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Hello
My first post, so hope I'm following the right protocol.
Just to let you know, there's a bonkersmental new boardgame on the horizon. We just finished three years of work last night and sent it off to print - expecting the first copies in time for the Essen Toy Fair.
Proper press release coming soon, but in the mean time:
www.waronterrortheboardgame.com
And a sneak preview of the front of the box:
For a huuuuge jpeg, click here: http://www.waronterrortheboardgame.com/imgs/media/wotboxfron...
Cheers,
TerrorBull Games
Edit 18/07/06: Game record now created in the GBB database for War on Terror
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D Weimer
United States
Unspecified
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Looks absolutely deplorable, and I won't go anywhere near it, personally. But I had a look at the web site (slick), and I'll be interested to see what kind of comments come around on it.
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Dave Lartigue
United States
Springfield
Massachusetts
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So if I play it, it never ends and it allows me to do whatever I want to do?
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Josiah Fiscus
United States
Pittsburgh (Monroeville)
Pennsylvania
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Looks slipshod and offensive no matter which side of the war you are on. Even if you don't favor the war, why would you want to play a game that allowed you to be a suicide bomber? Deplorable.
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In response to "deplorable" - I understand the knee-jerk shock, but really, isn't the act of actual aggression (ie, killing people for whatever arbitary justification is in vogue at that moment) far more deplorable.
This game is firstly a reaction and secondly an attempted critique of current events. There's a far greater indepth commentary on how and why we made it here:
http://www.waronterrortheboardgame.com/thegame/history.php
and here:
http://www.waronterrortheboardgame.com/thegame/terrorism.php
Comments are genuinely welcomed.
And in response to what you're allowed to do in the game and it "never ending", well it's not called the long war for nothing!
But yes, pretty much, you're allowed to do almost anything: strike secret deals, barter, haggle, cheat, lie .... it's a pretty open game. We'll be posting full rules and card appendix on the website very soon.
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Nairb Attobas
United States
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
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Based on the vague information available thus far on the website, it doesn't sound so much like a game, rather a wacky form of social experiment.
In regards to the theme being offensive...
*shrug*
My satire detector was going off.
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Jonathan
United States
Maitland
Florida
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I expect a chorus of "how awful" comments. I'm ambivalent. If making a game about your take on world politics is something you want to do, that seems legitimate to me. I don't agree with you, I won't buy or probably even play your game, but I wouldn't want to censor it either. I think that "somewhere" there is a line where a boardgame pulls away from making a political point as in Up Against the Wall Mother-!%&#% and changes into Darkies in the Mellon Patch and Juden Raus, but I don't think this is it.
Boardgames, like books or art, resist bright line rules over what is and is not offensive, and everyone is going to have an opinion on where to draw the line. I find the whole topic to be in poor taste, but obviously others will differ.
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Ed Rozmiarek
United States
Liberty Hill
Texas
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Oh my.... from the web page:
Quote: Fun For All the Family
War on Terror, the boardgame, is unlike any boardgame you've ever played. It turns you against everything you hold dear - your friends, your family and even your own morals. Being a global power has never been so much fun.
Yep, that certainly sounds "Fun For All the Family".
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Paul DeStefano
United States
Long Island
New York
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jmw23 wrote: I don't agree with you, I won't buy or probably even play your game, but I wouldn't want to censor it either.
That's about where I stand. No way I'll play.
Of course, I also won't play Memoir '44 due to personally offensive subject matter, although the blood soaked violence of Conan CCG is fine in my eyes, so I'm probably not a good subject.
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Henry Chi
United States
Metuchen
New Jersey
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Looks like crap to me, but hope springs eternal. Maybe if you're lucky, people will be willing to throw away money to make a political point.
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Ken Bradford
United States
Fayetteville
Tennessee
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Uh...good luck with this. I fail to see how this won't be offensive to...oh... pretty much everyone, but as others have said I wouldn't censor it.
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Peter Schott
Germany
Nürnberg
Franconia
Please fondle my bum.
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Looks like really politically incorrect fun.
oh, how I love this. 
I preordered one right away 
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Alan Ray
United States
Casselberry
Florida
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I'll buy 10 copies personally... because when it is OOP 10 years from now it'll go for like $300 on ebay!
 Capitalism at its best.
And please... for all you people complaining out there about "oh my God the subject matter"... "I wont buy it because of the theme"... yadda yadda... seriously...
Maybe some folks had French royalty that got their heads chopped off and thus will not play Guillotine. Maybe some folks had some ancestors in WWII (as someone already mentioned) and thinks any games about WWII are shameful and disrespectful, etc...
My point is, everything is in the eye of the beholder. Have you ever noticed that the victors write the history books? I'm sure many people will not agree with the content of the boardgame and not buy it, but I'm sure some will see it as a political statement and buy it for that reason. Regardless, this is America and to some degree democracy is still intact here... Plus, I love Capitalism and creativity!
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Ken Bradford
United States
Fayetteville
Tennessee
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Luthien wrote:
Maybe some folks had French royalty that got their heads chopped off and thus will not play Guillotine. Maybe some folks had some ancestors in WWII (as someone already mentioned) and thinks any games about WWII are shameful and disrespectful, etc...
Time generally heals wounds for some--though not for all.
When I see this cutesy little cartoon cover, it's hard to reconcile with the images of dead soldiers and civilians on both sides, easily viewable on the news every night. Hell, the memory's not just fresh, it's still being made.
