Octopus Overlords

hepcat wrote:Whoa...Seafall is on sale for 25 bucks on Coolstuff. Is it worth it for even that price?

That sounds like a no.

Yeah, a couple of folks talked me down. I've been on a dungeon crawler kick lately anyway.

I didn't know Gary Gygax had an FBI file:

An FBI source in the report alleges that Gygax was "eccentric and frightening," carried a weapon, proudly responded to every letter he received from an inmate, and had a Liberian holding company. It concludes: "He is known to be a member of the Libertarian Party."

Professional Athletes Are Spending Millions On Pro Gaming

The link between traditional sports and video games is growing closer. eSports has grown into a nearly $1 billion industry with viewers in the millions, and traditional sports news outlets, top brands, and athletes have started to enter into the lucrative world of gaming. Brands like Nissan, Intel, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull are pouring in roughly $325 million to sponsor players and events. Athletes are using their competitive spirit to put together hot gaming teams, host events, and raise awareness about the growing phenomenon of eSports.

NFL player Rodger Saffold of the Los Angeles Rams owns a team called Rise Nation. The team primarily plays first-person shooters Call of Duty and Overwatch on the global stage. He started playing Call of Duty in college and was encouraged to organize a team after streaming his games on Twitch. His amateur team was boosted by his connections to the NFL, and his amateur team was able to get into the professional circuit. They decided to expand into Overwatch to help them become internationally recognized.

So my children are going through all of our old video games and are going to try and sell them on Ebay for a few bucks. It's kind of sad that the game I'm most reluctant for them to get rid of is DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball...

hentzau wrote:So my children are going through all of our old video games and are going to try and sell them on Ebay for a few bucks. It's kind of sad that the game I'm most reluctant for them to get rid of is DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball...

Just so long as you don't get rid of NES Wrestling. If you do then I LOSER IS YOU!

...
... A Board Game Based on ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ by Hunter S. Thompson

May 21, 2009

Alyx Baldwin created a wonderful board game loosely based on the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. It comes inside a inside a suitcase, perfect for taking on “trips”.

I started cleaning out my gaming room in my basement this past weekend. I filled up two 56 quart storage tubs with D&D books alone. This is going to be a long, painful process.

hentzau wrote:I started cleaning out my gaming room in my basement this past weekend. I filled up two 56 quart storage tubs with D&D books alone. This is going to be a long, painful process.

Gaming room... clean out? I don't understand this concept. Gaming rooms are for putting stuff into, not removing stuff from.

Other than a couple of 2nd edition adventures I loaned out and never got back, I still own every single gaming book and item I've ever bought or was given, including many back issues of Dragon Magazine. Granted, I have a gaming closet rather than a gaming room, so that likely isn't as extensive as yours.

Before you have a garage sale, let us know! hentzau's gaming basement is impressive.

I lost a lot of old D&D to water damage when I moved into my house, including the Waterdeep box set with the amazing maps. I think there was water damage to my old Marvel, Bond and other RPGs at my mom's house. My sister received my 4E D&D.

Most of my collection is every single official Paranoia RPG product except for the "retconned" 5th Edition and 2 fiction books.

Stop storing shit in cardboard!
/rant

No garage sale, but I am looking to Ebay my Heroscape stuff. Maybe a few other rarities, like some of my old, valuable GW stuff.

After mulling over the use of eBay, I just sold a whole bunch of games and Dust figures to a reputable online gaming vendor instead. He sent me FedEx shipping labels and then cut me a check. You (or anyone) can send me a PM if you want more info. The experience was so worthwhile (for me), I'm getting ready to pack up another load of games and do it all again.

I have thought about that, but I think I can get way more for my Heroscape collection if I try and sell it off myself. If I can get close to what some folks are getting on eBay, I should be able to get close to a grand for it.

I sold my heroscape collection for about half what it was worth if I was willing to work for it (selling it piecemeal on ebay). I was not willing to work for it.

Yeah, people still loving that Heroscape stuff. My buddy had 4 (!) sets of the $25 D&D Underdark Heroscape box sets that came out back in 2010. I think he sold 3 of them last year for around $100 each. If you have the time and energy to piecemeal it all out you can definitely get some money. I actually don't know if the guy I sold things to buys Heroscape stuff (I suspect he does), but he took barely touched board games without hesitation.

Hepcat sells at the Gencon auction. Which reminds me, I have to look into that for my Fury of Dracula (second edition).

Zarathud wrote:Hepcat sells at the Gencon auction. Which reminds me, I have to look into that for my Fury of Dracula (second edition).

Yeah I sell most of my stuff at BGG.CON. It is nice to have an audience that wants exactly what you are selling. Fury of Dracula (the last one from FF) was one of the few games I've actually profited on.

