How many games does it take for a PhD student to graduate...?
tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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So, Here I am. About to "graduate" in a few days (if everything goes according to the plans).
It took me a while to finish that damn dissertation, but oh boy... a lot happened during these past 5 years. And not just studying my books... oh no. I met a few people... and I play... a few games.
2718 played games to be precise
of 144 different games
which correspond to 1.56 game per day... 
So, here is my story, about my 5 years of study and ... gaming. 
EDIT: Ok, I finally passed my final examination. It went very well, and I can finally get the "Dr." title in front of my name. not that it really matters anyway...
Thanks all for your support.
tom.
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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2004, august 15th.
This is the time I arrived in the USA, FL. I previously got my Masters in Burgundy, France, where I left my family, friends and foe. Yes, that was a big decision, leave home for an unknown future. I had the opportunity to do my PhD overseas, a unique chance that you don't get twice in your lifetime... so I took it, and here I am.
The first few month were tough. I didn't know anyone, we were in a small research center, far away from everything... and only 3 students around. I ended up sharing a room with one of the other student. Wrong move. Not a fun guy, politically opposite of me, alcoholic, and not a gamer at all.
But we had an internet connection. which probably saved my sanity. Because of the time difference with France, I couldn't talk with my friends and familly at night, so I ended up going on game sites to survive from infinite boredness. Days of Wonders website to be more accurate.
I already knew Gang Of four for more than a year , which was the game that made me come back to boardgaming. So it was logical that I would continue playing the game that I liked so much at the time.
So here we go... During the nights of my first 3 month in the USA, I spent most of my time playing GOF...
Game played of GOF between August 2004 and May 2009: 359
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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In the mean time, I was also playing my other favorite game online: the Queen's Necklace, which I still consider in my top 5 all time favorite.
I have been able to keep contact with some of my previous game group members when I was in France, and meeting them online to play this game from time to time was nice.
Games of QN played between August 2004 and May 2009: 93
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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October 2004.
I started making friends around me. I got along very well with one of my female co-worker, and she invited me several time at her place.
One time, I took with me my copy of TTR, a game that just came out and that I enjoyed on the DOW online gaming (yes.. DOW again). We played it and she liked it.
So we started playing online together at night, from are respective apartments. maaaany games.
And so we started dating.
Games of TTR (including 1910 expansion and other versions) played between August 2004 and May 2009: 249
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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February, 2005.
And so we moved together in a new apartment. With her cat. She officially became my "Charming Roommate", and I never came back to my previous apartment, with the other student that I couldn't get along.
Since Charming Roommate was ok playing with me, I started to build a small collection of games that I though she would like. Carcassonne, Lost cities, Kahuna, Alhambra... and we usually played every night after diner.
Games of Carcassonne (including many expansion) played between August 2004 and May 2009: 87
Games of Lost cities played between August 2004 and May 2009: 140
Games of Kahuna played between August 2004 and May 2009: 10
Games of Alhambra played between August 2004 and May 2009: 11
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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Although Charming Roomate and I were usually gaming on regular basis on the dining table, we also played many multiplayer games online, (including GOF and TTR, see above). I also introduced her to BSW, where we played many other games.
It was a good alternative when we were too lazy to actually set up the board.
Games of Ingenious played between August 2004 and May 2009: 225
Games of Ligretto (Dutch Blitz) played between August 2004 and May 2009: 135
Games of Diamant played between August 2004 and May 2009: 66
Games of San Juan played between August 2004 and May 2009: 35
Games of Transamerica played between August 2004 and May 2009: 21
Games of 6 Nimnt (Category 5) played between August 2004 and May 2009: 18
Games of Schrille Stille played between August 2004 and May 2009: 14
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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At the time, I registered to BGG. I was previously registered (since 2003) on Tric Trac, the main french website for gaming, and both website helped to stay aware about "what's new?" in the gaming world.
With BGG, I aslo started to look for "game groups" that I could join in my area. My Charming Roomate didn't mind gaming with my from time to time, but she is not a gamegeek, not as much as I am at least. I also wanted to try heavier games, and for this, I need to find an experiences game group.
I found a group, close to PalmBeach, about 1h away from where I lived. I didn't have a car, which was a problem. I finally got the chance to find a member in my area that gave me a ride many times.
The host of this gamegroup was
Paul Sauberer
United States
Hendersonville
Tennessee
which many of you may know here as an active member of BGG.
A wonderful host, with a nice game collection, and a nice active group.
