Not Another Weekly Comics Rant 1/14/2009 January 14, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in DC.Tags: Comics, DC, finalcrisis, jla, morrison, rockofages
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Or, I liked it better when it was Rock of Ages.
I have this theory about music, that most people lock in at a certain age, usually somewhere around high school or college, and whatever they like at that time, is what they like from then on.
And I think maybe that goes for a lot of things, including comics. I can actually put my finger on it for comics…it was the late nineties, with the rebirth of the JLA under Morrison/Porter/Dell and the emergence of the The Authority from Ellis and Hitch. My favorite story of the bunch was Rock of Ages…a true epic featuring an evil league headed by Luthor, the ultimate triumph of Darkseid, and the redemption of the time line. Sound familiar? (more…)
Random vs Fixed Boosters like Newtonian Physics January 13, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Game Theory.Tags: boosters, Monsterpocalypse, MutantChronicles
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They just sort of break down with very large or very small numbers.
The latest Scrye magazine outlined the number of new collectible games for 2008, lamenting that some had changed to fixed purchase. I interpreted that to mean the fixed purchase games no longer “counted” somehow as collectible games. I tend to disagree.
My test case today is going to be Monsterpocalype (Monpoc) versus Mutant Chronicles CMG (MC). Monpoc is sold in “random” boosters. MC is sold in fixed boosters.
Let’s posit that you have a small collection of each game, like I do. Of all of the differences between the games, does anyone feel in anyway that the greatest distinction between them is the way in which they are sold? Does the way they are packaged matter for you five minutes after you have them open? I’d say no. After all, if I lease a car, or buy a car, at the end of the day, I’m still driving a car.
Let’s take it a step further though and look at large numbers. It’s claimed that if you bought a whole case of Monpoc you would end up with a complete set. And guess what happens if you buy a whole case of MC? That’s right, you end up with a complete set. Freaky! So, at the high end of collecting, the distinction between random and fixed disappears completely between these two games.
And what if you go with small numbers? Well, again, you go use the unit of a single starter for both games, or two boosters from each game, and have what you need to field a basic team. Now certainly, we wouldn’t know ahead of time what that team is for the randomly packed game, but we would still have a viable team. (This is also true for World of Warcraft minis while we are on the topic. A single booster provides a game legal “team”.)
So, at very small numbers and very large numbers, random and fixed booster minis tend to act more alike. Now certainly, it’s the mid range between say one booster and 20 where the differences remain more well pronounced. But I still contend that the way boosters are packed has much less to do with the way the games are played than many other factors.
D&D Minis Game to be “Privatized” January 12, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Attacktix, Dungeons & Dragons.Tags: CMG, D&D, Minis, StarWarsCCG
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You might have caught wind of the fact that even though D&D minis are still going to be made, they are dropping the skirmish game aspect of it. In other words, the minis will officially be only an accessory to the RPG from WotC’s perspective.
However, what you might not know is that they’ve granted a player group a sort of exclusive right to continue on the skirmish game as some sort of licensee. The DDM Guild group will continue to create new content for the skirmish game for the new figures, as well as handle the organized play aspects of it.
I wish them a lot of luck. For inspiration, I hope they have seen what the Star Wars CCG Player’s Committee has accomplished in a similar vein with their virtual sets. The D&D folks will have the advantage of actually having new figures continuing to release for the foreseeable future, so there future looks bright if they can get everyone on board early.
Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the hard work put in by the UnOfficial JoeAttacktix Figure Mod Committee to do much the same with the Attacktix game.
If NCAA Football were a Magic Tournament… January 12, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Football, Game Theory, Magic the Gathering.Tags: bcs, Magic, ncaa
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…it would go like this. A young up and comer that had been tearing it up at Friday night magic would finally get to his first Pro Tour. And lo and behold, in the first round he’d have to play like Jon Finkel or someone…but he’d win! And then he would keep winning, and go undefeated for the whole event! And then, for the finals, he’d be ask to play for 3rd, because hey, even though Olivier Ruel and Rapheal Levy both lost a match already, everyone “knows” they are better players, and deserve the right to play for first instead.
And that’s pretty much what happened to Utah this year. They started off playing Michigan…the winningest program of all time, a team that in it’s last game had beaten Florida, Tim Tebow and all. And they won. And yeah, Michigan pretty much sucked this year…but Utah didn’t know that would be the case when the scheduled them. And Utah won out for the year, beating 6 bowl bound teams in all, or put another way, half of their opponents had winning records.
And they were still passed over for the National Championship game. And this proves the lie that all of these schools are in the same division. If that were the case, each of them would have an equal chance at earning a spot in the championship game. But clearly they don’t…if it didn’t happen this year, when could it possibly happen? Would it take an undefeated smaller school and all major programs having 2 losses instead of 1?
