Timewaster's Guide Archive

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/commandos3/preview_6071418.html

Hooray!

Well, Mr. Postman just brought my starter pack of the new collectible D&D miniatures, and since I'm home eating lunch I thought I'd give you guys my first impression.

a) The figures are very small. Well, not VERY small, probably about Warhammer scale, but for someone accustomed to Mage Knight they strike me as pretty tiny. They are also very dark, with a generally subdued color palette that obscures a lot of the detail unless you're looking very closely. The paint job and the sculpts are middling--better than Mage Knight's first set, certainly, but not quite up to current WizKids standards.

b) As a stand-alone game, it looks very complex. It doesn't have any of the elegance or simplicity of Mage Knight (it's only competition in the realm of collectible miniature games), and the rule book is thick and intense. On the bright side, the game looks essentially identical to a D&D combat round. If you're already into D&D and know the system, playing this game will be cake--if a bit lacking in the roleplaying department.

c) As a companion to the RPG, I have to admit it looks pretty cool. It comes with a big fold-out maps and several full-color map cards, and could facilitate battles quite helpfully. The problem, of course, is that you'll have to buy a ton of packs to get all the guys you need for a given adventure (or just structure your adventure around the random guys you open in a pack--but how many adventures require you to fight a lone kobold?).

d) A starter costs 20 bucks and has 16 guys, so you're getting a better cost-per-figure than Mage Knight. Still kind of expensive, though. I'm not sure what boosters cost or how many are in one, but we'll see.

They call it 2.0, but it's actually very similar--old sets are still 100% compatible, and the powers and basic rules aren't changing. They are adding a few things, however, that sound pretty fun.

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/mageknight/article.asp?cid=38071&frame=news

I have to say, though, I'm pretty upset about the fact that every starter will include the same set figure. It's free, I suppose, but I'd rather have a free random figure.

Here's a more detailed look at the new dial: http://www.wizkidsgames.com/mageknight/article.asp?frame=howtoplay&cid=36912

Just a random assortment of any song lyrics that you happen to find funny, profound, interesting, well-formed, or anything else. You need not provide context or even an artist, unless you want to. I'll start with that old classic...

25 or 6 to 4

http://www.wizkidsgames.com/wk_article.asp?cid=38078&frame=company

Wizkids has created a publishing division, allegedly to produce novels and comicbooks. We all know the truth, though--when a game company that already publishes novels says it wants to create a publishing division, it means they want to do roleplaying games. It's a very good idea, actually: they've got the licenses for Shadowrun and Mechwarrior, and there's ample material in Mage Knight to do a killer RPG. I guess we'll see.

Wizkids is really pulling a WotC, which I think is a great move for them--they created a new genre of game (collectible miniatures), made a zillion dollars off it, and are using it to climb their way to a major position in the gaming world. And three years ago they didn't even exist.

This is both surreal and kind of funny.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=sideboard/natus03/lam

Use this thread for all discussions related to our current Evil Storytime book, The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell. If you're reading along at home, have the first sub-book read by Saturday.

A few years ago, Tage and I got involved with local author Dave Wolverton in his attempt to start a production company. We eventually realized that his eyes were a little bigger than his capacity to follow through, so nothing much happened with it, but in the process we came up with about a dozen in-depth treatments for TV shows. One of these, developed exclusively by Tage and I, was about a high school girl who becomes an apprentice to Death. She has to go around a collect souls from people who are scheduled to die, and occasionally she has to collect them by force from people who refuse to die. It had some very interesting elements, and in the years since Tage and I keep coming back to it and wishing we could actually do something with it.

The thing is, somebody already did--it's coming out on Showtime in a month. The people involved have no connection to us, so we're not crying plagiarism or anything, but the concept is remarkably similar. I mean amazingly similar. It's one of those times where you really wish you'd done something with the idea instead of just sitting on it.