Hi Eric,
Happy Geek of the Week week geek.
You state that for you, games are not more important than literature, movies and music. Particularly in your styles of interest, who do you think have been some of the most influential figures in these three areas? What do you think have been the most influential works?
Why?

If your music dates you how I expect it does you must be approximately mid thirties. Is that true?

You have rated a lot of games. Some of the games that are rated well below their average include: Empire builder, Iron Dragon (you descibe as fantasy empire building) and Cosmic Encounter (though I have never played it I understand that this is sci fi empire building).
Do you think empire building games are often overrated? Do you dislike empire building games in general or are there aspects of empire building games that you see as essential that these three just don't have?
Also you have a few games that you rate far higher than the average. They are often games that you describe along the lines of silly but fun/beer and pretzels.eg Wiz-War, Lie Cheat and Steal, Block Mania, King's Breakfast etc. Do you find light games are generally underrated in your opinion on BGG? Are there any common factors (eg no downtime, tense but fast, comical etc) to the light games that you find "fun as hell" (King's Breakfast comment) or do they all have very individual factors that make them favourites?
Are your comments on Louis XIV, Shadows over Camelot, Traumfabrik or Wallenstein needing an update or have you still only played them once each?

For those interested in catching up on past Geeks of the Week here is a handy forum list:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/84208
Thanks to Woundwart

Thanks for the honor, Mike. Wow, a lot of questions! I'll start with just the first batch. I tend to be long-winded so I hope this remains interesting.


We host a game day at our house once a month with our regular group, which is about twenty people strong. Most are longtime friends so it just grew out of that. The male/female mix is about even. Few are serious enough to frequent BGG. Usually, we have two tables of lighter games and one ‘heavier’ one. I do both during the course of the day.

Visits from our friends Clark and Lisa or my sister Isabel and her boyfriend Mason always end up in a mini game night, too. I’ve started to attend some outside local events to play new games, but I haven’t done a convention (stayed there) in about fifteen years.


Christina likes Lost Cities, LOTR: The Confrontation, Mystery Rummy #1 and especially Kahuna. Samurai, Carc: The Castle, and Ticket To Ride also get a lot of play. She plays lighter fare on the game nights (lately, a mid-session Werewolf game has become the norm and she's a fan). She's a 6 Nimmt! and Geschenkt fiend at the moment.

My kids love games but that's at least partly because of my programming. It’s a wonderful way to spend time with them and a good motivator - “Finish your spinach now and we’ll have time for half a Die Macher game before bedtime!" The real challenge is that my son is ready for light euros but my daughter, at 4 1/2, really isn't. She just wants to play Pretty Pretty Princess (which I've contemplated a bit - http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listi...), Gulo Gulo and Pitchcar. She regularly crushes us in all three.


That is a combination of things. First, I am willing to give a game that seems lousy (like games based on other media) a go. Second, I rate kids’ games for adults and then say something like ‘double the score for kids’ or some such.

Lastly and most significantly, I am 'selective' (others might say 'picky' but don't listen to them). I rate based on my preference, not necessarily the quality of design. Power Grid, for example, is a well-designed game I don't like so I rate it pretty low.

A game I rate a 7 is a very good game I play regularly. A 5 is a good game I play once in a while. Perhaps my perception is a bit off from the ratings here but I reserve high ratings for the ones I really like.


Yes, it's an obscure character from Spenser's Faerie Queene.

No, no - only joking. But I wonder if I'd have gotten away with that one In all honestly, it is just a made-up nickname from a long time ago - although Dave Arnott simply didn't believe me when I told him that at the last SoCal Gamesday. Ah, well.


At Disney, there were Magic players but I'd dropped that long before. A group at Imagineering (the folks who make the theme parks) invited me to play Settlers once but I never made it over. One guy in my division proposed doing PC ports of Euro games since we were trying to branch out to non-Disney stuff (family-friendly Euro themes sounded good). Never went anywhere. At my current job, I've never done any gaming, although I do BSW from a local i-cafe and play with some of my normal group at lunch sometimes.

Writing - mostly spec and demo writing these days since my primary job is to lead a group of production teams but at Disney, there was a lot of creative work. These days, I focus my creative energy on novels and game design.

