Thor's Day Hero: Leliana

Another videogame heroine joins the ranks of Thor's Day Heroes this week. Leliana the Orlesian Bard from the videogame Dragon Age is among us. As with Tali, inducted some time ago, Leliana is sort of an optional character you could employ in your party as often or as little as you liked. If she was just a part-time hero for you, all of her details may not have fully come out.

I forget the mission, but there was a demon prince peering into everybody's souls, combing for hidden truths and desires. It was one of those game moments I didn't see coming. Everything up to that point I thought I knew about Leliana, based on what the character said in-game, turned out to be false. She wasn't a chaste bard seeking religious pilgrimage, she was an assassin on the run. Hey, she was good with a bow, and that was good enough for me then, and it's good enough for me now. Welcome aboard Leliana, play nice.

Defining Game #4: Nintendo

4. Nintendo (NES), 1985

Up until now we've talked about miniature gaming and roleplaying, but I would be terribly remiss (something that crops up a lot apparently) if I did not include videogames in my defining games. Here I am, a grown man almost three decades later and I still avidly play them, so this cornerstone is too important a piece to not mention, and at the number four slot to boot.

I have a great story about the first time I ever saw a home videogame system back in 1979, but that's for another time. Not having a lot of money growing up it was pretty epic (for me anway) when I got my first console at age eleven. We didn't have the fancy set up with the robot and all of that, but I had the console and some amazing games.

This wasn't the 'family console' set up in the living room, like the Atari which oddly enough I never really messed with. I had a tiny little television in my room with this thing hooked up to it, it was awesome. I had many great games too; Mega Man, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Mario Brothers, and the like. I don't know whatever happened to my NES, but it definitely got me started off in the videogame world; NES, then Sega Genesis, Playstation, Dreamcast, PS2, XBox, now XBox 360. My father jokingly, yet stubbornly, gives me a hard time about 'wasted time playing videogames' and the like, but I'm quick to point out hat they were really the ones to start me down that path, and it all started here.

Thor's Day Hero: Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

In the game Mass Effect you can pick and choose your away team, customizing their stats along the way. For me, there was never a mission I didn't take the Quarian super-tech, Tali'Zorah along with me. There's a lot of neat things about this character, starting with her awesome accent of course. Secondly, she's from a nomadic fleet of ships that serves as her mobile homeworld. It's a sealed, sterile environment which has forced her to always be donned in a high-tech sort of hazmat suit.

Even though you never see her face, she never takes her suit off, there's a bit of a romantic hook thrown in there too. So she's an alien with a hot accent, a strong female character, and good with pistols, shotguns, and all manner of machines. Yup, she's a Thor's Day Heroine all right.

Mass Effect Rogue Space...Stuff

Thankfully I've brought Rucht on board here at Mik's Minis because let's face it, my own content has been somewhat slim lately. I do have content in the works though, and it goes by the name of Mass Effect Rogue Space. Really I should put Rogue Space first, since that's the engine, but then I couldn't do the anagram MERS, which Rogue Space is known to do!

So, I've got conversion material already finished that I need to post here. It's done, and it's been used in one game already, the next game is due up this Saturday. Here's the material I've got to get out and into your hands:

• Playable Races (Krogan, Quarian, and Batarian)
• Weapons (Shuriken pistols, Mantis sniper rifles, and more)
• Enemies (Geth, Geth, more Geth, and a Husk or two)
• Adventure conversion from in-game storylines

So that's off the top of my head, there may be more. Also remember to check out the official Rogue Space site as well for the rules. The reason I went with Rogue Space is because it is elegantly quick and easy, and gets you into the game with little fuss making your own conversions a snap to implement. Rock on.

Thor's Day Hero: Ezio Auditore da Firenze

We can just call him Ezio for short, or 'that guy from Assassin's Creed'. Our first, but not last, videogame character making his debut here in the annals of Thor's Day Heroes. Ezio was the son of a rich nobleman, not a care in the world, until he found out about his assassin heritage at the age of 17. Following him and his tale through three separate titles and about sixty years of story you really start to get an appreciation for him. He's pretty good with a knife too.

EDIT:  I don't know what happened with Blogger's schedule feature.  This wasn't a draft, it was good to go yesterday, it just never...went!