Maybe to best capture the theme, it should be played in a graveyard.
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Mark Crocker
United States
Westland
Michigan
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Also....Time wounds all heels.
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Richard Rutten
Netherlands
Nijmegen
the spunk plus the bomb plus the pump plus the torture instrument times frankie equalling the bang is an exclusive piece of ZTT exploitation
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You've certainly got my attention!
 When the rules are posted I'll decide if the game is worth owning. But I can barely resist pre-ordering it now.
Good to see there are still some people left who share my points of view and my sense of humor!  Keep on laughing!
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Alan Ray
United States
Casselberry
Florida
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franklincobb wrote: Luthien wrote:
Maybe some folks had French royalty that got their heads chopped off and thus will not play Guillotine. Maybe some folks had some ancestors in WWII (as someone already mentioned) and thinks any games about WWII are shameful and disrespectful, etc...
Time generally heals wounds for some--though not for all. When I see this cutesy little cartoon cover, it's hard to reconcile with the images of dead soldiers and civilians on both sides, easily viewable on the news every night. Hell, the memory's not just fresh, it's still being made.Maybe to best capture the theme, it should be played in a graveyard.
Agreed... I found the box cover somewhat odd myself. Maybe it was their way of downplaying the issue? Not sure. But, there are many things being played out right now. One example is gangs roaming the streets killing people. Crime gangs (ie - Blood feud in NY). My point is there are many present day events occurring where people are dying and games are being made out of them.
I do hope though that the game does not have any historical significance with regard to people dying like cards that read "Blow up WTC and get +5 points" or something like that. That'll irk me for sure.
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Gabe Alvaro
United States
Berkeley
California
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The theme looks pasted on.
Seriously though, your "playing the game" page seems to hint at some small promise of an actual game and not just a theme of the moment. I was kind of wondering when someone would take a shot at "mechanizing" the current state of world politics into a game. I just didn't think it would look like something out of MAD Magazine. I suppose that's probably a better approach to try and sell something than making a "serious" game with this theme. After all what do any of us really know about the War on Terror? It's not like John Stewart and the daily show aren't taking the same approach. Satire, we laugh because it would hurt too much to cry about it.
One more thing, it seems to me you are making a bold move by venturing onto BGG to advertise your new game. May I ask what your main target audience is? Are you targeting the main stream public with the satire of your product or are you really targeting the gamers here with a really good game?
P.S. I like the nod to Guernica in your logo.
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Greg Schloesser
United States
Talbott
Tennessee
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Every subject will be offensive to some. However, as others have said, soldiers and civilians are still being killed. This is not a past event -- it is a current struggle, and it is horrific. Making a light-hearted game about such a subject is, in my opinion, deplorable. Humor has its place, and in my opinion, it is NOT appropriate here.
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Ooooh, I can't wait to read more about this game (preferably the rules). The theme is absolutely brilliant and so are some of the card texts. How can anyone with at least some sense of humour be offended by this?
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pronoblem baalberith
United States
Pleasantville
Massachusetts
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happyjosiah wrote: Looks slipshod and offensive no matter which side of the war you are on. Even if you don't favor the war, why would you want to play a game that allowed you to be a suicide bomber? Deplorable.
The #3 ranked wargame has suicide bombers in it... they were called Kamikaze in WWII.
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Stephen Waits
United States
San Diego
California
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Wow, what a bunch of whining ninnies. I cannot say I'm surprised...
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Gabe Alvaro
United States
Berkeley
California
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I agree. The actual "War on Terror" is what is offensive (literally).
Lajos wrote: Ooooh, I can't wait to read more about this game (preferably the rules). The theme is absolutely brilliant and so are some of the card texts. How can anyone with at least some sense of humour be offended by this?
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Josiah Fiscus
United States
Pittsburgh (Monroeville)
Pennsylvania
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To be clear, I am a Libertarian. I DO NOT think this game should be banned, censored, whatever. And I am not in favor of this war. But the satrie seems to make light of our soldiers, not who fought and died, but who are fighting and are dying. Additioally, wargames about WWII or whatever are not done in a satirical way. Making a 60 year old political point doesn't make much sense. Bottom line, I don't want to play this game, strictly because of its theme. When the war is over, I might consider it, but by then it wont be that funny and its satire irrelevant, wouldn't you say?
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blindspot wrote: The theme looks pasted on. ... One more thing, it seems to me you are making a bold move by venturing onto BGG to advertise your new game. May I ask what your main target audience is? Are you targeting the main stream public with the satire of your product or are you really targeting the gamers here with a really good game?
I can assure you the theme and game are as entwined as they possibly can be. Seriously, we've been at this for 3 years. If we wanted to rush something out, capitalise on the shock factor and grab our 15 seconds of fame, we would've done that back in 2003 with a game that was perfunctory.
Our audience, we feel, is broader than the hardcore gamer crowd. We wanted to say something, but at the heart of it we wanted to make a really good game too. After all, what's the point of delivering a great message when the vehicle is rubbish and will never get played (apologies for mixing metaphors).
We'll probably receive our harshest criticism in these forums because you're all probably more experienced gamers than we are. However, we've tested it to death amongst friends and strangers; we've blind tested it across age groups and generally covered a decent range of demographics. Ultimately, you'll be the judge of how good the game is, but personally I've never had so much fun round a board. I know I invented it, but this has been echoed by other (non-affiliated) people too.
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Posted Tue Jul 11, 2006 2:26 pm
