Board Game Breakfast: Episode 43 - On Wargamers and Munchkin

Tom Vasel takes a look at the news for the week, joined by a host of friends!

[NOTuNOTme]

In life you will meet very few people who will admit they are wrong, and even less on the internet.  Bravo to Tom for saying 'I was wrong'.

[OjesYobe]

Best Tom Thinks so far, so much passion . 

[Moshimoshism]

I like jason's attitude, instead of sulking about people targeting him frequently in boardgames, he embraces the challenge. Plays to win but doesn't sulk away the fun of others when they gang him. So cool.

[onejeanster]

Tom, The Dice Tower reviews seem even handed and lighthearted to me. They are so helpful in buying games for others. In the last year your programs have rekindled my interest in playing again after decades of not playing and forgetting the fun that games are. That's what you do well. Keep it up, your demographics are expanding! 64 MWF.

[randomfleming]

Snakes & Lattes: congratulations on your cafe's success! While admittedly, I rarely understand the humor in your Board game Breakfast videos, your accomplishments are nothing short of amazing! Good job and I hope the cafe chain grows even bigger in the next 4 years!

[outlawlaw]

The meeples for sheepish peoples segment has been excellent. My brother and I have been looking to expand our horizons to game with more people, and this has been helpful.

[kevinjanaecottam]

Best Tom Thinks segment ever.  Thank you so much for taking such a passionate stance.  I have seen too many potential gamers completely turned off from playing when they are 'put down' for their 'pedestrian' tastes in games.  I cannot thank you enough for this segment.  I will be using it in my youth gaming group and help them understand that bullying is not okay in any circumstance!

[BenVara]

@Nick Great shirt!

About Kingdom Death: it's true that the creator Adam has been very open, and that has helped backers cope with the wait. But those who followed the Kingdom Death stuff before the Kickstarter know that his project is about slowly building up quality that is second to none, and that is really the most important aspect of his project for the vast majority of backers.

My Kickstarter horror story: Core Playing Cards was a neat Iron Man-inspired deck of playing cards that was funded in 2012 and was supposed to ship in January 2013. The creator said the product was shipping in September 2013, and still today most backers have not received their product. Most backers are simply out the money pledged, with no hope of resolution, as the creator hasn't even logged into Kickstarter for over a year.

[chrizzis]

There is nothing better than a healthy debate between people who have the ability to formulate intelligent experienced opinions.  I really like hearing other peoples opinions because it opens my eyes to things or views that I might not have already been exposed to.  People tend to get very protective of things they like and feel like they need to protect or defend them even though everyone should be able to have their own opinions.  I hope Tom, Sam, and Zee let this stuff role off their back and realize they are doing everyone a great service and keep it up because I really like the fact they have very different likes and dislikes.

[Roufus]

2) My Kickstarter horror story is from my very first one: Purge. I was just getting into the hobby again and discovered this game from its GORGEOUS artwork from a banner ad. I was captivated by the potential of the game and sacrificed our thin budget to back at quite a high level in order to see the game come to that full potential, even going so far as to step up to the plate and offer them my services by working hand-in-hand with them by totally rewriting the fairly confusing rules. I did so, and the community seemed to appreciate the effort.

But two things happened. 1, when the base game arrived, it wasn't fun. This is devastating, because as my first kickstarter project I was super excited. And secondly, out of everything promised, only the base game ever materialized. Not the artbook, not the expansions, nothing we paid extra for. Later on we learned that the two man team was now in jail for arson and other associated idiocy. We did not get what was promised to say the least. They had a underdesigned game, poorly created rules (which I hope I helped to mitigate), got in way over their heads as first time designers and kickstarters, and then got themselves in positions (both finanicial and legal) where fulfillment was impossible. Sad day for everyone involved.

[usmcculp]

Tom, I appreciate you "Tom Thinks" segment this week.  It actually reminded my of segment you did a while ago about not using your kids as gaming partners and to play game that were designed for their age.  My rebuttal is that my daughters (11, 9, 6) all LOVE to play games with Dad to include games such as Lords of Waterdeep or Zooleretto which while they may take more tactical skill than they have to play to the greatest extent, they skill get a kick out of just PLAYING the game, and really get excited when the get the WIN against Dad.  Games for our family are more about the social interaction and the time we spend together than the winning (Although all of us LOVE to WIN!!) If ask at any moment in time what my girls wanted to do, it would be to play games!!

[RickKoeppen]

As far as long waits for KS projects, I backed Appendix N Adventures (supplements for the DCC RPG) back in June of 2012.  Over two years after the estimated delivery date later, some backers haven't received a single physical product.  A lucky few of us have received a small portion of what we were promised, but the project creator continues to say things are still moving along.

[vladimirbobroff]

A lesson in humility. Greatly enjoyed, thanks Tom! 
We all did that at one point, now time to seek redemption!

[TheDiscriminatingGamer]

In our segment this week, Shawn sings his love for Damage Report, from Break From Reality Games.

[roseross]

Go Go Snakes & Lattes!  Keep being an innovator and keep setting the bar for board game cafes!

[zak]

So much passion in your last speech. Love it:)

[benfoster]

Good talk, Tom! I understood what you were intending at the beginning of War Games video, just came across the wrong way. Coincidentally I was playing a large scenario in Conflict of Heroes at my local game store last Sunday (which also had a Magic pre-release tournament), and a couple people would periodically roam about and comment on how boring our game looked, etc. I don't personally like Magic, but I don't feel the need to talk down to the people who play it. It was nice to see the store packed with all sorts of games being played!  We're all in the hobby together, so no need to belittle each other.

[TenMinuteGamer]

Tom, I just want to say that your "thoughts" section was well expressed.  When I first started watching the Dice Tower, I thought that you were mean.  I don't know why, it was just my take.  However, after watching your channel for awhile, and now for more than a year, I have seen how passionate you are about games and I think it's wonderful.  Watching these videos has taught me to be so much less critical about people's choices of what they like or don't like, games or not.  Thanks for the channel and for your enthusiasm in the hobby.

[steveg]

AWESOME DAMAGE REPORT THEME SONG! Give'im some props, folks!

[Roufus]

1) Bravo sir. I appreciate you're trying to temper the criticism people sometimes levy against certain games and gamers who play them. There is a qualitative difference between what you/Sam/Zee do with each other than the random fiery-dart throwing of others, that being, you have -earned-the-right- to do so with each other. You guys know each other and respect each other enough to do so with no hard feelings because you know where each other are coming from. Most people don't seek to earn the right with individuals they are about to trash. That game they are trashing could very well be the person's favorite game. The game may be inferior in some way, but that person has all these happy memories and memorable moments wrapped up in it, and who are you to try to invalidate it?

That being said, there are times when certain comments to tend to come out of left field, even from you. For example, DC Deck Builder, a game you've groaned about not a few times. When I was looking for a deckbuilding game for my group, I did quite a bit of research of the leaders in this genre to find one that would fit best with my group. That is the one I settled on (partially, for full disclosure, that three or four of us are huge DC comics nerds.) I'm sure there are "better" ones in some mechanical sense, but we enjoy this one and have quite a bit of memories under our belts for it. You don't like it, and as much as I respect your opinion on many, many contexts, I ignore you on this one. That's how it should be. I did my research and made an informed opinion on our gaming choice, and we thoroughly enjoy it. I've gotten to know you well enough over the years o know not to take pit personally, but the same groan from someone else that hasn't earned that right may strike one as a bit more hostile.