Mass Effect Comes to an End

I haven't posted a lot of videogame reviews as of late, but why not some Mass Effect 3 action? Considering all of the 'hooplah' surrounding some aspects of it I felt it aprapos. Also, considering the CEO of Bioware recently asked for this very thing, well now I'm obligated. And I've gotta say, I really applaud them for this. They didn't have to hone up to the public outcries, they could've stuck to their guns and defended their hard work.


First and foremost, you don't play the third game in a series without playing the first two. You can get by with some other titles by doing this but Mass Effect is a story, it's a continuous arc starring you as the main character, building off the decisions you make each game. Admittedly, if you want the whole experience, play the first two, but you can really get by with just playing the second one first, there's a lot of hooks in ME2 that directly play into the third one, plus the second installment may be the best of the series.

And there's the rub. Mass Effect 3 is a good game, it's an awesome game really and has some of the biggest in-game decisions to date. It just doesn't measure up in the end. A lot of the exploration has been simplified, which may not have been everybody's bag but I miss it greatly. The action sequences are awesome, while they're happening, but they're a bit too few. If you get into the complete immersion of the game as I do, for every ten minutes of action you're looking at twenty minutes or more of downtime while you run around doing all the dialogue options with your crew and other NPC's as well as upgrading/fiddling with all of your paper-doll options and weapon enhancements.

If you've done your time in the trenches, imported the same character for the past five years, and want to have one last romp...you'll play this game. Chances are you'll like it quite a bit. As for the "controversies", well take them or leave them. One such quibble is the Prothean DLC content that came out the same day. Same day DLC contents is kind of a slap in the consumers' face, I just plopped down sixty bucks but you want another ten for exclusive content? On the same day? It could've been rolled up into the game if it was that finished in development right?


It's the ending that has prompted the internet firestorm. A lot of really good points have been made and through all the noise there is a clearly thought-out rationale behind the criticisms. It was a very contrived ending with three "choices" but each one is so incredibly similar that it doesn't matter which choice is made. And that's the other issue I take with it, with all the choices and freedoms and options you make as a character over three titles and five years the ending takes none of that into account whatsoever. What was the point of all the great game moments if none of it has any impact in the end. You make this character by your actions, no two "Commander Shepards" are the same, yet a generic ending that doesn't make a lot of sense seems to suffice? No, it was inadequate given everything that preceded it.

When it's all said and done I'd give ME3 a 7/10 stars, ME2 on the other hand I'd give an 8.5/10 stars. Sure it's all opinion, but the second one just felt more solid, was more immersive, and didn't completely disregard every action you've had a hand in since the beginning for a contrived ending.

Assassin's Creed Revelations and Impressions

By the light of Assassin's Creed Revelations in the foreground I give you my 'old man Ezio' impersonation. That's right, my old and tattered 'lucky' gray hoodie is about as close to "cosplay" as you, my dear friends, will ever see me. Now as for firstborn, she had to get in on the Assassin's Creed dress-up too, here she is sporting the 'royal indigo' print (costs about 2000 gold in one of the shops) and is wielding the sheath to my good tomato-slicing kitchen knife. Even without the beard she makes a far better Ezio than I do!

I played the first Creed game and thought, "Wow, this is pretty cool, a bit repetitive, but pretty darn cool." The action was good, the story pretty neat, and admittedly, the historical details really enhanced it. Then came the sequel, Creed II, and I was blown away, I still contend it's one of the all-time videogames out there. The scope, the depth, the story, the mechanics, I was just blown away, they took everything they learned from the first one and made it better. Then Creed II Brotherhood came out. A sequel? Kind of, just more of a super expansion of Creed II, they added some neat little additions and tried to make a multiplayer out of it too. I liked the extras, more of the gameplay was cool, and overall I'm clicking away, still a happy Assassin's camper.

Now comes Creed Revelations. The makers, Ubisoft, know they have a good thing on their hands. They've perfected and tweaked everything into a well-oiled machine, but in a way that's also the problem. Revelations is more of the same, for better or for worse.

Instead of Italy, you're in Constantinople. The NPC's wear brighter clothes and have different accents, but it's the same game. The story doesn't go to any great lengths to suck you in either and a lot of the facets I enjoy, like buying/upgrading armor/weapons and the like, seems tacked on and doesn't hold any gameplay value.

It's a weird situation, if you played the other Creed titles, and loved them like I did, you're going to like this one too. I enjoyed it, but nothing new was added to my experience. Up until now each title added extras the previous one didn't, extras that added to the overall game. Any extras in Revelations are just kind of there. Like I said, it's a tried and true template, it's hard to go wrong with, but this will probably be my last Creed game unless they really add something new the overall experience the next time around.

