, and one that is social at that---we, by definition, cannot come in alone. It does us good to remember that the other people are present and are there and as deep into the goods as we are. Online is just not enough, though it does help form the first connections that lead you down this road.

You need to get out there. You need to see the world, even if the horizons are delineated by Winsome Games and Rio Grande.

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There are many games I look forwards to, although these days I'm trying to be prudent and keep my collection down to something that might conceivably be played, and also in the range of 150-200 games so I can call myself an actual gamer rather than a dabbler. Plus it's darned difficult to study games if you don't actually have them in hand. A few that I am likely to pick up before the year ends, or at least that I have made up my mind to pick up in Q1 of 2007:

Expansions. For me, these do not count as games taking up room, especially if they fit into the original box, and I may sin as much as I darn well please. The best expansions change your gaming experience, and most of them extend game shelf life. And make them better trading fodder, oh lay. On my list are Thurn & Taxis, Ticket to Ride 1910, anything for Arkham Horror, anything for Dungeon Twister, anything for Blue Moon, LotR: Battlefields, and Reef Encounters of the Second Kind.

Midguard. I really do adore Beowulf, much to the contrary of the gaming community in general. For those of you who do not, perhaps Midguard is best to turn to for a Viking experience---the same amount of theme, but a better feel of control. I loved drafting for Magic: The Gathering tournaments, and I love the drafting mechanics for Fairy Tale, which strongly resemble those mechanics of old. But Midguard looks to be drafting with more body behind it, and I am in search for the area control game that I will actually like.

Desert Bazaar. Something approachable with decent ratings on BGG, and good things to hear about it from friends and others. If it works, it'll a change from a path-finder game (which is the common thread between games played during Fall and Winter, even tangentially including Carcassonne). Additionally, it's an unusual offering to see from Mattel, and to me that alone is reason enough to pick it up.

Medici vs. Strozzi. With a lack of a memorable Kosmos 2-player this year, this might be helpful. Odin's Ravens was a particular hit here, and while this is more complex, my hopes are high. If this doesn't work out then I'll go for Voltage instead. (I also don't count small 2-player games to my limit, because they occupy a very different pigeon hole than other kinds of games. And different shelves.)

Die Säulen der Erde. A Caylus-like game that is lighter is going to get a well-deserved look from me. I have friends who could probably put up with Caylus if it were a great deal shorter and less complex in terms of long-term strategy.

Martian Coasters. Three copies. I really like the Icehouse game system, and while it does go well with the Piecepack system, there are times I want an odd-dimensioned grid rather than an even one. One copy also lets you have fun with one of the new Treehouse sets, which are quite attractive with their multiple colors in a stack, though I don't like the Treehouse game itself. Fortunately there are other Icehouse games out there, and some are very good and tickle my fancies.

BattleLore. Two copies. I love the C&C system ever since Ancients arrived and added attributes that fixed some of the aspects that annoyed me about Battle Cry and Memoir '44. BattleLore preserves the more important ones, will add the variety that only a fantasy wargame system can churn out, and is coming with great production values from Days of Wonder. How could I miss out?

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I hope to write another Fireside soon. They are much easier, although I hope to bring along some more thoughts come Spring. And there'll be reports for BGG.CON as well. Perhaps it won't be such a dry winter after all, though my schedule is unpredictable after Thanksgiving.

Hope you enjoyed this particular Fireside talk. Let's doze before the fireside with a nice game of Ta Yu between us.

Peace,
Ava © 2006 Ava Jarvis

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Comments:

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Minor clarification—Desert Bazaar is published by Mattel, not Hasbro Posted by Dale Yu on Oct 31, 2006 at 08:32 AM | #

Whoops.  Thanks.  Definitely a reason for me to pick it up, then! Posted by Ava Jarvis on Oct 31, 2006 at 12:53 PM | #

Ava, Brian Yu (the designer) will demo copies of Desert Bazaar and copies to sell at BGG.con! Valerie Posted by Valerie Putman on Oct 31, 2006 at 04:32 PM | #

Thanks for the information, Valerie---yet another reason, of many, to look forwards to BGG.con! Posted by Ava Jarvis on Oct 31, 2006 at 07:41 PM | #

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