Dominion Natterings

Okay, I think I've got the hang of Bishop.

It's rare that I feel really confident in an online game of Dominion; I suck at keeping track of points and cards, so am often surprised by how far ahead or behind I really am. But even though we were tied in this game going into my last hand, I never really doubted where I would end up.

Yeah, I had a whopping two action cards total. I'd had three at one point, using the Bishop to trash another Bishop, but that was it. I trashed coppers when my opponents played Bishop (we all opened Bishop/Silver, which was a no-brainer), and trashed Estates on my own turn (and the one Duchy I bought, of course). I'm not sure why the third-place player trashed a Province; unlike the Estate or Duchy, trashing the Province is a net loss of 1, and the board was too fast to need to thin Provinces from the Deck. Once I had three Golds, I was drawing to 8 almost every turn, and was still productive on other turns when I was short.

I also won a four-player game last night (which might explain how I could go 1-5 on the day and still stay at level 4 on the Isotropic rankings), although we all played the same pretty obvious strategy here (Wharf, Wharf, Wharf). I played a little more intelligently with the Mining Villages (trashing one to allow me to get a Farmland and trash an Estate, playing the other to get me enough dough to buy a Province and Duchy on the same turn), but it's hard not to claim a little luck of the draw on this one.

(Aside: That was the first time I've ever gotten into a four-player game; I suppose I could only check the four-player box, but I do enjoy three-player games, too. Still, Isotropic seems biased for three-player games for some reason.)

In less impressive news, I got my second Regent badge yesterday, and like the first, it came in a loss. I definitely don't have the hang of the Colony game yet.

Dominion Natterings

Okay, I think I've got the hang of Bishop.

It's rare that I feel really confident in an online game of Dominion; I suck at keeping track of points and cards, so am often surprised by how far ahead or behind I really am. But even though we were tied in this game going into my last hand, I never really doubted where I would end up.

Yeah, I had a whopping two action cards total. I'd had three at one point, using the Bishop to trash another Bishop. But that was it. I trashed coppers when my opponents played Bishop (we all opened Bishop/Silver, which was a no-brainer), and trashed Estates on my own turn (and the one Duchy I bought, of course). I'm not sure why the third-place player trashed a Province; unlike the Estate or Duchy, trashing the Province is a net loss of 1, and the board was too fast to need to thin Provinces from the Deck. Once I had three Golds, I was drawing to 8 almost every turn, and was still productive on other turns when I was short.

I also won a four-player game last night (which might explain how I could go 1-5 on the day and still stay at level 4 on the Isotropic rankings), although we all played the same pretty obvious strategy here (Wharf, Wharf, Wharf). I played a little more intelligently with the Mining Villages (trashing one to allow me to get a Farmland and trash an Estate, playing the other to get me enough dough to buy a Province and Duchy on the same turn), but it's hard not to claim a little luck of the draw on this one.

(Aside: That was the first time I've ever gotten into a four-player game; I suppose I could only check the four-player box, but I do enjoy three-player games, too. Still, Isotropic seems biased for three-player games for some reason.)

In less impressive news, I got my second Regent badge yesterday, and like the first, it came in a loss. I definitely don't have the hang of the Colony game yet.

Reason I'll never make it big in Hollywood, #83

If I were given the opportunity to make any project, I'd make a John Wilkes Booth biopic. Just so I could cast Lucy Hale as Lucy Hale.

Reason I'll never make it big in Hollywood, #83

If I were given the opportunity to make any project, I'd make a John Wilkes Booth biopic. Just so I could cast Lucy Hale as Lucy Hale.

A few links

1. The Locus Award voting is open! As a non-subscriber, I took my half-a-person vote very seriously. As always, I find the "open" poll both intriguing (it's theoretically possible for anyone to influence things, without membership in an organization or spending a lot of money), and troubling ("look, you can pick whatever you like, but here are the things you really should pick; also, no debut novel is good enough to be book of the year"). It really is the one major award where I can vote, so I take advantage of that opportunity.

2. In a link I can recommend wholeheartedly, haikujaguar has launched a Kickstarter project for the print edition of Spots the Space Marine (which is wonderful, btw). She's already a good chunk of the way towards her goal, but I'd love to see her get there sooner (especially since we're too cash-poor right now to sponsor for a significant amount, alas).

3. My wife gave me an awesome Valentine's Day present. <3

4. This year's Jeopardy College Championship winner is the youngest ever! We were also rooting for her, as she's adorable and enthusiastic (although I also liked the guy who came in third).

5. I Tweeted it, but folks who like Dominion might enjoy this article at Kill Screen daily (and btw? A subscription to the print edition of Kill Screen would be an awesome present for my 40th birthday in a couple of months).

6. Kate Beaton remains awesome!

7. Although I linked it on Facebook, this article on the inherent societal bias against introverts is wonderful (and as someone who has spent the better part of his career in environment explicitly designed for and by extroverts, I cannot even begin to convey the rage I carry daily from crap like this).

8. Mur Lafferty (a fellow grad of the Duke Young Writer's Camp, although obviously someone who's done more with it than I have) writes about Work for Hire and the LJ Smith situation.

8.5. Of course, as Patrick Nielsen Hayden notes, the fact that something is work for hire does not necessarily put a company on high moral ground (and in many cases, there's still some dubious legal ground; you can bet your ass I'm inclined to always mention Gary Friedrich's name when talking about Ghost Rider. Especially near anyone from the Disney empire.

9. Two thinks I would not have associated with each other: eggs and pressure cookers.

10. Finally, a look at the history of soft breads like Wonder Bread.

A few links

1. The Locus Award voting is open! As a non-subscriber, I took my half-a-person vote very seriously. As always, I find the "open" poll both intriguing (it's theoretically possible for anyone to influence things, without membership in an organization or spending a lot of money), and troubling ("look, you can pick whatever you like, but here are the things you really should pick; also, no debut novel is good enough to be book of the year"). It really is the one major award where I can vote, so I take advantage of that opportunity.

2. In a link I can recommend wholeheartedly, haikujaguar has launched a Kickstarter project for the print edition of Spots the Space Marine (which is wonderful, btw). She's already a good chunk of the way towards her goal, but I'd love to see her get there sooner (especially since we're too cash-poor right now to sponsor for a significant amount, alas).

3. My wife gave me an awesome Valentine's Day present. <3

4. This year's Jeopardy College Championship winner is the youngest ever! We were also rooting for her, as she's adorable and enthusiastic (although I also liked the guy who came in third).

5. I Tweeted it, but folks who like Dominion might enjoy this article at Kill Screen daily (and btw? A subscription to the print edition of Kill Screen would be an awesome present for my 40th birthday in a couple of months).

6. Kate Beaton remains awesome!

7. Although I linked it on Facebook, this article on the inherent societal bias against introverts is wonderful (and as someone who has spent the better part of his career in environment explicitly designed for and by extroverts, I cannot even begin to convey the rage I carry daily from crap like this).

8. Mur Lafferty (a fellow grad of the Duke Young Writers' Camp, although obviously someone who's done more with it than I have) writes about Work for Hire and the LJ Smith situation.

8.5. Of course, as Patrick Nielsen Hayden notes, the fact that something is work for hire does not necessarily put a company on high moral ground (and in many cases, there's still some dubious legal ground; you can bet your ass I'm inclined to always mention Gary Friedrich's name when talking about Ghost Rider. Especially near anyone from the Disney empire.

9. Two thinks I would not have associated with each other: eggs and pressure cookers.

10. Finally, a look at the history of soft breads like Wonder Bread.