I went to his sessions many times in 2005 and it allowed me to try many games that I would have never get a chance to play overwise. I started buying more and more games, to expend my collection, and I reached a small collection of 25 games by then end of 2005.
Unfortunatly, the person who was giving me a ride moved away from Florida. I ended up being in the impossibility to joined the palmbeach group... which was a bit frustrating for me.
Game played of Puerto Rico between August 2004 and May 2009: 24
Game played of Samurai between August 2004 and May 2009: 16
Game played of Reef Encounter between August 2004 and May 2009: 7
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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After seeing so many games at paul's place, I continued to buy more games. Crokinole was in my wishlist and I got it for my birthday. a great present!
by the end of 2006, my game collection reached about 45 games.
Game played of Crokinole between August 2004 and May 2009: 69
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8.
Board Game: Bang!
[Average Rating:6.76 Overall Rank:448]
tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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With all these games, and no group to play around (although Charming roomate continued playing with me 2-player games), I decided to talk about my hobby to some of young people in my research center. There was a couple of post-doc from Germany, so I invited them a few times... and I taught them about eurogames
 . They immediately loved it and they started bringing some of their friends to my place. we quickly ended up a decent size group of young people (25-30 year old), including, 2 germans, 1 indian, 1 jamaican, 1 american and 1 french.
We had a lot of fun and played many different games. This was the beginning of my "Thursday sessions" which is still currently going on.
Game played of Bang between August 2004 and May 2009: 16
Game played of Jungle Speed between August 2004 and May 2009: 45
Game played of Powergrid between August 2004 and May 2009: 14
Game played of Pickomino between August 2004 and May 2009: 14
Game played of Tsuro between August 2004 and May 2009: 12
Game played of Yspahan between August 2004 and May 2009: 10
Game played of Through the desert between August 2004 and May 2009: 7
Game played of Werewolves of Miller's Hollow between August 2004 and May 2009: 7
Game played of Carolus Magnus between August 2004 and May 2009: 5
Game played of Citadels between August 2004 and May 2009: 5
Game played of Bohnanza between August 2004 and May 2009: 4
Game played of Shadows over Camelot between August 2004 and May 2009: 3
Game played of Roborally between August 2004 and May 2009: 3
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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In 2007, Charming Roomate couldn't stand living in the appartment any longer. Rent was expensive (South florida!), bad neighborhood.. enough to make her take a decision.
So she bought a house. And I followed her (of course). We spent time fixing stuff, we also had a decent size backyard, so I started landscaping a bit and I ended up spending a huge amount of time designing a great butterfly garden (which I am very proud of).
In the mean time, I aslo kept contact with my parents, and I usually had a game of scrabble with my dad, every Sunday, via internet.
Game played of Scrabble between August 2004 and May 2009: 45
Game played of Papillons between August 2004 and May 2009: 8
Game played of Boggle between August 2004 and May 2009: 19
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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Since we had a nice butterfly garden, I aslo decided to keep some space for outdoor games. always good to have when it is nice outisde during BBQ parties.
I decided to build a Molkky, and I don't regret it. Many people who came to our house played it, loved it, and made their own. A great game that we are still playing regularly.
Game played of Molkky between August 2004 and May 2009: 142
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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An other group started to advertise around my area. I joined them on saturdays, and I got to meet many experienced and nice gamers in my area. We've been keeping on gaming on saturdays, at different places, depending on who was willing to host. The original organizer is no longer active, but we kept meeting regularly. I ended up playing dozens of new games, and these sessions made me want more games in my collection...
We rarely played the same game, so it was a good opportunity for me to get my "fix" in term of new stuff.
Game played of Caylus between August 2004 and May 2009: 30
Game played of Agricola between August 2004 and May 2009: 12
Game played of Galaxy Trucker between August 2004 and May 2009: 12
Game played of Colosseum between August 2004 and May 2009: 7
Game played of In the Year of the Dragon between August 2004 and May 2009: 5
Game played of Pillar of the Earth between August 2004 and May 2009: 5
Game played of Brass between August 2004 and May 2009: 4
Game played of Tribune between August 2004 and May 2009: 4
Game played of Cavum between August 2004 and May 2009: 3
Game played of Imperial between August 2004 and May 2009: 2
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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My PhD study was going well. (yeah, I actually was doing my research beside gaming). I started to accumulate a lot of results and my supervisor advised me to start publishing. So I got quite busy with my work, but I still attended the Saturday sessions at the local group, and I also kept hosting my Thursday group. Unfortunatly, the germans left the US, the Jamaican got a boyfriend, so only left was the indian guy, charming roomate and me.