As for storyline, well it's a bit convoluted but they do seem to be shooting for some kind of closure, wrapping up any loose ends for either of the main characters from the previous three games, Ezio and Altaîr. There aren't any cliffhangers for those two and you don't get the impression they'll be coming back. Now the other main character, without any spoilers I'll just say Desmond, is definitely poised for a return comeback down the road.

If you're a huge fan of the series, you've probably already picked this one up, if not, I suggest doing so. If you just looking for a great game and not planning to experience the whole Assassin's Creed universe, I would turn to the used aisle and pick up regular ole Assassin's Creed II.

Holiday Loot Haul

I had said that this moment was coming, and that moment is upon us my friends...the holiday loot wrap up! Thanks to the amazing Amazon wish list, the giving gifts to Mik season is much easier. It may take some of the fun out of it but when you have hobbies as specific as ours any ole random present won't do! That being said, I was still in store for many a surprise this holiday season, one of which I'm wearing at the big family Christmas dinner party over yonder to the left. All right, enough, on to the loot.


Legends of Anglerre is one of those books I've had on my wish list forever and just never saw myself actually getting. It's also one of those books I kind of need because we do so much with it, especially as of late. I get by with the PDF, but for roleplaying books I kind of prefer, well, a book. Needless to say, I was very happy to pick that one up. Next up is the Thundarr DVD boxed set. Thundarr! As a kid I loved Thundarr and as an adult gamer now there are so many nuggets and gems to extract from it, especially for post-apocalyptic settings. If you don't know about the world of Thundarr, Lords of Light! Get to it!

Assassin's Creed Revelations follows suit and since I just conquered all of Skyrim, it's pretty good timing. Having played a little bit so far though I can see why it got lackluster reviews, it's more of the same without anything new. Mind you, if you loved the previous Assassin's Creed games like I have, then it's no problem.

I got a mandolin book as well, though mandolin playing isn't something I blog about it is something that I do from time to time, and this book in particular has a bit of a personal connection as well, so I was quite happy to unwrap this one. I also got a movie, the New World. In this day of Netflix and cable and what-not it takes quite a bit for me to want to permanently add a movie to the collection, but this is one of those movies.



My wardrobe grew as well, including a Captain America shirt, a Green Lantern shirt (whose tag claims it glows in the dark), and a rockin' San Fransisco Giants ball hat. Finally would be a pair of Two Hour Wargames 5150 rulebooks, the pseudo-rpg/narrative skirmish game New Beginnings and the campaign/scenario book First Contact. New Beginnings at first glance looks incredibly detailed and is easily over two hundred pages. It seems to have a little bit of everything in it so you can make your games as detailed as you want. First Contact is basically a set of scenarios designed around a central narrative; rebels on Mars breaking away from their Earth benefactors. For what it is it looks cool.

That's it for the loot wrap up, which means this year is fast coming to a close. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, the third annual Year in Review. Until then, enjoy!

This and That

It's almost like I can kick back and let LEGO Thursdays do all the work for me! Unlike the break-neck end of the gaming year of 2010, the end of 2011 has a steady pulse, albeit a weak one.

There's still signs of life at Mik's Minis, not that *you* would know it though. I'm happy to report the game room is coming along quite well. When you're shouldering all of the work pretty much by yourself, not outsourcing it to a contractor, it's both slow going and not exactly professional. It might have something to do with the fact that production has been entirely to the tune of Miller Lite and Black Sabbath. Other than the slow going part I gotta say it looks pretty darn good. New paint, new carpet, the works. Now I need to start cramming it full again with gaming stuff!


I mentioned back during Thanksgiving that I was thankful for Skyrim. That still holds, but it's a double-edged sword you know? It's the type of game designed for a player like me from the ground up, but that means I can happily get lost in the tiniest morass of minutia for hours and hours and hours. Hours that should be put to finishing the game room!


I plopped a cover image of the Pathfinder RPG up top for a reason. It's no secret that Pathfinder is gaining momentum around many roleplaying tables as we speak so we jumped in just this evening. We played a very short introductory adventure with pre-generated characters, but it felt great. After looking through the core rulebook and the Inner Sea sourcebook I can say this is something I personally would like to visit again. As you can see, we've already made the adventuring party out of LEGO figs, so we're ready for more.

