17 of us (though you'll only find 16 in the ratings). 22 games played. Air conditioning works fine.

If any Austin regulars are definitely going to GenCon, please let me know. I need someone to pick up a small package from someone in the dealer's room. Thanks.

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Possible Change in RussCon Report:

The RussCon Management, in its endless pursuit to provide high quality infotainment to you, the RussCon Consumer, is considering a change in the weekly report format. The report could be more nicely formatted and include nicer crosslinking to past reports etc.; pictures, diagrams, visual aids; and similar nonsense if done as an html page. I would not want to email that out, however, since it would be bulkier as well as being unreadable by many people's mail readers. I would instead simply mail a brief weekly email notifying you, the RussCon Consumer, about the existence of the latest edition when it is "put to bed" (as we intrepid reporters sometimes say), complete with a link to the web page where the hypothetically spiffier document would reside. I assume here that we all have easy access to a web browser when reading our email. This scheme would also save me the minor trouble of preparing the plain ASCII version for email as well as the html version for the web page. (For those who don't know, all 2.5 years' worth of back issues of the RussCon Report are on the web as html documents.)

Does anyone have preferences in this matter? Am I safe in assuming we all have web access? I suspect most folks have a very strong feeling of "Uh, I dunno, whatever" about this, but if not, let me know. If nobody minds, I will probably start doing it this proposed way. Or if just one person minds but 10 people say "Yes! If you do that I will pay you $1000!" Or, well, you get the idea.

=====

Most Played Games Contest Results:

There were 6 entries. The contest stretched over 2 weeks, so I used the game data from the time of the contest's announcement.

Marty wins! His list was:

Bluff (Bluff is #1, I'm betting)
Settlers
Euphrat & Tigris
Medici
Guillotine

He is correct except for reversing the frequency of Medici and Guillotine. Most impressive! Also, he said "I'll go with 260 different game titles recorded and 1850 games total played." This is remarkably close to the truth (271 and 1839). One must wonder if he used Mechanical Aids in compiling these results, but referring to past Reports and published data was not ruled out.

It is perhaps surprising that Euphrates and Medici made the top 5 since they're not played much lately, but old-timers will remember those 2 were very popular for a long time. Perhaps they deserve a revival.

The official scores for the top 5 contest (your score is the number of inserts and deletes needed to make your list into the correct list -- the number in parentheses is the number of correct games on the list, ignoring order):

Marty 2 (5)
Jeffles 7 (2)
Daniel 8 (2)
MikeB 8 (1)
William 8 (2)
Wendy 8 (1)

Marty 1 (5)
Daniel 7 (2)
Jeffles 7 (2)
William 7 (2)
MikeB 8 (1)
Wendy 8 (1)

Honorable Mention to Jeffles and WendyWhe for thinking of Brawl, which was the 6th most-played game. Special Red Bear Award to Jeffles for obvious reasons.

Thanks to all our lovely contestants! We're all winners, really. Group hug.

In order of arrival here were the contestants:

-----Daniel:

Settlers of Catan (because it was THE game for a long while)
Bluff (because when don't we play it, the ok just one more game before Russ kicks us out game)
Raj (cause its wacky enough and too damn short and I am sure I lost at least 1000 games of it on the 2 or 3 nights I have played it)
De... (that pastel camel game, why not it has to be something)
Can't Stop (because I can stop thinking about this)

Number of games played (as the limit of Raj approaches infinity) 2732.

Number of different games played 121 (the science of my answer is too complicated to go into, but it does feel a lot better to have that number out of my ass).

What is the musical theme of the evening?

Who is the devil?

Who is the vice-devil?

Who wins the dedicated award?

And...uh...that pastel camel game!
(Bet you thought I was going to say Iron Dragon!)

No, change the last one to Settlers of Cataan. I can remember its name.

Bluff
Brawl
Aquire
Settlers of Catan
HoneyBears

300 different games, and no I don;'t really think HoneyBears.. but but. MUST GUESS HONEYBEARS If I were to really guess then I'd say HONEY BEARS! Must NEVER waver in dedication to the RED BEAR WHO WILL WIN IT ALL!!!!!

Um, excuse me I didnt sleep well last night.