My kids did a full inventory of what we had. They're still inventorying the figs, but I know we have:

4 complete sets of the base Rise of the Valkyrie, unboxed (all sparkly blue water tiles)
2 sets of Swarm of the Marro, still in boxes
1 Marvel base set, still in box
4 fortress sets (one still in box)
3 lava sets
3 tundra sets
3 road sets
Full set of flag bearers, still in boxes.
One each of each of the first several waves of figures (still need to complete the inventory)
A couple of Orm's Return sets (one still in box)
Some promo figures, like Sir Hawthorn, Wu, and Nerak

So there's a bit of cash i'm sitting on. I'm contemplating selling the Swarm and Marvel boxed sets, and the flag bearers and promo figures separate. Everything else goes into a giant lot. Shipping is certainly going to be a pain...

hentzau wrote:Shipping is certainly going to be a pain...

You are correct. I sent it all out in my storage solution wish was a set of huge tackle boxes. There's probably a thread about it here somewhere.

hentzau wrote:

coopasonic wrote:My kid (6) beat me at Morels last night.

I've struck a deal to sell my heroscape collection for $600. That's going to buy a LOT of games... basically my entire CSI wish list. Now how the hell do I pack this up to ship it. I'm mostly concerned about the large figures. I'm thinking of seeing how they fit in the smaller cardboard deck boxes. The wings on the dragons are the main point of concern.

Damn. I have about 3X as much heroscape stuff as you had there! I should think about selling it, it hasn't hit the table in about 6 years.

That six year old kid is now 11... you need to get around to selling that stuff.

Decided a few months ago, "Dammit, I'ma start board gaming again", and what better way to do that than to convince someone else (redrun) to commit to a campaign of Gloomhaven... That day I find out it's out of print I just missed the 2nd edition kickstarter by less than a week and that I either have to pay $260+ to a scalper or wait and pay retail in August for the 2nd printing.

I just read that may get to kickstarter shipping in August but the publisher estimate is it won't hit store shelves in the US until last September.

Maybe I won't make a commitment to start board gaming again....


I found the easiest way to get rid of all my heroscape stuff was to give it chaosraven. I don't know what I had. One of everything until about the time the fortress came out. I never bought the fortress, so I can safely say I never got anything after.

I'm fighting for storage space, and just realized that I could reclaim two full shelves of space by getting rid of my old gaming magazines. I have issues of PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, Computer Games, and Game Developer ranging from 1997 to around 2005.

They're all special and such, and I don't want to get rid of them, but they take up a lot of space, and I don't browse them that much anymore. Now and then I'll grab the one from, say, 15 years ago that month and get all nostalgic, but not that often.

I also have all of the demo disks in an old floppy case. I won't even get into the big tote full of dead tree strategy guides I have. Or the giant tote full of game manuals.

I'm in pretty much the exact same boat, Blackhawk. The giant piles of gaming magazines in the basement got recycled but the demo disks, copious game manuals, disks, strategy guides and mixture of flattened and original boxes still survive. For now.

I moved all the disks into huge CD folders years ago. The boxes I folded flat and went into a large tote, and the jewel cases went into their own. TA couple of years ago I disposed of the contents of both when I realized that I hadn't looked at or touched them in probably a decade. I still have a couple of collector's edition boxes, plus the original Deus Ex box, and that's it.

I honestly wouldn't miss most of the strategy guides. Digging them out will never be less hassle than Google. There are a couple that have some sentimental value (mostly stuff that Stratos Group was invovled in), but the rest could probably go.

I can't bring myself to consider getting rid of the manuals, though.

And nothing will make me dump my collection of Dragon Magazine going from the mid double digits to around 200 (not that I have every issue in between, mind you.)

I lamented throwing away my Electronic Games magazines from the late 80s when I was doing so, but you know how many times I've missed them since I've thrown them away? None.

I know. When I have the time, I will likely take one small magazine file and fill it with certain issues. The first gaming magazine I ever bought, the two I got a mention in (for my Morrowind and Oblivion mods), a couple that I have very fond memories of) and ditch the rest.

I really, really wish I had some storage space for things. As it is, I have space to store three or four boxes, total.

Hoarders: Nerd Edition

I know it's something of a mindset, but I am also always looking for things I can get rid of. If there is a word for the opposite of a hoarder, that word is me.

It was a challenge to take all my games and put then CDs into a folder and manuals into a filing cabinet.

I don't even have a CD player on my current gaming rig at home any more and I dug into the that filing cabinet for the first time in years this year when I replaced Star Wars Rebellion through GOG and I wanted to relearn some of the abilities and ships.

Man I do miss physical manuals that explained game mechanics. PDFing manuals was the beginning of dumbing down computer gaming and consequently making me lazy when it comes to being spoiled by a UI that tells you everything. Because I'm not stopping my game to so I can RTFM.

Smoove_B wrote:Yeah, people still loving that Heroscape stuff. My buddy had 4 (!) sets of the $25 D&D Underdark Heroscape box sets that came out back in 2010. I think he sold 3 of them last year for around $100 each. If you have the time and energy to piecemeal it all out you can definitely get some money. I actually don't know if the guy I sold things to buys Heroscape stuff (I suspect he does), but he took barely touched board games without hesitation.

I played Heroscape for the first time when we visited my brother last month. He literally had 20 big crates full of Heroscape stuff in his gaming room, and said he hadn't touched it in years. We played a few rounds and I though the game was OK (the kids really liked it), but I don't think it was worth the hour it took to get everything set up. It looked far cooler than it actually was.

