marsden_online: (Default)
It's been a long year for everyone. Major positive events were our trip to Auckland to see the Lion King and moving into our new house.

A significant negative event that I didn't post about here was the second arson at Antonio Hall, in November, which gutted the original house and left the entire site basically, finally, awaiting demolition. (After photos, and after the 2019 fire, two years on).

snip )
marsden_online: (BlueDragon)
My last general update was wayyy back in April. Since then I have had difficultly finding the combination of time and energy to write. I'm not convinced it is what I would best be doing right now, but I'm in a bit of a down patch and need to get some stuff out.
Dear diary )
marsden_online: (BlueDragon)
Most people are probably aware that over the past going on 24 hours NZ has been hit by another series of major earthquakes starting at very just after midnight Sunday/Monday. I had not long gone to bed when it hit so after about 10 seconds of "aftershock" and then ~ 1:20 minutes of "nope, crap, that's a BIG quake inland just getting here" and some minutes on FB checking that no-one in Christchurch itself was reporting major issues I went off to sleep, thus not seeing the tsunami warning and evacuation notices (which didn't affect me anyway) until checking again during a wake around 4am. I figured if anyone needed transport or to shelter at my place I would get a message or txt directly so I slept for another few hours, starting the day feeling not significantly tireder than usual. That wasn't to last.

Fortunately I had already booked the day off work to recover from attending a 48 hour charity event over the weekend (more on that below). The first hour or so I spent touching base with various people by FB and phone before starting on my pre-existing chores list. I didn't get through as much of this as hoped - a somewhat overdue cleaning of the bathroom leaving me physically exhausted and attempting to set the ball rolling on a safety inspection of the Hall further soaked up energy. I eventually spent 2-3 hours napping - in part to shut down some nervous energy and generalised anxiety - before setting out to help a friend with transport and hugs, do the grocery shopping and after a simple dinner deliver some care packages. (One of which had already been on my to-do list but which under the circumstances I bulked up a bit more ;) ) I could tell that I probably shouldn't be driving well before I got home, and if I wasn't waiting for a better time to take my meds I would be back in bed already.

~~~
Friday / Saturday I spent about 24 hours total at SAGA's now-annual 48-hour gaming event to raise money for charity (this year AVIVA). I'll just copy and paste from my FB statuses here ...

---
Saturday 4:30pm
Plays so far:
Colony Wars (obliterated by Daniel Starky's base spam strategy)
Thurn & Taxis (resounding win)
Dominion w. Prosperity (barely last but a long way from the winner)
Broken Eagle the Learned Nano who Combines Words of Power is about to set out into the world of Numenera in search of greater knowledge.

Saturday 10:50pm
After Numenera finished off for the day with a game of Tiny Kingdoms. Didn't do particularly well but probably OK for a first time.
I'd liked to have stayed longer but it is patently obvious that it would be a very bad Idea. If I can get a good sleep tonight I may be able to stay later tomorrow night.

Sunday 3:20am
Didn't get to games until after 2pm but then stayed somewhat longer than expected. Still 3am is no later than I get home from a good party. Cat seems unimpressed by my long absence.
Plays today (pretty sure I have forgotten something)
Tiny Epic Kingdoms
Settlers of Catan
DC Heroes
Colony Wars
Zombie Dice
Biblios
Kingsburg
Seven Wonders
Istanbul (new)
---

... preliminary reports are that we raised well over $1000 if everyone comes through on their pledges. I enjoyed myself - overly much so without really realising it, on the Friday in particular which left me stuck in bed until much later than I had planned on Saturday. I did spend more time and energy than I had hoped taking the lead in deciding on and teaching games; the teaching not so much of a problem (I was actually recommended, to my face, and later even messaged thanks for the fun time someone had as a result). I also made sure one person who probably otherwise would not have made it but I knew would benefit greatly from getting out of the house got both there and home.

As always I experienced more downtime between games than I would have liked, but I had gone prepared for that also with things to do.

Sunday afternoon (you noticed the status update at 3:20AM above?) was spent on a few chores and Sunday evening instead of my usual game we chilled and watched Guardians of the Galaxy which a couple of our members had missed at the theatre. (I am really enjoying the new projector.) I actually went to bed feeling uncommonly relaxed and happy ... and then the quake hit.

