Monday, June 14, 2010

Ugh

Job hunt is really eating into blog-time. Hoping to get something up on free agency and the Sabres before the draft now that FTR has posted a comprehensive list.

Friday, June 4, 2010

5 Sabres thoughts

Inspired by Katebits, master of thought enumeration, I make my own attempt. I'm probably revisiting a lot of things other people have already talked about, but I just started this thing this week. :-p

1. Sabres season ticket prices went up again this year. I was lightly rebuked on twitter (by James Mirtle no less) that it was only $1-4 per game. However, when I first got section 311 tickets for the 2006-2007 season, they were only $1722. These same tickets now cost the same as a center ice ticket in the 300 level, $2378. Between losing the cheaper price for selecting a seat closer to the "end-zone" and overall increases in prices, that's a $656 (nearly 40%) increase in just 4 years. I think I have a right to be mildly upset.
(Non-NHL aside - the dictionary definitions of chide and rebuke are much harsher than I thought they were)

2. So the Sabres season is over and while the playoffs have been fun, they were definitely a disappointment from a Buffalo perspective. I've been struggling to even root against the Flyers these playoffs as they did us the favor of humiliating the Bruins (and how!). Overall, I've felt detached from these playoffs - much more so than in previous years. I am rooting for the Hawks, and I'm still watching the games, but I'm mostly indifferent to the outcomes and that's a little strange for me.

3. I love Drew Stafford's twitter personality. I hate Drew Stafford's on-ice personality.

4. Tim Connolly. I like Timmy. He was awful in the playoffs and I hated his statements afterwards, but I like the dude and wish he could be pre-Peter Schaefer Timmy again. That said, a change of scenery might do wonders for the guy (and our team).

5. Derek Roy. I hate Derek Roy. His regular season has been maddening for the last 3 years and his attitude makes me want to hurl a ferret at a baby. That said, I thought he stepped up in the playoffs and showed why the Sabres identified him as an up-and-coming star a few years ago. I guess he should be kept around a bit longer despite my clamoring for the Sabres to trade him for the past few years.

Thinking I might work on a free-agency post sometime after the playoffs are over (Hopefully by Monday).

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Brief Dungeon Lords Review

Played Dungeon Lordsfor the first time Sunday. I was greatly impressed with the number of familiar mechanics that were jammed together to create a whole new interesting and well-themed game.

You begin by secretly selecting 3 actions you would like to take (similar to race for the galaxy) with the goal being to gain resources. Resources include food to pay monsters with and buy imps; gold to pay taxes and buy traps/food; imps to work in rooms, mine tunnels and excavate more tunnels; traps and monsters to fight off heroes, and rooms to produce resources and gain victory points.

You are required to pay taxes, pay your monsters, and have a special (randomly drawn?) event happen each of the two years and these events happen in random order - though you're given some warning so you can plan. After these 3 things happen, you're invaded by the heroes who've decided to raid your dungeon over the course of the year with the hardiest heroes targeting the most evil dungeon lords.

As you're an evil dungeon lord, hopefully you've accumulated enough traps and monsters to counter the threat these do-gooders present. Thieves defend the party against traps, warriors are tough and are the first in line to be attacked, wizards cast nasty spells and Priests heal the adventurers in front. As a dungeon lord, it's a lot to deal with.

After 2 years of being attacked (of 3-4 turns each), a good portion of your dungeon is likely to have been conquered by these nefarious beacons of light and justice. These regions count for negative points, while unconquered regions will score you points. Titles are granted to the most evil dungeon master, the one with the most rooms, tunnels, etc. These are worth big points in the context of the game and can undo a lot of damage done by having conquered tiles.

Overall the game is blast, but I find it only worthy of a B+ or A- rating overall due to the complexity of the rules. It's no Battlestar Galactica or Arkham horror in that way, but a lot of quirky little exceptions add up in the initial rule reading of an already complex game. That said, once you're through the rule reading, it's as good a game as you'll find.

Games it's like: Kingsburg(3 seasons and attack, limited role selection), Agricola(Pacing of harvests/worker placement), Race for the Galaxy (secret role selection), Galaxy trucker (watch your creation destroyed by malevolent forces), Vegas Showdown (tile placement)

First Post.

This is more of a placeholder for the moment. I'm hoping at some point to begin writing about the Buffalo Sabres (and maybe the Bills too), Board gaming, computer games and hopefully other things Buffalo as well. Kinda strange how easy these are to set up.