I'd be happy to help with the game table.

I'm SURE we CAN think OF a balanced AWARD

Bluff (Bluff is #1, I'm betting)
Settlers
Euphrat & Tigris
Medici
Guillotine

I'll go with 260 different game titles recorded and 1850 games total played.

Settlers
Bluff
Frank's Zoo
Bohnanza
Acquire

1. Brawl
2. Can't Stop
3. Acquire
4. Some train game, I'll say Union Pacific
5. Bluff

=====

Most Played Games:

Here are the current data of the most played games. These are all games that have been played 10 or more times:

10 Dampfross
10 Exxtra
10 LetzteParadies
10 Money
10 ResPublica
10 Rheinlaender
11 AufHellerUndPfennig
11 Cosmic
11 Montgolfiere
12 Fluxx
12 HighSociety
12 HookOrCrook
12 Rainbows
12 SchottenTotten
12 Zero
13 Survive
13 Vampire
14 Bohnanza
14 LastChance
14 ModernArt
15 GhostParty
15 Kahuna
16 MississippiQueen
16 TrainsportAustria
18 ElGrande
18 Ra
19 HoneyBears
19 LostCities
21 QuoVadis
21 UnionPacific
22 Frank'sZoo
23 Elfenland
25 MoleHill
26 DurchDieWueste
26 Fight
26 Loewenherz
26 Samurai
27 Acquire
28 TitanArena
33 Entdecker
34 RoboRally
38 Raj
41 Tayu
43 Can'tStop
43 ZirkusFlohcati
44 Brawl
47 Medici
53 Guillotine
56 Euphrates
91 Settlers
105 Bluff

Game Results:

Spartacus 5 JP 4 RussW 2 Jeffles 0 William -2 Marty -4
Zero 4 Fred 3 Clayton 1 Steve -1 WendyWhe -3
Frank'sZoo 5 Matt 4 Fred 2 Steve 0 Clayton -2 WendyWhe -4
Proconsul 5 Jeffles 4 JP 2 RussW 0 William -2 Marty -4
Vampire 5 Steve 4 Matt 2 Clayton 0 Fred -2 WendyWhe -4
Can'tStop 3 Steve 2 Matt 0 WendyWhe -2
ElGrande 5 JeffF 4 BobR 2 JP 0 Dan -2 Allen -4
CafeInternational 4 Dan 3 PJ 1 BobR -1 Allen -3
KKK 6 ChrisH 5 JP 3 Marty 1 Jeffles -1 William -3 RussW -5
SchottenTotten 2 ChrisH 1 William -1
Vampire 3 PJ 2 Allen 0 WendyWhe -2
MrBond 4 Allen 3 William 1 ChrisH -1 PJ -3
WebOfPower 5 JP 4 Steve 2 BobR -1 JeffF -1 Dan -4
Frank'sZoo 5 JeffF 4 Dan 2 JP 0 Steve -2 BobR -4
BleedingSherwood 4 Allen 3 ChrisH 0 William 0 PJ -3
Acquire 4 Jeffles 3 RussW 1 Matt -1 Marty -3
BleedingSherwood 4 PJ 3 William 1 Allen -1 ChrisH -3
Bluff 3 Dan 2 Jeffles 0 Matt -2
Vampire 5 RussW 4 JP 0 JeffF 0 Steve 0 Marty -4
Bluff 4 RussW 3 JP 1 JeffF -1 Steve -3
CafeInternational 4 Jeffles 3 Matt 1 Dan -1 William -3
Vampire 5 RussW 4 PJ 1 JeffF 1 JP -2 Allen -4

Proconsul was a longer game from the same collection. It's one of those rare voting games with weighted voting! We each have a set of cards numbered 1-9 and a 12 card. We simultaneously choose and reveal a card, and that's how many votes we get that turn. Dealmaking then proceeds, with the "pleading player" stating their case then making pleas to other players in turn, who are only allowed to accept or decline. "The other players must keep silent, even if their tongues are desperate to wag."

Vampire was the popular game of the night, getting played 4 times. I won both games I played in, woohoo! Note the third Vampire game: I won with 19 points, then there was a 3-way tie for second with 18. That was a close one!

