October 15 2003 RussCon Report

xomox
(8 divine paths courtesy of my cow-orker xomox)
News
Game Results
Ratings | FAQ
Meta Game Results
Evening's Soundtrack
Links
13 of us played 11 games. Welcome new guy Norberto, friend of Fina (and surprisingly he is apparently the first person at RussCon whose name starts with N...)
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News

I've sold a bunch of games to RussCon friends; some of them games that I've probably owned longer than some RussCon folks have been alive! It's melancholy yet exciting to be getting rid of some of the stuff I owned that ended up owning me. I'm glad they're finding homes with friends who will enjoy playing them. If anyone else is interested, here is the current list. Also if anyone wants some of these vinyl records for your listening pleasure, I'd be happy to pass them along, and I'm going to go sell the rest.

28 Days Later is officially my favorite movie from the summer since I saw it 3 times. Thursday night several RussCon folks + Go/Esperanto folks + work folks saw it... and I'm glad I trusted my instinct and prodded folks for this to happen, because that was the last night it showed... it's gone now!

I also really enjoyed Under The Tuscan Sun, much more than I expected.

Game Results

Kahuna2JP 1 MarkG -1
Exxtra4Whendy 3 JP 1 Ben -1 Matt -3
Manhattan3Ben 2 Matt 0 Whendy -2
Carcassonne5Clayton 4 Norberto 2 MarkH 0 RussW -2 Fina -4
Vampire5Clayton 4 Fina 2 RussW 0 MarkH -2 Norberto -4
HighBid4RussD 3 JeffF 1 RussW -1 Pauline -3
Entdecker4Fina 3 Clayton 1 MarkH -1 Norberto -3
Exxtra3Pauline 2 RussW 0 RussD -2
Can'tStop3Pauline 2 RussD -1 RussW -1
Bluff5Pauline 4 RussD 2 RussW 0 Clayton -2 Fina -4
TradersOfGenoa4Matt 3 MarkG 1 Ben -1 JP -3

High Bid is an old 3M/AH auction game I found while rummaging through my games. I know it was played long ago at RussCon, I think brought by KevinH who left me this copy, if I recall, but apparently we didn't record the previous session. The game does seem flawed and dated, although I enjoyed playing it as a change of pace.

Pauline had great luck with the dice, in Exxtra, Can't Stop, and Bluff! If memory serves she won Bluff with a hilariously improbable sequence of several rounds that had zillions of twos rolled; and the last round had all twos on all the dice!

Ratings

Rank Ratings:      
 2.9312 Clayton
 2.4204 Pauline
 0.5754 RussD
 0.4055 JeffF
 0.2877 Whendy
 0.2877 Ben
 0.0000 Matt
-0.2877 JP
-0.2877 MarkG
-1.0986 MarkH
-1.1394 Fina
-1.5041 RussW
-2.3026 Norberto
Win Ratings:
 3.5190 Pauline won 3 of 4
 2.7081 Clayton won 2 of 4
 0.9808 Whendy won 1 of 2
 0.7169 Fina won 1 of 4
 0.6931 Matt won 1 of 3
 0.5232 Ben won 1 of 3
 0.3522 RussD won 1 of 4
 0.1178 JP won 1 of 3
-0.2877 JeffF won 0 of 1
-0.7340 MarkH won 0 of 3
-0.7340 Norberto won 0 of 3
-0.9808 MarkG won 0 of 2
-1.7680 RussW won 0 of 6

Clayton and Pauline are Co-Devils! Whendy and RussD are Co-Vice-Devils. Fina, Matt, Ben, and JeffF are Co-Vice-Vice-Devils.

If you are confused how the ratings work, you could peruse the FAQ.

devil graph

Meta Game

RussD was the Meta Devil. Here is the divinely inspired Meta Game he mailed out:

The Eight Divine Paths of Competition

The Metagods have in their mysterious and inscrutable logic chosen me as the metadevil and revealed to me the paths to boardgaming enlightenment. Whoever travels these paths and finds the most enlightenment will be anointed the next Metadevil.