In other RPG news, we have a couple of sessions building a world for another campaign. We used the Microscope rules and had quite a ball with them. There is an excellent corkboard mockup of all of our work that can be found here. It was an easy process to get to know, and the world we made has a lot of promise, plus it spans such a gap chronologically there are many options in style and potential gameplay. FATE is a system we keep coming back too, and this future campaign, The Tainted Earth, is no different. We're kind of throwing convention out the window, so anything goes, such as my kilt-wearing Yeti bounty hunter armed with a necromantic energy rifle! Sculpt that one Eli!


I'm still posting leftover and prematurely hatched material to the Mik's Minis sister twitter account for those interested; cygnus46 is the username. Still just photos, still 95% gaming related, and still no text, just the way I plan to keep it.

Until next time!

I'm Thankful For...

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim!


The bulk of the work is done on the game-room remodel!


My big ole stack of paperbacks to read this holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Space Marine Review

A couple of days ago I reviewed the new Space Marine videogame over at Santa Cruz Warhammer. You can check out the full review here. Instead of just having a repeat post here, I'll just touch on some pros and cons here and if you're still interested head over to the Santa Cruz site for the whole enchilada.

Pros:

• easy button layout and simple controls
• tons of customization options
• quick and dirty multiplayer
• excellent job of capturing the 40K universe

Cons:

• a little repetitive after a while
• somewhat unengaged storyline
• lack of maps in multiplayer

Castle Crashin'

Sharpie and markers, photographed straight out of my sketchbook

A quick post today. Firstborn and I have been playing a lot of the excellent, excellent button-masher named Castle Crashers. Did I mention this game is excellent? Anyway, firstborn asked for some Castle Crasher art to adorn the bedroom door. How could I refuse? Here's one of the Barbarians, a staple antagonist in the game.

Space Marine Demo

Screenshots taken directly from my television screen...

I can't speak of the other platforms, but for XBox360'ers out there the demo version of the upcoming Space Marine is out. You can play to save-points, maybe missions but they seemed a little short. One mission is played as the Tactical Marine, the other as an Assault Marine. The quick and dirty breakdown is this; if you paint 40k and you play video games, you'll end up getting this game at one point or another.

Solid shooters are plentiful, let me repeat, PLENTIFUL on the 360 platform. In this respect Space Marine isn't going to give you anything special in that department, you've got better options out there. If you're not a tabletop 40k gamer, this title will still give you a cool storyline that is thought-out and very sci-fi in nature. The setting is rich and detailed with plenty of the grit and grime you would expect.


Where Space Marine shines is where you would expect it to...as a 40k action game. There's something very cool about playing a Space Marine and seeing them do all the things Space Marines do, but animated; running, chopping foes up with chainswords, speaking with serious accents, and the like.

In the first mission you and your battle-brothers find some fallen soldiers, Cadian soldiers! Painted up, err, digitized up to look just like...Cadians, cool! A servo-skull is scanning them and then comes up to the marines, verifies them, and displays a holo-message from an Inquisitor who is holed up and needs assistance. After that you forget the decent but not amazing gameplay, or the not-so-crisp graphics, you are in the 40k universe, bolter blazing.

A Festive Mikmas to You

It's very hard to believe that a year ago today I was posting news that we were going to have a new baby, and that it was my birthday to boot. Well that grape-sized, in utero critter from the ultrasound is now a six month old healthy boy, and me, your thirty six year old host, is now a thirty seven year old host.

As you can see from the birthday loot pile above, the girls know me pretty well. More on the UFO Abduction set later, having already built it though I must say it's pretty cool. As for L.A.Noire, I was pleasantly surprised especially since I hadn't even hinted towards it.

EDIT: Ironically enough, I'm not the only adult out there gaming, painting Space Marines, and getting cool Lego sets for their birthdays from the family, ahem, Sons of Twilight.

40k Kill Team

Released just yesterday is this pretty cool 40k based game called Kill Team. I downloaded the demo and played through one level of it and I can safely say it's worth the mere ten bucks to download the whole thing. I'm on the Xbox, but it's also available for you PS3 owners out there.


It's not going to give you a deep immersion into a world full of 40k goodness, but it is going to give you a fun romp mowing down hordes of Orks with a heavy bolter arcade style. The action is frenetic as you run around dispatching enemies with gun and sword alike, collecting power ups and health tokens old-school Gauntlet style.