I don't think I like KKK. No, not the jerks in white sheets (though I don't like them either), I mean the Sid Sackson game Kohle, Kies & Knete. It's a very fast-moving cutthroat wacky financial game where players spend a few rounds amassing an arsenal of cards, and then somebody makes their move and all the cards come flying amidst freewheeling negotiating. I have never felt very good at these sorts of twitchy fast haggling games, and sure enough I came in last by a large margin. It was a very fun game to watch, though, when the cardplay bursts forth. It drew a larger crowd of spectators than the average boardgame! "I steal your investor!" "I stop that!" "I steal him again!" "I'm the boss now!" "I stop that!" "Your guy goes on vacation!" in rapid barrage for several minutes till we run out of cards and someone ends up making the deal.

Allen finally fulfilled his longtime dream of playing El Grande. It appears he finished last, but hopefully that was a small price to pay for the experience.

Marty fulfilled his dream of playing 4-player Acquire. We played with secret holdings, which led me to be surprised when Jeffles narrowly pipped me 13 to 12 in Imperial stock, seizing first place in the game from me by a narrow margin. Early on I'd acquired 7 shares of Continental while Jeffles, Matt, and Marty each had 6. That certainly helped my cause!

I don't know anything about Cafe International except they kept talking about "bozos" and "clowns". It doesn't seem to actually have anything to do with clowns, however.

=====

Evening's Soundtrack:

Moby, I Like to Score
Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill
Moussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition
Mox, Mox
Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Some people thought the common theme was simply starting with the letter M. Other people realized it was a little mo' than that.

=====

Rank ratings:
 0.4286 Jeffles (6 games played)
 0.3333 RussW (7)
 0.3333 JP (9)
 0.3043 JeffF (6)
 0.2727 Fred (3)
 0.2222 Matt (6)
 0.1333 ChrisH (5)
 0.0714 Steve (8)
 0.0556 PJ (6)
 0.0000 Dan (6)
-0.0909 Clayton (3)
-0.2667 BobR (4)
-0.2727 Allen (7)
-0.3462 William (8)
-0.7000 Marty (5)
-1.0000 WendyWhe (5)

New Win ratings:
 0.3333 Jeffles (6)
 0.2593 RussW (7)
 0.2000 ChrisH (5)
 0.1739 JeffF (6)
 0.0909 Fred (3)
 0.0556 PJ (6)
 0.0500 Dan (6)
 0.0455 Allen (7)
 0.0278 JP (9)
 0.0000 Steve (8)
-0.0556 Matt (6)
-0.2500 Marty (5)
-0.2667 BobR (4)
-0.2727 Clayton (3)
-0.3077 William (8)
-0.3333 WendyWhe (5)

JP wins the Dedicated Award.

WendyWhi wins the very rare Undedicated Award for coming and playing no games. (The last winner of this honor was Tim, on January 21 2000.)

=====

Cumulative Ratings:

Here are cumulative ratings from all recorded games, for players who played 10 or more games. Bob, Daniel, and Bryan (who was here a few times a couple months ago) are the Devils. Current regular JeffF is very high up there as well.

Rank ratings:
 0.2346 Bob (248 games played)
 0.2295 Daniel (157)
 0.2034 DaveB (17)
 0.1665 JeffF (278)
 0.1503 James (223)
 0.1361 KevinH (158)
 0.1151 RussW (906)
 0.1082 EricH (63)
 0.0975 Ken (182)
 0.0941 JP (618)
 0.0940 Tim (244)
 0.0871 Jeffles (146)
 0.0758 Harry (167)
 0.0625 Bryan (14)
 0.0566 Carly (35)
 0.0210 Dan (43)
-0.0022 Marty (503)
-0.0026 Doug (210)
-0.0048 JonathanB (115)
-0.0109 Peter (31)
-0.0123 Brendan (51)
-0.0126 William (475)
-0.0246 WendyWhi (72)
-0.0393 Steve (213)
-0.0431 Randy (32)
-0.0571 Jayson (29)
-0.0577 Evan (14)
-0.0580 SteveZ (17)
-0.0609 JonathanC (225)
-0.0674 JeffS (32)
-0.0706 David (22)
-0.0756 Jay (213)
-0.0838 ChrisH (50)
-0.1097 Jonobie (43)
-0.1203 RussD (99)
-0.1268 Dawn (94)
-0.1318 Brady (195)
-0.1465 WendyWhe (179)
-0.1478 Alfred (272)
-0.1569 Mindy (14)
-0.1667 Allen (113)
-0.2014 Matt (44)
-0.2050 BobR (62)
-0.2300 Fred (60)
-0.2310 Clayton (241)
-0.2353 PJ (22)
-0.2632 JonathanR (66)
-0.3007 Curt (37)
-0.3008 Laurie (41)
-0.3030 Crispy (11)
-0.3243 JeffW (11)
-0.4070 KevinT (28)
-0.4432 Jerrie (68)
-0.4565 Rick (14)

