Another thing I've been mildly jealous about lately (and nobody should stress out - there is nothing wrong with a little mild jealousy every now and then) has been a regular game night among the same group of friends I went to the FAU game with on Saturday. What they do sounds fun, and I should round up a few people and do something similar. Man, if I only knew that some of my friends were Dark Angel nuts, then maybe I'd finally have people to help me remember what night it's on, on that night, and share the joy with me. But then again I'd miss D&D time with the Dragonslayers, who are generous enough to let me hang out and have a great time with them, even thought I don't play. It just hasn't been my kinda game.
Anyway, what this other group does is gather up on Tuesdays for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then some game playing afterward.
I just don't get enough game playing in my life.
Well, after the FAU game, these folks (I really do need to negotiate nicknames - I like Hundred Watt Grin for one, but am at a loss for good nicks for the others so far) took us back to the casa of the two I still don't know well enough to nichkname properly, and we played a round of Starfarers of Catan, English Edition.
At first, I started to suffer from New Game Syndrome. This is the highly uncomfortable feeling I get learning a new game when I don't get to read all the instructions beforehand. Unfortunately, a lot of my friends are of the learning type that do well when just thrown pell-mell into a new game without much preparation. I am not one of those. I loathe to make mistakes, and I really loathe lacking understanding, so some preparation is always a good idea for me.
Anyway, I had some of that at first, but the game mechanics were, as the other players promised, quite easy to catch onto, and it turned out to be a truly engaging game, depsite what the reviewer in my link said. Here's a nicer but less informative review, and some pictures to go along with it.
We stopped midway to chow down on some barbecue. Well, ok I supported my father - I had catfish. Then we got right back at it and finished up the game at a surprising 2 in the morning.
I hope we get to play Starfarers Tuesday*. Instead of the usual Game Night, the pair are throwing a pre-Halloween-party gathering, and since we have Sushi3k on Halloween, and therefore can't make the actual party, I plan on being at the pre-party thing.
The funny thing about the Halloween party and Sushi3K is that they were both egged on by Chaos, who was trying to get SOMEthing going for Halloween. Due to a communication glitch, both parties evolved independently.
Anyway, last night, Napalm and I went over to Alora, Musashi, and Wolv's house to hang out. Musashi was wanting to add a webcam to his site, and I just happened to still have the Logitch golf ball that the nudes were done with, so I took it on over. Intersposed with several fascinating conversations about body modification, amateur biochemistry, and interpersonal relations were several hands of Magic The Gathering, which I didn't play, onaconna the aforementioned New Game Syndrome. This is one incredibly complex game, and I hyperventilate just thinking about it, but I did watch for a little while.
Then The Sliver Queen and Yyrkoon showed up, and there was rejoicing, not just because they are popular and loved and all that, but also because there were now enough players to pull a game of Emperor. This is a variation in which the players form two teams, each team consisting of one emperor and two generals. There are rules that govern who may attack whom and when, but I missed a lotta that. I bounced back and forth, Smirnoff Ice in hand, between a nice nibbling spot on Napalm's neck, and the back-to-back episodes of The Practice that were showing on the FX network. I hope I didn't come off as rude. I really didn't mean to. It just wasn't my kinda game.
For the second night in a row, we got back home after 2 in the morning, and I slept like a stone. Even though our usual bedtime is 4 am, I was beat. Probably the Smirnoff Ice had something to do with it.
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* I just realized - it IS Tuesday. Well it is now. It's a whole 37 minutes after midnight.