I was pretty impressed at the game beginning where you can pick between Sternguard, Librarian, Vanguard, Techmarine, and more for character options (each one offering their own attacks and such). Also they gave you about half a dozen chapter choices to boot, I recall: Ultramarines, Blood Ravens, Blood Angels, White Scars, and Salamanders. They lose points in my book for not having Dark Angels in there, but so be it.


The coolest part of this 'mini' game is that it is a prequel to the full, robust, power-armored title Space Marine coming out...soon (but when?!?!?!). Kill Team takes place before the Ork Kroozer hits the Forge World spilling out its marauding greenskins on the surface. All of the adventure takes place inside the Ork's ship while it is hurtling that way.

It's a fun game, and if you enjoy the 40k franchise and universe, it will be nice to step into the boots of a real Space Marine doing what they do best. Even if you know nothing of 40k, it's a fun sci-fi shoot 'em up. The game itself is more of an action platformer, its controls will take some getting used to, but from what I played it was certainly enjoyable. Also, if you're into such things, achievements you unlock in Kill Team can carry over in Space Marine when it comes out, the power sword, for example, is one such item.

Updates 'n Such

Thanks to Lego Thursdays, I know there will be a post a week at the very least from me, however I'm used to having a post a day (or two). I have been quiet relatively speaking here and the pic above may indicate as to why.

You know my video gaming habits, I wait at least a year to play a title, that way it's a fraction the cost and there's enough reviews out there for me to make sure I'm not wasting time or money. I loved the first Assassin's Creed game though it was a bit repetitive. When the sequel came out, whoa, that took that ball and improved it by tenfold. Well I just played, devoured, and finished up the mini-sequel to Assassin's Creed II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

The sequel was better than the original, this follow-up was equally better than its predecessor. This is a good game, a fully interactive Rome is at your fingertips with a framework of a clever storyline and plot twists galore. It has a great voice cast, the gameplay is spot on, and it's visually stunning. I was immersed in it and before I knew it the game was over, but it wasn't short by any means. Frankly I left a lot of the side missions by the wayside, I could keep playing this one for a while, but I had bigger fish to fry.


Red Dead Redemption has everything Assassin's Creed has, but more of it. Oh, and you're a cowboy. There are times riding around on your horse you just stop and look around at the scenery, which has been beautifully captured and rendered. It is the most open world experience you can play without the uninteresting modern world of thieving autos in a grand fashion (though both games are made by the same folks).

I picked the above pic because currently in the game I'm trying to collect some cougar skins and they keep eating me alive! Plus, that's not a rendered image, but an in-game shot. This is a hard game to talk about, if you know about the game, you've already played it. If you've already played it, you know how awesome it is. I'm a bit let down as to the time period because it's fairly modern, 1910, I would have much more preferred a pre-electricity cowboy timeline. I also think they missed an opportunity with the weapons and could have named them for the actual historical firearms that they were, not just saying "Cattleman's revolver", "repeating rifle", and the like. This of course is nitpicking an otherwise flawless game.


It's not all videogames however. As you know we play a monthly Deathwatch game, it just started up actually. But we also game on a weekly basis with a slightly different group of players and mostly it's miniatures or boardgames. Every now and then the pendulum swings to roleplaying games however.

We're going to play a fantasy RPG using one of my favorite set of rules, the FATE system. Something we've done a lot with in the past. Within this framework we're going to use the Warhammer world as the setting.

This is a fairly old and well established setting, it's been around longer than you think. We're going to play something similar to 40k Dark Heresy agents, set within the human-centric Empire. As you can see from the borrowed pic on the left, I'll be playing a Halfling "entrepreneur" roguish type.

Thanks to the character creation session we had last night, I've got a lot of great hooks and background tidbits to work with. That's the good thing about FATE, everyone plays off of the input and idea of the group.

Well, that's about it for a quick update. I didn't even mention the new Blood Bowl team I've started playing!

Space Marine Videogame Dropping in This Summer

After finishing up a somewhat disappointing couple of runs of Dragon Age II I decided to give videogames a rest while I got some progress on miniatures projects. There are some titles coming out I'll be picking up however. Mass Effect 3 is at the top of a very short list, but also on there is the action-shooter, rpg-lite Space Marine. Just look at the above shot of a jump pack equipped trooper coming in from orbit. That is awesome.


The game set up has you entrenched on a Forge World against a Waaaagh! full of Orcs, however this pic gave me pause. Wielding the huge power hammer rocks in and of itself, but it seems that you'll be up against some forces of chaos as well, like the Bloodletters here. Where's there's Bloodletters I gotta imagine there's also going to be other four god goodness.


