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Ah, springtime, when a young mans heart turns to RPGing. OK, so most young mens hearts turn to something else, but since this is a gaming column, we wont discuss those things. This month, my newbie perspective turns to rares, elitists, and some scattered observations.
Last month I discussed playing Mage Knight Dungeons with my son. Since then, weve both bought several booster packs to increase the "stable" of characters to play with. My son has bought many more booster packs than I have (typically a 3 to 1 ratio, though his are for "Sinister" and "Unlimited" while Ive stuck to "Dungeons"), and has decided that I am about the second luckiest person he knows when it comes to booster packs and rares.
You see, my son is still hoping to find some really cool rare figure in one of his booster packs. I, on the other hand, have pulled 3 "rares" out of 5 or 6 booster packs. My very first booster pack contained a monster called a "Flame Minion". Now, being a somewhat ignorant newbie, what I found in my booster pack was a hero, two "dinky" monsters, the Flame Minion, and a new treasure chest. To my naïve thinking, this was just standard booster pack fare. It wasnt until my son told me that I got a "rare" that I knew any different. As I understand it, the consensus on the Mage Knight forums was that it "sucked" that I, a 42 year old newbie, pulled a "rare" on my very first booster pack. To that, I can only say, "HA HA! Mom always did like ME best!!!"
No, wait. That was the "Smothers Brothers". My response was actually something like, "Eh, its just dumb luck." Or so it seemed until we were at the game shop, talking with the employee about Mage Knight. He commented about a monster called a "Gate Lord" (another rare) that had wiped out everyone in the dungeon when he played. Care to guess what I pulled out of my booster pack that day? You got it. I have a Gate Lord now as well. Not only is he a "rare", but looking at his appearance and "stats", you do NOT want to meet him in a dark alley (or a dark dungeon, for that matter) any time soon. Throw the Gate Lord and the Flame Minion into the dungeon at the same time, and the likelihood of getting out alive decreases dramatically. Of course, MY chances of getting out of the dungeon alive are already pathetically low to begin with, so they cant decrease too much.
But wait, theres more. My wife and I went to visit out of state relatives over the long holiday weekend. While we were out in California, we decided it would be nice if we picked up something for our son. He had already said on numerous occasions that he wanted to get the dragons for Mage Knight, so we embarked on a quest to find him a cool dragon MK figure. Little did we know how complicated this quest would be. 3 malls later, we finally found a comic book shop that sold MK figures and boosters in the downtown area of the town we were staying in, AFTER driving all over the place trying to find any. We picked out the "Venomous Shadow Dragon" for him, and I grabbed another booster pack for myself. From this pack, I pulled another "rare": the "Water Minion."
Now, not to seem like Im complaining, but Im told that MK players are known to resort to such tactics as squeezing booster packs, or weighing them, or other methods to try and determine if there is something "rare" and "cool" inside. I have my own method for selecting which booster pack to buy. I reach up and take a box from the rack, take it to the register, pay for it, and leave. If the other folks buying booster packs were getting a comparable percentage of "rares", I wouldnt think much of this at all. However, from what we gather from the forums, my "luck" with booster packs is very unusual. The ironic part of this is that whatever powers are behind the gaming odds do not favor me with equal success in dice rolls. Im getting the distinct feeling that I am destined to accumulate a great stable of creatures and rares, to which I will die quickly because my dice rolls will always "Suck mightily". Cest la vie. I suppose if I get too frustrated with the dice rolls, I can always just be a "collector."
Im going to switch topics here by going back to our search for Mage Knight stuff in California. In the first mall we stopped in, we found a "Gaming Store" where we figured wed find MK figures and packs. What we found was an attitude. While this business was called a "gaming store", it was, in reality, a "Warhammer" store. I think there was a little bit of "Lord of the Rings" game stuff there as well, but better than 95% of the store was devoted to Warhammer. When we mentioned to an employee that we were looking for Mage Knight, we were given an elitist spiel on the superiority of Warhammer over any other game.
Please dont get me wrong. I have nothing against Warhammer. Im sure its a great game and loads of fun to play, but right now, I barely have time to learn one game, let alone undertaking another. What was the "turn off" was the attitude presented, as though our gaming experience was somehow inferior because we werent into Warhammer. I find this something like Monopoly players trash talking Scrabble players because Scrabble isnt Monopoly. Were all entitled to have personal preferences and to make individual choices, and we do not have to all play the same game. The store owner is entitled to specialize in Warhammer if he or she chooses, and I would expect a business to enthusiatically endorse their products. Over the years, though, the businesses Ive been the most impressed with are not the ones that try to sell me what I dont want, but those that say, "I dont have that in stock, but so and so business carries that regularly. You can try there." Ive even had businesses call their competition to see if they can find what Im looking for before I drive all over town. Know what? Ill go buy what I need today from their competition, but when it comes time to shop again, guess where the first place Ill look is? The shop that took care of me and my needs, rather than just trying to get my dollars into their till by whatever means. The shops I dont return to at all are the ones where I get attitude or argument about what I want. If my business is not important enough to treat me with respect, Ill take it to someone who regards it more highly. I dont mind a business explaining that what Im looking for may not be the best choice for what I want to do, as long as its done with courtesy and respect.
How does that fit into a "Newbie" column? Easy. As a "newbie", Im starting out with little or no supplies. An established player may not need to buy much at all for his experience, but a newbie is likely to find things he or she needs or wants for the game, and that means potential sales for the business that treats them well. A bad experience at the shop may just push the newbie completely away from the game altogether, driving them to some other form of recreational entertainment. With them go the dollars they would have spent. Become too much of an elitist in your business, and youre likely to become an elite out of work businessman.
Finally, for some "scattered observations", my son and I played Mage Knight Unlimited this month. Being as I had never played that version before, I let him put together the army for me. When youre playing as a newbie against a more experienced player, it may not be the best idea to let them pick out your army for you. Granted, my lousy dice rolls doomed me from the start, but I got the definite impression my army was outclassed from the very onset. Ha ha ha! Just wait until I get him in my dungeon with my Gate Lord and Minions! Well see whos outclassed! Oh, wait. It doesnt quite work that way. Never mind.
Observation #2: Saving money by ordering online or through Ebay may seem like a great idea, but there is still no better way to expand your collection than through your local dealer. I recently purchased a Mage Knight Dungeon Builders Pack through Ebay for under $10 with shipping, a savings of over $5 compared to the local game shop. That is all well and good, except that the USPS still has not delivered the item, and for all appearances, its been lost by our Postal Service. Saving the $5 is only great if you receive what you ordered. I have every confidence that the seller shipped the item to the correct address, but its been over 2 weeks, and still no package. Lesson learned. It might cost more, but at least when I buy through the local shop, I have the merchandise in hand when I pay for it.
Observation #3: If youre going to play and collect a "figure based" game, such as Mage Knight, Warhammer, or any of the others, be sure to get the biggest storage box for the figures that you can afford. Youll start to wonder after a while if the figures are reproducing on their own in the container, and youll swiftly decide you need more storage space for them. Now that I think about it, that one character does look a bit gravid, and the male character next to her was smiling a lot more than I remember. I guess its springtime in the MK storage box, too.
Until next month, heres hoping youre getting better dice rolls than I am.
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