• Lord of the Rings – LCG

    The other day, I picked up a copy of the Lord of the Rings card game. It’s a co-op LCG, where you run a trio or sextet of heroes through a series of encounters on their way through the events of various sections of the LoTR mythology. The starter box comes with Through the Mirkwood, where you face off against the giant spiders, and two other scenarios. I’ve done about half a game of through the Mirkwood, attempting to get a feel for the game. So far, I really like it.

    I picked this up after listening to the Low Player count podcast. It was the favorite game of two of the three hosts. I’d also watched through some Watch it Played, to get a feel for the mechanics. They’re similar enough to the mechanics to Magic to be familiar, but also unique enough to be interesting.

    On a whim, I also bought a copy for pair of old friends who I never spend time with these days, as they tend to be busy raising their daughter. I figured since they both enjoy LoTR and this is a good co-op, they might enjoy playing it together. They just picked it up from the Post Office last night, and I’m curious to hear their first impressions.

    Amusingly, while I initially bought it on a whim, I found out the next day that it was her birthday. While I rarely actually send people birthday gifts, as I have a strange policy regarding birthdays, this case of synchronicity worked out nicely.

    I suspect this will become a series of short articles regarding my thoughts on the LoTR LCG and on the whole solo/single co-op aspect of board games. I’ve got a few I’ve picked up over the years that are supposedly playable as single co-op, and as I rarely have much social gaming time, it might be nice to enjoy the mechanics on my own.

    Purchased at Starlit Citadel

  • #30for30 day 16 & 17

    After writing my article yesterday, I had enough time for a nice walk down past Dick’s Lumber before catching my bus. I’m not sure exactly how much time it took, but I left my place just after 1:10 and I arrived at the bus stop at 1:53. I’m used to being able to check the Google Fit record to see how long I was walking for, but I don’t currently have that option. Today I’ll get a walk in before I head over to visit Gram and Carol. And tonight I think I may end up soaking in the hot tub.

  • Upcoming events from Rascal’s Club.

    Last year, I met up with Gem from Rascal’s club after Taboo to talk about her upcoming events. The Ms. Rascal’s Pageant and their Kinky Camping. Both were great events, and this morning I met with Gem over coffee to discuss her plans for this year. Well, that and to catch up on all the latest news from the various corners of the community. One of the topics were got talking about was Markus and his VR Porn company, MetaVerseXXX.

    The change we had discussed last year, where the Ms. Rascal’s Pageant will include a Mr. Rascal’s title, has come to pass. But more on that over on Erotic Vancouver.

  • #30for30 Day 15 – More Gremlins

    I didn’t get my full walk in before work, so I figured I’d do what I’ve done lately and walk home via BCIT, getting in a good 30-50 minutes of walking down a rather quiet bike route. This plan was sidetracked by the gremlins deciding to take the life of my celllphone. It’s stuck in rebooting when powered up loop. So, I had to head home to switch to my backup phone before continuing my walk. But, I managed to get my 30 minutes in before midnight.

  • #30for30 day 14.

    Walk down towards BCIT, a 50+ minute walk. Decent speed, until I got into the maze bits where the road isn’t what the map says it should be.

  • #30for30 day 12 & 13.

    Day 12, I had a coffee with a friend. Well, sorta. She ordered a basic cold green tea and I did the same; instead of my usual mocha frappe. It was different, not sure how likely I am to order it again. However, still an improvement. After that, took a walk around the heights, playing some ingress in the process. Ended it after I’d gotten my required 30 minutes because it started to rain.

    This morning, I’m going for a walk before work, despite the rain. I’ve put a work shirt into my pack for changing into after I get to the office.

    Also I’m keeping my eye out for any Mormons so I can get a copy of the Book to read. Though I might ask them for a copy of the Book of Arnold.

  • The Society of the Ethical Top

    Over the years I’ve heard my share of horror stories about the BDSM community. Many of the events that become the stories are probably avoidable though education and negotiation. An aspect that is often neglected in that regard is mediation; an attempt to discover how things went wrong and grow from them. In some cases, meditation won’t improve matters, as the intent behind the violation was harmful. In most cases however the intent to harm isn’t present; but misunderstanding can result in demonization as an attempt to rationalise the harm felt. Overlooking this can result in both division and gossip, something that can actually create a smokescreen within which the real predators can hide.

    In order to promote this harm reductive approach, it was proposed that we develop a code of conduct and encourage those so inclined to join a collective dedicated to that end. A society for ethical tops. While I think I’d prefer a term with a different connotation, something closer to brotherhood, I dislike the assumed gender bias that might come with that term. Members across the gender spectrum would be welcome, and of the various orientations, with the caveat that the organisation is limiting its scope to the actions while responsible for others. A different group would be more suited for the oversight of the actions of the other party.

    A suggested code of conduct:

    Always obtain informed consent.
    Negotiate all potential activities prior to playing. This includes aftercare.
    Never renegotiate when consent cannot be obtained.
    Admit your mistakes, attempt to resolve them in reasonable fashion.
    Do not misrepresent yourself or your skills.
    Do not allow style to countermand substance.
    Cease play when a safeword is used, ensure others do also.
    Ensure that your partner is properly monitored whenever they are in an altered state.
    You are responsible for your own mental state, take reasonable precautions.
    Do not intentionally or deliberately cause unwanted damage, be it mental, physical or emotional.
    Inform your partner when you have concerns.
    Ensure your partner always has a method of communicating with you.

  • #30for30 Day 10 and 11.

    Last night, I walked home from work in the rain. It was reasonably intermittent, so I didn’t get soaked. I made it down to the bus stop by Deer Lake parkway, checked the time til the next bus, it was long enough that it made sense to walk down the hill to the next stop. I probably could have made it one more before the bus, but it wasn’t worth the risk of missing it and having to wait 30 minutes for the next one.

    Today, it’s a nice sunny day, I’ll go for a wander around the heights and play a bit of ingress, before doing a longer walk down along the waterfront trail.

    And then tonight, I go see the Book of Mormon with Dimestore and co. I haven’t decided how formal I want to dress.

  • Gremlins

    I’m suffering from some serious gremlins lately. The mail server at the office had issues, google thought I was in China, my cellphone just decided to crash and go into a state where it wouldn’t boot, and other tech has been acting up. Oh, and that nice ADSL outage and ERX server issue the other day.

    I’d blame a technomancer, but I haven’t seen any evidence of resonance.

    Working in Tech support, I’m supposed to deal with other people’s technical inabilities, not be suffering from my own unexplained ones. Well, at least I’ve got the training to make them work again without bothering someone about it.

  • #30for30 day 9.

    Longer walk tonight. Two short walks during the day to visit gram and then to get to work, then a 45 minute walk down to Goard way stop after work. The timing meant I didn’t need to wait long for the bus. Then another 10 minutes after the bus to get home.
    Thinking about installing the zombie! run app and doing that over the weekend, since I’ll have the time and it’ll be something different.