The 8 divine paths are

1. The Race To Heaven

This is the path of the race, which are games where the players race their pieces across a board or other representation of a course. The pieces may advance by means of dice rolls, card play, a spinner, or a combination of these and other means.

2. The Casting of Lots

This is the path of luck and skill, where the games involve rolling dice and judging how far one may push his luck before the fickle gods of chance frown upon him. Losers may whine about bad luck, but the enlightened can divine the true path to victory because ultimately nothing is random and all things are dictated by the gods.

3. The Rise and Fall of One's Stock

This is the path of manipulation of stock share value, where the games involve buying, selling, and/or trading of stock. The value of those stocks rise and fall through the mechanisms defined by the rules of the game. Although those means may appear to follow the other divine paths, the players travel this road whenever share value of stocks are involved.

4. The Bid for Everlasting Glory

This is the path of competitive bidding, where the games involve bidding on items or collections and profiting thereby. The final score is directly tied to the value or composition of the items collected. Truly, the most glorious collections belong to the most enlightened bidder.

5. The Tile Wisely Placed

This is the path of placing tiles, where the games involve placing tiles to form a game board. A tile may be a card or tile or other piece placed to form the game board. Although the winning condition may not be directly determined by the tile placement, wise placement and use of the constructed board is the key to victory over the less enlightened.

6. The Conquest of Manifold Possiblities

This the path of territorial conquest and dominance, where the games involve capturing territory through the placement of pieces or advancing of armies. Such conquest may also involve attaining the positions of power and hence dominating the scoring possibilities.

7. The Tricky Hands of Fate

This is the path of winning tricks, where the games involve taking tricks of cards, often in partnership with others seeking similar enlightenment. A less enlightened partner may cost you the game, yet you advance along the divine path of mastery over the shifting winds of fortune.

8. The Exercise of Power

This is the ultimate path of enlightment, where the games involve a struggle between different powers and abilities granted the players. Though the winning condition may resemble a race or conquest of territory, judicious exercise of one's special abilities is key to victory and thus deeper enlightenment.

To gauge the degree of one's enlightened condition, the Metagods will compute one's enlightenment index by multiplying the number of unique game titles played from all paths times the number of paths one has traveled. Ties are broken by win ratings. Further ties are broken randomly, as the gods play no favorites among those most enlightened souls.

In order to ease the burden on the High Acolyte, before you leave please enter the total number of different games from all true paths you have played and the number of paths followed.

In order to clear the confusion of the pilgrims seeking the way of these paths, the Oracle of the Divine Way RussD and the High Acolyte to the Heavenly Path RussW may be consulted for their wisdom as to the true nature of the way. Be aware that some paths are false and thus do not contribute to one's estimation by the gods.

To begin your contemplation of your journey, consider the catalogue of games below.

The Race To Heaven
Hare and Tortoise, Mississippi Queen, Hedgehogs in a Hurry, Exxtra

The Casting of Lots
Bluff, Can't Stop

The Rise and Fall of One's Stock
Acquire, Union Pacific, Stephenson's Rocket

The Bid for Everlasting Glory
Medici, Modern Art, High Society, Raj, Ra

The Tile Wisely Placed
Carcassonne, Drakon

The Conquest of Manifold Possiblities
Durch Die Wuste, Blokus, Web of Power

The Tricky Hands of Fate
Tichu, Vampire, Frank's Zoo

The Exercise of Power
Cosmic Encounter, Das Amulet, Vinci

My recent interest in Buddhism clearly has paid off handsomely in spiritual dividends. The Oracle and High Acolyte reckoned the scores as follows:

So I am the Meta Devil and will design next week's Meta Game.

Evening's Soundtrack

Heavenly Voices, a collection of the finest female vocals in ethereal, darkwave and gothic
K's Choice, Paradise in Me
My Dying Bride, The Light at the End of the World
Nirvana, In Utero
The Sweet Hereafter, original motion picture soundtrack

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