This is when we got a new japanese post-doc at the lab. 10 days after he arrived the US, he was already a permanent member of my thursday game group.
We also played at work, during lunch break.
Game played of Hey? that's my fish! between August 2004 and May 2009: 57
Game played of Metropolys between August 2004 and May 2009: 35
Game played of Hive between August 2004 and May 2009: 19
Game played of Mr. Jack between August 2004 and May 2009: 19
Game played of Dungeon Twister between August 2004 and May 2009: 4
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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Unfortunatly, my Japanese buddy didn't stay long. But another masters student arrive at the center. It was Brian... and I actually dedicated a geeklist to brian, because he turn out to be my main game partner until last month... we really had some great time., please see this geeklist for details.
He attended all my Thursday sessions, and we actually came to my place earlier to play many games of Race for the galaxy, Battlelore, Arkham Horror... together. that was the best time. He actually motivated me to paint all my Battlelore set, which led me to the creation of the Ultimate Battlelore Gallery.
Game played of Race for the Galaxy between August 2004 and May 2009: 221
Game played of Battlelore between August 2004 and May 2009: 75
Game played of Pandemic between August 2004 and May 2009: 45
Game played of Fairy tale between August 2004 and May 2009: 27
Game played of Arkham Horror between August 2004 and May 2009: 22
Game played of Kaleidos between August 2004 and May 2009: 20
Game played of Vikings between August 2004 and May 2009: 17
Game played of Oregon between August 2004 and May 2009: 14
Game played of Shogun between August 2004 and May 2009: 12
Game played of Small World between August 2004 and May 2009: 9
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tom-le-termite
United States
ft lauderdale
Florida
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And so, here I am, May 2009. Many games in the past 5 years, with many great people. But time to graduate is coming, finally. My dissertation is written, I will defend it this Wednesday May 27th, and by the end of the summer, I will no longer be a student (which I was since 1998)...
To finish this list, this is a summary of all the other games I played less than 5 times during the past 5 years...
Quote: Attribute, King's Breakfast, Ghosts!, Kakerlaken-Poker, Origo, Terra, That's Life!, Caylus Magna Carta, Cleopatra and the Society of Architects,Poison, Polarity, The Scepter of Zavandor, Take it Easy!, Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization, Wealth of Nations, 1870, 1960: The Making of the President, Adam & Eva, Amun-Re, Attika, Autoscooter,Ave Caesar, Can't Stop, Cartagena, Cry Havoc, Cuba, Dancing Eggs, eBay Electronic Talking Auction Game, El Capitán, Fearsome Floors, Feurio!, Fist of Dragonstones, Flaschenteufel, Glory to Rome, Guillotine, Hare & Tortoise, Igel Ärgern, Keythedral, King's Gate, Kingdoms, Loopin' Louie, Louis XIV, Mancala, Manoeuvre, Meuterer, Modern Art, Niagara, Oltre Mare, Once Upon a Time, Perikles, Petits meurtres & faits divers, Pick Picknic, Power Grid - Italy/France, The Princes of Florence, Railroad Tycoon, Revolution: The Dutch Revolt 1568-1648, Saint Petersburg, San Marco, Serenissima, The Settlers of Catan, Shear Panic, Sleuth, Strozzi, Struggle of Empires, Sylla, Tichu, Tigris & Euphrates, Tikal, Torres, TransEuropa, Ubongo, Vinci, Vino, Wat'n dat!?, Web of Power, Wooly Bully.
A chapter of my life is about to end, but there sure is more to come. Charming roomate also started her own PhD program, and won't graduate until 2011. Moreover, with the housing market crashing, we cannot move out from our house... so we are kinda stuck here. After discussing with my PhD supervisor, he accepted to keep me in his lab as a post-doc, at least until Charming Roomate is done with her own degree.
So for the next few years, I will still be around, working... and gaming... 
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St. Albert
Alberta
Velp
Gelderland
ft lauderdale
Florida
I just got my coffee, ironed my suit, ready to go to work and face my commitee!
Montjoie!
Shelton
Connecticut
I just got my coffee, ironed my suit, ready to go to work and face my commitee!
Montjoie!
Good luck!
ft lauderdale
Florida
Thanks all for your support, It was great to share this experience with you all.
tom.