All Grown Up

Scott Hardie | October 26, 2014
Funeratic turns 18 tomorrow. If it were a person, it would now be a legal adult. That's crazy! They grow up so fast.

As with every anniversary, ten new items have been added to The History of Funeratic, one from 2009 and the rest from this past year. I feel a little ego-centric in that several of the new items are about me, but I guess it was a big year for me. :-)

I started to write an item about the controversy over the so-called "controversy" regarding Steve Dunn's hall of fame induction in 2012, but I saw that it was already mostly covered in the Passover item. Basically I just wanted to say that I still feel bad about that to this day. :-( The original "controversy" that I referred to was Steve's own comments (in public and in private) about how he doesn't deserve such an honor and how "Justin was robbed." Steve was just being modest, but it was part of an ongoing pattern of statements over the years about how the inductee should have been someone else more deserving, and I wanted to mention that pattern in the History of Funeratic since I believe in a warts-and-all approach to documenting our community's history. Unfortunately, I fear that my saying that there was "controversy" over Steve's induction sounded harsh and may have hurt some feelings, the last thing I would want to do. I'm sorry Steve, I'm sorry Justin, and for all time, I'm sorry to anybody whose feelings are hurt by the goo game's Hall of Fame, which sometimes seems to do more harm than good. :-(

In the "Gator" item about Funeratic members connecting off-site, I started to discuss some private situations in our lives and how we're helping each other through invisible conversations, but thought better of getting into details. Those people who I've talked to: I hope you're doing well and I thank you for talking to me. It's weird that there's this whole shadow community of private messages and Facebook messages and so on between Funeratic members happening under the surface, but if I can keep it secret for five years that I was trying to turn the site into a business (an idea that seemed reasonable in 2009 but sounds ridiculous today), then I guess we can survive a few more secrets.

Thank you all for being a part of another year of Funeratic. This year, we've had some lows with technical difficulties and declining participation, and some highs with new ways to play old games. I'm hopeful about some initiatives that are underway now that I hope to write about as successes next year. Here's looking forward to our nineteenth year. :-)

I am curious: If you're not yet playing Rock Block, the big new game launch of the year, is there something specific keeping you away? It's going well so far and we'd love to have you join the fun!

Samir Mehta | October 27, 2014
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Scott Hardie | October 28, 2014
Would it help to see a short video or animation that demonstrated the basic mechanics? I ask because I wonder how many people out there might be aided by such a thing. I think the How to Play page is long and daunting, and should be converted into something more like "Complete Rules" for people who want every last detail written out, while the main "How to Play" page should be short and convenient.

Samir Mehta | October 29, 2014
[hidden by request]

Erik Bates | November 12, 2014
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Scott Hardie | November 27, 2014
Erik, I have a solution for that. I'll be in touch privately.

If anyone else is experiencing what Erik describes, or knows someone who is, please let me know. Thanks!

Scott Hardie | December 14, 2014
Fyi on the advanced play rules that introduce more complex strategy: The new version of RB has modals that open up when you click to "read more" about each rule. They provide diagrams illustrating how the rule works, but maybe more importantly, they often also provide strategic advice for how the rule can be leveraged for an advantage. Some rules pair well and the modals show additional strategic tips if you have unlocked both such rules. And of course, playing with advanced rules is always optional.

(I don't expect this to change your mind, Samir. I'm just sharing info publicly for the record since it's relevant.)