~~~
That has filled in the time nicely; shortly I will be abed and hopefully will feel much better in the morning. Because otherwise I am /not/ looking forward to work tomorrow.
marsden_online: (BlueDragon)
This Queens Birthday was a much needed break from work but not particularly rejuvenating. On the one hand it was Buckets of Dice weekend and I had carefully avoided putting my name forward to run anything supposing (correctly) that I would be pretty wiped out after a month with two programmers away from work and would have had no time to prepare. This theoretically left me free to apply my (minimal, as those I gamed with on Saturday can attest) brainpower to board gaming. Saturday in particular was expected to be free of Hall-related interruptions. It was not to be.

I'm not going to type out the whole saga but multiple of my Saturday games (which, as mentioned, I had precious little brain and spoons for) were interrupted by phone calls and txts related to people randomly deciding they would turn up to the Hall /then/ contact us and see if they could be let in to take photos. There was a flow-on effect to this which meant it also happened again today (Monday) causing me to be able to play one fewer game than I would have otherwise. Some damage overnight on Saturday also caused me to stay behind after a (booked) tour Sunday afternoon which may have caused me to miss someone who stopped by BoD specifically to see me :( (But who left chocolates and literal spoons in my mailbox today anyway <3 ). And again today a short-notice (but at least made last week) request for access to the Hall to retake some photos for a project saw me sacrifice a games worth of time in the morning.

The games which all this was interspersed with were nevertheless good and I even won several of them. I was introduced to ... four? new games one of which I had considered purchasing from the sale table just for the art on the box and another which had it been on the Games Depository stall I probably would have bought / will buy next time I am deliberately spending money on such things. I only once found myself in a game with someone I really prefer not to play with if possible and many times in games with people I preferentially play with.

I did not even try to take photos this year, not even of the usual excellent LARP costumes (and there were two flagship LARPs this year to boot). I just did not feel the effort was worth it.

I have marginally improved brain/spoons over each day but I'm still not looking forward to the rest of this week. For tonight: the next thing I am doing is making for a really early bedtime.
marsden_online: (Ghostfighter)
It's been over two months since I posted anything about life in general which wasn't dumping angst. So here's a less-transient-than-facebook record of some events.

Hall )

kitty )

gaming )

dentist )

other stuff )
marsden_online: (Default)
Loot list: Handmade chocolates delivered Xmas Eve (Thanks J), an uber-fluffy woolen underlay (impressed that my parents managed to find such a thing in super-king, not sure it's exactly what I wanted but come winter will try it), a package of homegrown beef, several non-winning instant kiwis.
uncling )
Headed back to town before evening dessert (same as midday dessert) and got to Waifs & Strays just in time for 2nd dessert. Which pretty much topped me off for the day, I managed to avoid overeating for a change. Spent a pleasant couple of hours there.

~~~
Spent Xmas Eve day and until after midnight playing Civ. This is only worth mentioning because the game didn't follow the usual pattern - normally a series of wars results in my controlling most of the planet by the time I get to building a spaceship. This time none of my neighbours attacked me until after launch, instead devoting most of their attention through the game to some guy down the other end of the map. Until that point I didn't fire a shot except against some pirates.

What this meant was I had significantly fewer cities than usual but they were mostly maxed out (minimal production diverted to units) and it didn't actually take any longer to build the spaceship. The perception of time may have been because fewer cities and fewer units meant turns were going by faster.

~~~
Today is nominally designated for pottering around the house cleaning things, but I'm awfully tempted to start up another game.
marsden_online: (Default)
Discovered freeciv.org via freeciv.net (online version) yesterday. Some differences to CivII but pretty close. Still getting the hang of it.