Now for me, this is another argument to either get rid of the BCS or create a playoff. If you get rid of the BCS, Utah gets selected for whichever bowl, and people can vote them how they like. Or, create a playoff, and Utah is in and can really play it out.
Pet Peeve of the Day… January 10, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Tech.Tags: petpeeve
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People who call their desktop background their “screen saver”.
Move over Clark Kent… January 9, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Football.Tags: bowlgames, superman, timtebow
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There’s a new Superman in town.
Florida won the National Championship bowl game last night. I’ve traditionally rooted against all of the Florida schools, but I have to say I wanted UF to win this time around.
The majority of the talk was about Tim Tebow again this game. I have to admire the guy, after all, football is proably not even in the top three of his to do list every day, but he guaranteed not to lose a game for the rest of the season after their first loss earlier this year, and he made good on that. Usually guys guarantee a one game victory. When he vowed to win out the season, people seemed to believe him.
With all of that being said, it was really the Florida defense that deserves the most credit for the win, with not one but two goal line stands that yielded no points for Oklahoma. I had heard predictions of a 100 point game, but after a scoreless first quarter, I think it’s clear that the defense dictated the pace of the game.
Now, would I like to see a game between USC and Florida next week? Or Florida and Utah? You bet. But that’s not going to happen this year. So congrats to those three teams, and best of luck next year.
(And really, say a little football prayer for my Michigan Wolverines too while you’re at it, would ya?)
In Praise of The Geek Hierarchy January 8, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Game Theory.Tags: ingenious, innergeek
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Ingenious Board Game by Reiner Knizia
A discussion over on a gaming board sparked a memory for me tonight of the venerable Geek Hierarchy. Credited to
The Dark Knight basically sweeps People’s Choice January 8, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in DC, Movies.Tags: batman, drhorrible, firefly, joker, thedarkknight, yetantherawardshow
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I’m not a big fan of award shows in general. Especially now that they seem to be a near weekly affair. However, I do appreciate the concept of the People’s Choice awards, which is a blatant popularity contest with no pretense of being anything else.
The Dark Knight
So with that in mind, I feel obligated to point out that The Dark Knight basically swept the awards last night…taking five awards including the big dog of best movie. Additionally, the fans awarded it honors for favorite action movie, favorite cast, favorite superhero (over Hancock and Iron Man mind you) and best on-screen match-up for Batman and The Joker. Whew. It’s nice to see another year of dominance of our genre films…I think there is a lot of proof here that the underlying stories being told are worth their weight in gold.
After all, look at some of the other winners; Wall-E for Family Movie (sci-fi/animation), Will Smith for Male Movie Star and Male Action Star(ostensibly for Hancock), Angelina Jolie for Female Action Star (Wanted, adapted from the comic of the same name), Heroes for Sci/Fi Fantasy TV show, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog for online sensation (by Joss Whedon of Buffy and Firefly fame).
What if Macworld happened and nobody came? January 7, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Conventions.Tags: Conventions, macworld, SteveJobs
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Not to be confused with the McWorld some of us already live in (raises hand), Macworld is the annual Macintosh/Apple computer users convention. 
The big news this year is surprisingly enough NOT this new and exciting bit of technology – Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop with No Keyboard – but rather the fact that Steve Jobs isn’t there. Also, this is the last year that Apple proper won’t be there, leaving the future of the con in doubt. Not the best way to kick off con season for the year.
For my part, it looks like Apple computers are on my horizon again for the first time since college. A couple of them have begun to sneak into our largely Microsoft/IBM environment here at the office, and I’m being tapped for my more than decade past knowledge of them. Wish me luck!
Not Another Weekly Comics Rant 1/7/2009 January 7, 2009
Posted by webofwebhead in Marvel, Reviews.Tags: Comics, MarvelVSDC, Punisher
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Seems to be a slow week, as I’ve only found one book worth talking about. But that’s fine, it gives me more time to focus on the new Punisher book and highlight some of the allusions made to some well known characters found at the Distinguished Competition. 
It’s been written before that The Punisher is sort of the ultimate “What If…?” of Batman…what if the character in question was an adult instead of a child who lost their family to senseless violence? Where Batman reflects a more childlike response…the Punisher is sort of that grown up take…especially that of a war veteran. It’s interesting to see that they are matching up the Punisher now with the Marvel’ized version of Superman…the Sentry. And, let’s not forget, Norman Osborn as a quasi-Lex Luthor circa when he was the President in the DCU like 5 years ago. (more…)