This is another iconic shot that really evokes the imagery of what it means to be one of the Emperor's Finest. A power armored super-human, his massive boltgun, and hordes upon hordes of the enemy bearing down on you.

The initial previews look promising, and the game play is a mix of third person shooter as well as action RPG. I don't know if you switch characters or just get different equipment along the way either. There are some mini-movie-like cut scenes that take place during combat too, sort of like finishing move. Once you trigger these the action slows down to bullet-time and what the developers call an "actionmatic" takes place. Mostly I've seen this in melee with the chainsword dispatching foes up close.

So that's a wrap, just thought I'd stick up some screenshots. The game looks cool, and it sounds like the developers are trying to do the control system justice, and we already know the genre and setting are cool, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for this one.

Gears of War 2

My trend for videogaming follows two models. First and foremost, I play one game at a time, and I play it to completion before moving on. This way you're not having to learn new control schemes all the time, and the way games are made today, it's a complete story usually with a definite beginning and a definite end. The second path of gaming I follow is that I end up playing them one to two years after their release date. What this means is I usually can pick up a great game, such as Gears 2, at a fraction of the $60 pricetag these things have when they are first released. Just last weekend I finished the story Gears of War 2.

The one side effect to reviewing games a year or so after their release is that people paid to review such games have already done the job for me! Check out Gamespot's review here. This leaves me free to just give my impressions.

I loved the first Gears of War, but the sequel far outshines the original. Whereas the Halo franchise is a very polished version of the future, broad in scope, the Gears franchise is down and dirty true military sci-fi. You have a good-sized arsenal of weaponry, but all of it feels "real", no plasma blasters or the like, just good ole slug-throwers and shotguns. A nice nod is also the chainsaw bayonet that your primary rifle comes equipped with. Remember, "realistic" is a relative term in the future!


Gameplay itself is at least twice as long as the original, and features new members to Delta Squad that are really cool, although their roles aren't as prominent this time around. Also a strong showing of characters from the first foray make a return appearance.


The action takes place on one planet with fighting both in urban and open areas, in city ruins as well as underground and much more. Levels where you're not ground-pounding it on foot are also prevalent. One has you in a Centaur Mobile Tank, another puts you on a slow-moving mobile drilling platform that you have to defend, at one point you're on some flying creatures duking it out speeder bike style, and there's some PT boat combat thrown in for good measure to boot. None of these sequences take away from the foot-slogging though, there's still plenty of that, including the 'choose which path to take' options that I enjoyed so much in the first one. Do you go through the ruined building one room at a time, or stay to the streets? Do you provide covering fire from the elevator as the other squad advances down into the earth, or are you the other squad? The terrain, if you will, is drop-dead gorgeous, and the various environments are all very detailed and well thought out.


The antagonist race, the Locust, is revealed tenfold, thickening the overall plot considerably. Their hierarchy, troop types, and most importantly, their origins are all revealed in pretty grandiose ways. You combat more of the hulking behemoths this time around as well, and when those emergence tunnels open up there's a real sense of dread because you've no idea what you're going to be facing.

I know Black Ops is "so hot right now", but if you were on the fence when GoW2 came out, it's less than twenty bucks now and is one of the best military sci-fi shoot 'em ups I've played. For the non-videogamers out there, just do an image search on GoW2, there's plenty of good terrain ideas to be had, not to mention a few good scenarios ideas as well.

The Four Faces of Gaming

Subdivisions aside, the gaming world of ours is distinctly broken down into four broad flavors; boardgaming, videogaming, roleplaying, and tabletop gaming. These aren't, however, divisional lines that demarcate and impose limits, just doorways to expand what you've been enjoying so much in one realm in a completely new and different way in another.

Warhammer 40k comes to mind first and foremost. You can be an avid player of Dawn of War, collect and paint your own army of 40k, roleplay in the 40k universe with any one of many options, and hearken back to the days of the Horus Heresy in the boardgame of the same name. As I type this, the Warhammer Fantasy universe lends itself even better to this example with Warhammer Online, WHFB, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and Chaos in the Old World.

You don't have to spend equal time in each category, indeed many don't and only the foolish or truly insane do (and I mean this in a good way), but the four faces of our gaming world remain nonetheless. You can prefer to leave a category (or two) out altogether as you see fit, but as gamers we never turn our backs on any of them even as our choices steer us in other directions. What strengthens in one category today only benefits the other three in the long run.