How long ago did you drive the 210? It gets worse every year. I have a Prius, so I get to use the carpool lane.

I mostly listen to books on tape but podcasts, too. BOT help me fill in gaps in my reading history. I mean, honestly, in the modern day – does anyone have time to read the lesser novels of Thomas Hardy or Henry James?

Board game podcasts are the norm but I’ve heard some others recently. Nothing amazing yet but The Ricky Gervais Show is funny enough to be more of a threat to my driving safely than recording a podcast.

I especially like the ones mentioned above plus The Vintage Gamer. Some are still finding their voice (mine included). I prefer those focused on board games as I don’t do wargames or RPGs.

Okay, now the podcast stuff...


Not long. Sometime after Mark Johnson called for more board game content in podcasting, I thought 'why not?' I have no illusions about this being anything but a bit of fun for me, although I appreciate all the nice people who have expressed that they like the show.

Fairly easy. Mark told everyone listening to his show how to do it - and cheaply. I've directed some questions to Mark himself and he's been very supportive and helpful. I was concerned about the time commitment but that is why I wanted to record while commuting (which I also thought was kind of funny).

A lot of people have expressed concern, which I found amusing. Don't worry - I start the recording before getting on the road and then don't stop it until I get home from driving slowly in the carpool lane. I don't think it is any worse than talking to a person while driving.

I actually recorded more than fifteen shows on the road before publishing anything and the first episode is the only one I've allowed out. I've re-recorded a few but feedback I received encouraged me to switch to recording while not in motion. Having notes is helpful in keeping things straight. I might go back to recording in the car for session reviews if I can't find time to sit down and record. We'll see.

Members of the Burgess Family are just yakkers. I restrict the length of the shows a lot because I blather on too much. The Guilty Pleasure show was twenty minutes longer but I chopped it because I thought it was too long. I do a fair amount of editing and was once told that I overdid it so much that I sounded like I was on crack (that was Arnott again...) I believe that had to do with me cutting pauses too much to cut the show length. I think it's better now.

Oh, it's probably been overdone but who cares? That said, if she does come on, it will be on a multi-guest show with some other women from the group.

Absolutely. I've got at least three shows planned to bring in other voices. Planning the time has been the issue but it will happen soon.

Nope on all three counts.

I believe it is a good development. Internet users have become accustomed to information management anyway so they can sort through and listen to the shows that interest them. As long as shows are properly identified, it is fine. My show is less popular when I talk about lesser known games but that's okay. They are there in the archives if someone decides later that they want to hear it because they ran out of better content.

I have no angle other than I am probably on the more casual gamer end of things than most and I veer off on other subjects when the mood strikes. I hate to sound so cavalier but I'm not too concerned about it. I liberally borrow from Boardgames To Go's format because I think it works. While I know Mark is encouraging everyone to do their own thing, I figure it will work itself out. As long as I'm having fun, I don't worry much about what other shows are doing.

I never looked at the numbers until I was asked about it by a publisher who wanted to send me a game to review but I now know it is growing nicely. The latest show has quickly shot past 500 listeners, which sounds good to me. No idea how that compares to the others.

Yes - just go ahead and do it. I think the community still wants more content. If you have an angle, more's the better. I do think recording a number of shows before releasing one is a good idea, just so you get used to the format. Of course, it came to me pretty easily. I've been told I sound immensely natural while talking to an answering machine. I choose to accept that as a compliment.


Wow, you're going to take all my content for the missing BGB Volume 2 - which I'd planned as a background show. Maybe I'll hold off on that one until the podcast unless there is overwhelming public demand.

People have been very generous with praise and it is always nice to hear. I really appreciate your comments - especially as I greatly admire your work (more GameKultur, please).

SHEYLON!

1)I've been wondering this for a while. What's your avatar? Is it from a game? It looks like it's from a Bullwinkle cartoon or something. Inform us!

2)You rate Lord of the Rings a 10! Please tell us why in exactly 5 words.

-Burke

Eric,

Congratulations on being chosen Geek of the Week. I was born in Los Angeles and raised out in San Dimas. Now I am in the somewhat less hospitable climate of Washinton, DC. Which is a long way of saying, I wish I was there.

Anyway, on to the brutal grilling . . .

