Area 51

I finally made it to Area 51, and managed to infiltrate the facility.  I accomplished this task with the help of my brother.  Of course you may be thinking that I'm talking about the secret military base in Nevada.  Nope.  Area 51 is a gaming store in Grapevine, Texas.  It's full name is Area 51 Gaming & Collectibles.

Here is their website.  Overall, it's a nice, clean, and ORGANIZED store.

Area 51 is primarily a gaming store, but they also carry a nice selection of comics. I didn't notice any back issues, and I don't think they carry them.  Since it was two days after Christmas the store was a bit picked over, but honestly I wouldn't have known if the owner ( I guess it was the owner ), didn't mention that fact.  They carry mainly Warmachine, Flames of War, and Warhammer 40K.  They also had some DUST.  There were a couple of other miniature games, but nothing I am interested in, so I don't remember what they were.  One was Dystopian something or other...  The role-playing games section was kind of small, and all I saw was the beginner box for Pathfinder, ( of course there may have been other stuff ), and some of the new minis, which look awesome.  I will be buying some of those.  But to tell you the truth I was there mainly to check out the miniature gaming selections.  They had some HeroClix as well, and I was coveting the Watchmen set.

Of course, if they don't have what you want in stock, they will order for you.

The best thing about Area 51 is their gaming area.  I didn't measure it, but as a guess, I would say 50% or maybe more of the square footage is devoted to gaming tables.  They have tables for CCGs, and bigger, sturdier tables for war-gaming.  It's awesome.  It boasts of having the largest gaming area available in the DFW area, and there is no charge to use.  I think this is probably true, but I'm sure the other gaming stores might look at me funny if I go in and start measuring their gaming areas.

They also have lots and lots of tournaments and events.  Check out their website for more info on that.  All in all, if you're a gamer, and you're in the area ( heh ), check out Area 51 Gaming & Collectibles.  I'll will be visiting the store again.  On a scale of one to four stars, I would give it 3 and a half stars.

If you visit the store, tell them Zanazaz of Have Dice ~ Will Travel, sent you...

D20 Is Ruining Role Playing?

Today is day number two of the Reader's Choice Challenge.  Last week I asked people to make topic suggestions that I would use this week, Monday through Friday.  Yesterday, I covered Cthulhu, which isn't a strong suit of mine, and it shows.  MEH!

Dave G of the N++ blog, a great blog by the way, even though I don't know what N++ means?  Heh... I'm losing more geek points!  Anyway, Dave gave me a few suggestions,  this one however is the easiest, and with me getting a little burnt out, I'm going to use it.  He wrote:

- Why D20 is ruining roleplaying. (aka, Remember when D&D was about building interesting characters instead of uber multiclass-feat-skill-other weird skill stuff-other weird stuff combos to turn characters into super heros?)

No, I don't think it is.  There, that was easy.  Time for a nap.

Heh... there I go kidding around again, but really, I don't think D20 is ruining any aspect of the gaming hobby much less role playing.  I'm sure there are many people who would argue otherwise, but do they have evidence?  Of course what I write here is just an opinion.

Sure, maybe there isn't much role playing going on, but the level of role playing ( from what I've noticed ) varies from group to group, and game system to game system.

If anything it seems to be keeping the hobby alive?  To be perfectly honest I haven't played any of the current incarnations of the game.  Nothing past AD&D 1st Edition.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't try any other editions, I just haven't had the chance to try them out.  I probably won't get into the current edition of D&D for a lot of reasons, but I would like to at least try it.  How can I form a valid opinion without experiencing it myself?  If people enjoy D20 then I say more power to them!  Whether it's D&D 4th Edition or Pathfinder everyone is free to game the way they want to game.  That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

Actually, the whole "uber multiclass-feat-skill-other weird skill stuff-other weird stuff combos to turn characters into super heros." sounds kind of interesting.  Then again I also enjoy playing a character who has trouble hacking his way through a horde of orcs, and keeping his plate mail pants on. That actually happened to me in Ultima Online, but it was actually a bunch of dragons, or something, good times... but I digress...

Now, the new Gamma World seems like a rocking good time.  I am buying it as soon as I can.  The same goes for Pathfinder, those seem like big, fun, crunchy books.  However, neither is a big purchasing priority.

And thus, the scribe finishes day two of the challenge.  What will day three bring?