I'm surprised that no one has made a remake of the old Dark Tower game. That probably burned up more hours of my childhood than anything else.

coopasonic wrote:Hoarders: Nerd Edition

I know it's something of a mindset, but I am also always looking for things I can get rid of. If there is a word for the opposite of a hoarder, that word is me.

I have to do that all the time. My place isn't exactly a studio (it is a two bedroom), but it was build in the latter half of the 19th century when rooms just weren't huge, and storage was an afterthought. I would kill for a linen closet instead of keeping sheets in my dresser and blankets on the only shelf in my closet. Between RPGs, PC gaming, board gaming, and miniatures, there just isn't room to put stuff. So whenever I bring something new in, something old leaves. But removing an entire collection at once just hurts.

But that's exactly what I'm using this discussion to build myself up to doing.

Blackhawk wrote:I would kill for a linen closet instead of keeping sheets in my dresser and blankets on the only shelf in my closet.

If it makes you feel any better, I have 3800 square feet and I don't have a linen closet either. A pantry the size of my college dorm room, but no linen closet.

coopasonic wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:I would kill for a linen closet instead of keeping sheets in my dresser and blankets on the only shelf in my closet.

If it makes you feel any better, I have 3800 square feet and I don't have a linen closet either. A pantry the size of my college dorm room, but no linen closet.

Hah! I have a 1000 square foot home from 1950 and it has a tiny linen closet and a Laundry chute (that I don't understand how anyone could use)... I have no pantry though. The closest thing I have to a pantry is a tiny broom closet, which is really more of a broom niche in the wall with a door.

What I really wish I had, was dining room rather than a nook for a small table and a kitchen with something bigger than a lane for a single person to walk through between the sink and counters and the fridge and stove. However, I don't really need either one, so really the wish isn't that big of a wish.

A laundry chute implies that you have a basement. Whether or not it's considered part of your square footage, it's still usable space. One would assume that your washer and dryer are not occupying living space with that arrangement.

My sister's two-story house in Columbus has a laundry chute from 2 to basement. I don't recall if or how much they use it.

Isgrimnur wrote:A laundry chute implies that you have a basement. Whether or not it's considered part of your square footage, it's still usable space. One would assume that your washer and dryer are not occupying living space with that arrangement.

All true. It can't be considered part of my living space because it has on independent egress (I think that's' the word) and basement windows are not considered escapable in case of fire.

No pantry. I use a microwave cart with a pair of shelves behind doors. The house actually has two closets. One was built-in to the kids room, and is where their stuff, clothes, and a few household items (vacuum) go. The other looks like someone walled off about three feet of bedroom. To be honest, it is a pretty big closet. It's big enough that the back holds my clothes and still has room for four bookshelves. (See? This is where I shoot my own storage argument in the foot.) One bookshelf holds board games, one holds miniatures, one holds RPG books. The fourth holds the accessories and small bits from the other three (dice, RPG tools, cards, board game parts that have been put into organizers, etc.) It's really cramped, but I have to admit that if I weren't a nerd, storage wouldn't be nearly as much of a problem.

I have a dilemma.

Work has begun in earnest on my gaming room in the basement, which involves way more work than it should. But anyway. My plans are for all new shelving, curtains, lighting, paint, floor, etc. Going to put in a flat screen TV and my own Xbox (take that, kids!). Make it my room. I've picked out the shelves, and I've been eyeing tables...I want to get a round table for board gaming, that can be expanded via a leaf to make room for minis games. Like the Bjursta round table from Ikea.

Well, when I was out at summer camp last week, my wife hit up a thrift shop, and found a hexagonal table for me for $5. Not exactly what I was looking for. Because it's hex vs round, there's less real estate for games on the table, and when the leaf is in, it's a bit shorter than the other tables I've been looking at.

Normally, not a huge deal. $5? I just tell her it's not exactly what I wanted, and we leave it in the alley for the scavengers.

But the rub. There's always a rub, isn't there? My eldest daughter gave the table a custom paint job. She painted it black, with gold trim, and a gold "ampersand dragon" logo from D&D fame. It's an OK paint job, she did a pretty good job on it, but once again, not really what I was looking for. So now, I really can't throw it out because of all of the extra work she did on it.

I'm a horrible person, aren't I? I should be really grateful for what my family did for me, but my brain keeps thinking about what I originally wanted.

Is the space big enough to have that table used as something to play long-term solo games on it? Like something you could put on a sawhorse or keep off to the side? Not your "primary" gaming table but a table you could still use for solo gaming?

Turn it into a crokinole board!

Discover the joy of gaming boards. They turn any table into exactly the table you need, and disappear when not in use. It's how I have a four foot by eight foot gaming table in my small apartment that can be at dining table height or coffee table height depending on my needs.

Or find some other use for the customized table in there and get the one you want, too.

Or use the tears of your children to season your martinis. That's worthwhile as well.

Not really room for both tables. I mean, maybe, if I get rid of the La-Z-Boys I'm hoping to have in there.