1) You mention that you don't like games that run too long. Yet on your current hot 10, you list Caylus, Reef Encounter and Rail Road Tycoon. All three are pretty meaty offerings. Is your tolerance for longer games on the rise?

2) I love Disney, but I also root for the Empire in the Star Wars films. Growing up in Southern California, it was an integral part of my childhood. You worked there. Is Disney as cynical a corporation as it is often portrayed in various venues?

3) Who is America's greatest living writer?

4) You mention politics as a hobby. You live in a state (and in a part of a state), that by my estimation, is almost universally unconcerned with the goings on in Washington. However, Californians are very socially and environmentally conscious relative to a lot of other states. What is the disconnect? Is it as simple as geography?

5) What is you unpublished novel about?

6) Comic Books or Graphic Novels?

7) Do you think that there is a better hamburger than an Inn & Out hamburger and if so, where can it be found?

8) I see you are a fan of Entourage. Me too. If there was an Aquaman movie starring Adrian Grenier, would you be tempted to go see it?

9) What's your favorite game to play with your kids?

10) What novel have we not read, that just cries out to be made into a game?

Jason

Congrats on becoming Geek of the Week. I note that you are a fellow XTC fan - bounus question - fav album or track? (I wish Aldie would fix the search on letters so that you could click on XTC, U2 etc)

Fourteen questions some of which are a bit heavier – but I like hearing answers to those sort of things as I think they’re revealing of other aspects of a person’s thinking. Apologies if this takes you a half hour to answer.

As usual the first 10 are general: 5 are games related and 5 aren’t. The last 4 are just a bunch of stuff that I’m interested in.

1. Do you enjoy Party Games once in a while? If so which ones have done it for you? Do any deserve more than 5 in ratings terms?
2. You don’t seem to be much into wargames. Are there any that you are keen to play that you haven't yet got to - and why those ones?
3. Which 5 games would you say were the most pure fun you ever played? You can define “fun” in anyway you feel is right.
4. Paths of Glory? Was it really as bad as all that? Did you have someone playing with you who knew the game well?
5. Are there any kids’ games that deserve to be rated higher than they are and why? Are there any you’d like to try out and maybe bring the kid out in yourself?
6. Which are the most interesting places you have visited, and where would you most like to go in the future (apart from Essen)?
7. Should the melting glaciers of Greenland keep us all awake at night? …Where do you stand on the whole global warming issue? Is it the biggest problem facing mankind which some folks are choosing to ignore at their peril or a colossal red-herring that gets way too much media-coverage?
8. What are the best 10 albums of all time?
9. Which three characteristics in a person do you most like and dislike?
10. Who were your 5 greatest people of the 20th Century? Name 10 if you really want to.
11. Is there any type of comment on BGG that really tends to get you particularly frothing at the mouth or keen to unleash some invective? (aside from this question  )
12. Do you ever feel that Euro game design is getting a bit stale these days? Have you ever groaned either aloud or inside when you’ve seen yet another game with the same mechanic you’ve played scores of times already? Name names if you like!
13. Which films and songs bring a tear to your eye?
14. When have you been most scared in your life? I mean really scared.

Congratulations Sheylon! I really enjoy your podcast.

A few questions:

1. I think it's great that your favorite music ranges from My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult to Red House Painters. Do you still like TKK? While in my industrial phase, I liked their early pseudo-Satanic stuff, but once they went off on the disco/trash tangent I kind of stopped following them.

2. What, if anything, do you think of Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon's Modest Mouse covers album?

3. What is the name of the band that does the theme music for your podcast again? Do you know them personally?

4. It seems like you really must have been into 4AD back in its heyday. Were there any 4AD bands that you disliked? What are your favorite labels these days?

5. Can you expound a bit on why you rate Torres a 5?

Eric -

Congratulations on being Geek of the Week! It is such a well deserved honor for you.

I was wondering -

1. You mentioned that your an unpublished novelist. How many novel's have you written? Can you tell us a little about the first one you wrote? What was it about? What was your inspiration for writing it?

2. You mentioned that the Burgess family is a bunch of Yakkers. Can you tell us a little bit about your family and where you inherited your tendancies from?

Thanks!

You mentioned being an RPGer in an earlier life. What games did you play (any favorites)?



What is your most memorable RPG moment?




What is your most memorable boardgaming moment?