Geekery note - freeciv.net requires an HTML5 capable browser :)

* yes of course I forgot
marsden_online: (camera)
Excursion to Dunedin for:
Ludi Natalis Dictatrixia
Dictator's birthday party
Battle

http://pics.livejournal.com/marsden_online/gallery/0014prf6
marsden_online: (Default)
http://www.playauditorium.com/ via [livejournal.com profile] anarchangel23

Where did that hour go?

Ramble

Nov. 10th, 2008 09:05 pm
marsden_online: (Default)
It was a lovely evening for getting something 'constructive' done.

I've been refreshing my list of NZ gaming sites, and venturing outside my usual interest zone to look for LARPing and Wargaming sites. There seem to be a couple of the former, and a lot of the latter. (What is this http://www.chchcavaliers.com/ with multiple references links to it that does not actually seem to exist?)

I can't find the nz boardgame forums I remember a while back - I think they were infrequently used, did they die?

I also can't find many shops with an online presence - I know Comics and I found Wargames Supply (and of course Nexus has closed :( ) ... but otherwise drew a blank.
marsden_online: (Evil GM)
Spawned from catching the end of Shrek 3 twice in the last few days

[brain dump]
In the land of fairy tales Prince Charming rescued his princess, and they both retired to their castle to live in blissful self-absorbtion while the kindom itself fell into neglect.

Times are tough for the bad guys as well and in desperation a group of them have banded together to break into the castle and stage a coup - thereafter to nurture the land back to a state fit for plundering.

Characters

Hook (Pirate captain)
Has: Crewmen (loyal minions), dirty tricks, no left hand.

The Black Knight (Black Knight)
Has: Nigh invulnerable, (twisted) code of honour, clanks a lot

The Ogre (Beast)
Has: Brute strength, more cunning than smart, taste for human flesh

Exiled Queen (Wicked Stepmother)
Has: Magic/Potion brewing, knowledge of the castle, excessive vanity

Need two more archetypes?

Vs

The Prince
Has: Guards (Loyal minions), Castle, Rightful king, tunnel vision to the nearest mirror, not as fit as he used to be.

The Princess
Has: ??, Learned helplessness

Supporting cast??

System:
Ace of Spades with precreated characters as above. Cut the players loose and see what they come up with.

[/brain dump]
marsden_online: (camera)
Dunedin First Meeting & Party 2008

Bonus gallery - Dunedin Dictator's Birthday games/party 2004 (aka Operation Spartacus II for the Chch expedition).

X-posted: kaosians

I think it might be time for a nap.
marsden_online: (Evil GM)
This nickel & diming is tedious.

I escaped from the Dungeon of Marsden Online!

I killed Micheinnz the leprechaun, Morbid Curious the troll, Angmonster the goblin, Lemurkat the kobold, Surrealfish the dragon, Thehollowmen the zombie, Darkferret the troll, Theuns the goblin, Rtmiss the gelatinous cube, Clairedotcom the minotaur, Codym the troll, Doth the floating eye, Xenogram the zombie, Ankhst the goblin, Shenya the fire elemental, Lucidspin the kobold, Stormofstars the minotaur, Slothphil the leprechaun, Copper Em the zombie, Sasscat the goblin, Flysparrowfly the gelatinous cube, Purpledragon3 the dragon, Meataxe the arch-demon, Vizi the floating eye, Salahdra the minotaur and Zakzahn the troll.

I looted the Axe of Badasstronaut, the Shield of Arnfrither, the Sceptre of Ookey, a Figurine of Mrangel, the Sceptre of Xyphoid, a Figurine of Nishatalitha, the Crown of Niennahirilfea, the Axe of Keltickat, the Shield of Pepetto, the Axe of Pepperbeast, the Axe of the Piedpiper, the Armour of Shoei Mike, the Armour of Socialretardx, the Armour of Kaos and 737 gold pieces.

Score: 962

Explore the Dungeon of Marsden Online and try to beat this score,
or enter your username to generate and explore your own dungeon...


Much worship at the blessed healing altar of [livejournal.com profile] cthulhu_dream.

others behind here as I do them )

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