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Gathering of Engineers

Ludographic considerations from the Silicon Forest

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Thanks. Really.

Sorry for the late post, but my life has become a series of unexpected expenses and schedule busters recently. Today was no exception.

Despite the sarcastic tone of the title, there are some things I'm genuinely thankful for in the world of gaming.

Most of all, I'm thankful that I have a wife who tolerates, if not embraces, the hobby. As I've posted before, this is not always the case. When someone called and wanted to start digging in my yard this morning instead of on Saturday (I did say it was one of those months), her response was, "Great! That means you can game on Saturday!" And she meant it. For those of us who remember 1998 and her general response to gaming, this is nothing less than a religious conversion.

I'm thankful to have such a great group of friends to game with. I genuinely look forward to seeing these folks every week, even more than I look forward to the games. When I "founded" RCG, I had no idea that it would be this good.

I'm thankful to be able to get insight into not only the design of new games (mostly via KC's efforts), but also the development and production processes (via Chris' posts and conversations). For anyone who is curious and intelligent, this is like learning how Santa's sleigh flies.

I'm incredibly thankful to my parent's hard work to build up a real estate investment company whose income allows me to pretty much buy whatever I want whenever I want it. On the one hand, this is really cool, but on the other I have all of this Warhammer Epic stuff from the years when I needed Prozac and wasn't on it.

I'm thankful I am alive in a time when gaming is, if not prolific in my country, certainly in a Belle Epoque. While not everything published is great (or even good), the choice is undeniably better than perhaps at any time in history. Even in wargaming! By extension, I'm thankful for computers that enable cheaper development of games and the DTP revolution.

I'm thankful to have this blog to vent my spleen (or pancreas, depending on the week). I'm not sure if it was Dave that suggested it, or Chris that designed it, or who else was involved, but a hearty thank you to all of you. I'm also thankful I have such interesting writers to share posting time with.

I'm thankful that the other members of RCG have such interesting and quality taste in music. I really miss my undergrad days when you learned about new music mostly from what the guy down the hall was playing. Until the advent of the Apple Music Store, this group provided quite a bit of the new music I was exposed to, largely through Dave. While this isn't specifically related to games, it is connected because of what we listen to while gaming.

I'm thankful for old friends that show up again after not seeing them at sessions for, sometimes, years. Mark, we're delighted to be seeing you again, my friend.

I'm thankful to be an unabashed gamer, unafraid to be seen gaming or discussing them in public. I've become less fearful of simply being myself as a result.

Finally, thanks to all of you who read this site, then come back again the next day and read the next entry. I sincerely hope you find what we have to say interesting and very occasionally enlightening.

Happy Thanksgiving to our US friends, and the rough equivalent to those abroad. Here's hoping that next year we'll have more to be thankful about.

2 Comments:

  • At 9:19 AM, Blogger KC said…

    Great thoughts, Doug. We're glad to be part of the wacky band you started long ago. And thankful you're willing to play new things so often (a designer's dream gamer). - KC

     
  • At 9:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Good thoughts, and I'm definitely glad y'all took me in after my relocation from Texas (leaving an established game group - or two, in my case - was one of the difficulties of moving). Glad to have found a kindred bunch (scary though that thought may be, for all involved ;).

     

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