New Win ratings:
 0.1719 Bryan (14)
 0.1608 Daniel (157)
 0.1403 Bob (248)
 0.1379 KevinH (158)
 0.1256 James (223)
 0.1140 JeffF (278)
 0.0975 Jeffles (146)
 0.0752 Tim (244)
 0.0567 EricH (63)
 0.0512 JP (618)
 0.0508 DaveB (17)
 0.0469 Harry (167)
 0.0356 RussW (906)
 0.0353 David (22)
 0.0330 Ken (182)
 0.0286 Jayson (29)
 0.0259 Randy (32)
 0.0123 WendyWhi (72)
 0.0056 Allen (113)
 0.0028 Marty (503)
-0.0180 Doug (210)
-0.0276 William (475)
-0.0305 JonathanC (225)
-0.0392 Mindy (14)
-0.0408 Jay (213)
-0.0433 JonathanB (115)
-0.0435 Peter (31)
-0.0435 SteveZ (17)
-0.0447 Steve (213)
-0.0490 Dan (43)
-0.0494 Brendan (51)
-0.0566 Carly (35)
-0.0615 ChrisH (50)
-0.0649 Dawn (94)
-0.0677 WendyWhe (179)
-0.0688 RussD (99)
-0.0774 Jonobie (43)
-0.0787 JeffS (32)
-0.0846 Clayton (241)
-0.0848 Alfred (272)
-0.0986 Fred (60)
-0.1172 BobR (62)
-0.1212 Brady (195)
-0.1324 PJ (22)
-0.1346 Evan (14)
-0.1360 JonathanR (66)
-0.1469 Curt (37)
-0.1515 Crispy (11)
-0.1583 Matt (44)
-0.1805 Laurie (41)
-0.1892 JeffW (11)
-0.2174 Rick (14)
-0.2235 Jerrie (68)
-0.2907 KevinT (28)

Me (906 games played)
JP (618)
Marty (503)
William (475)
JeffF (278)
Alfred (272)
Bob (248) (temporarily on hiatus with new twins!)
Tim (244)
Clayton (241)
JonathanC (225)
James (223) (MIA)
Steve (213)
Doug (210) (now lost in Maryland somewhere)
Brady (195) (MIA)
Ken (182) (decided German games were too fluffy for him!)
WendyWhe (179) (most dedicated Girl Gamer!)
Harry (167) (exiled to Athens, Texas)
KevinH (158) (trapped in Houston, the poor guy)
Daniel (157)
Jeffles (146) (Go Red Bear!)
JonathanB (115) (MIA)
Allen (113) (the most recent attendee to join the 100 Club)

Links:

Another shameless plug for my boardgame and go comics. There are a dozen now:
http://russw.freeservers.com

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Final Meal Requests:
http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/finalmeals.htm

British Telecom: We Own Linking
Software patent insanity continues, as BT is now asserting its patent on hyperlinks. Madness! It's unclear to me if that merely means I must pay them for printing the following URL, or you must pay as well if you click on it:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37095,00.html

Some interesting and often amusing critiques of different web page designs. I like the discussion of "Mystery Meat Navigation":
http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com

A nifty web page validator (detects syntax errors that your browser might silently correct, leaving you unaware of errors other browsers might barf over):
http://validator.w3.org/

=====

Do you expect me to talk?
No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!

Russ
http://russw.freeservers.com