NoBloMo #29 - A Letter

[This letter is still in drafting phases, but it's something I will eventually complete and execute in the end. This is yet another draft.]

NoBloMo #28 - Reminiscing About NoBloMo

This past month has been quite a journey of non-editing free-flowing thought. More like an exercise of editing control. But it has certainly been an eye-opener.

NoBloMo #27 - My One Black Friday Deal

Before kids, before marriage, before crazy jobs, Black Friday deals were somewhat doable. If I had the stamina to wake up at some ungodly hour just to go out in the bitter cold and stand in line for something I know will be gone in the first 30 minutes, then why the hell not? Sure, there would be ungodly mobs with the same goals, shoving you at the start of the sale, but it was all for a good bargain, right?

Today? I started Black Friday at 3 pm, going to my FLGS.

NoBloMo #26 - A Thanksgiving Tradition

Not sure how many years we've been doing this, but every year, we've been making our own terrible (or terribly awesome) Christmas sweaters. My sister would always grab a large bag of felts, scissors, glue, trinkets, and a stack of generic sweaters, and we'd all gather at Thanksgiving to decorate and get them ready to wear near Christmas. Above was the one I created last year, titled "Designated Reindeer." I was really tired...

NoBloMo #25 - Bargains Over the Holidays

I don't like Black Friday anymore.

What's even worse is the pre-Black Friday stuff.

We're practically giving up family dinner now for complete shopping.

Stop and spend time with your family this Thanksgiving. Please.

NoBloMo #24 - Pocket Meeples

Meeples. We see them everywhere in board games, sometimes in mass quantities, and some just acting as pawn on a board to move. Today, I'm more focused on the latter, and what you can do to make yourself stand out by one simple thing - a pocket meeple to call your own.

NoBloMo #23 - A Mistake Sealed Forever

So, yesterday I went into excruciating detail of my quest for Ignacy's signature in Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy, a game I mistakenly assumed he designed. In the end, I bought Imperial Settlers instead, and Ignacy signed in that instead. (As seen above! That's my box!!)

NoBloMo #22 - A Tale of Suspense, Intrigue, and Murder (Of My Boardgamer Ego)...Told by Tweets!

It all began innocently enough. Me, a BGGCant-er, reading through the BGGCon Twitter feed, and a Portal sale for Legacy: The Testament of Duke De Crecy caught my eye.

NoBloMo #21 - A Lesson From Smash Bros to Board Game Mentality

Earlier today, I gathered with some friends to get our Smash Bros on (the game came out yesterday). Compared to my friends, I'm clearly the weakest player, and playing this game a couple of weeks earlier with them got me spiraling in a depressive funk. I knew one friend was good - as in, practice a LOT good - so winning against him was nigh impossible. Very often, a fresh version of my character would pop in when he's at 5% damage, and I'd be knocked out without me laying any additional damage on him. And yes, it got frustrating.

NoBloMo #20 - The One About Super Smash Bros., Wii U Edition

I picked this up.

See you tomorrow!

NoBloMo #19 - BGGCant 2014

I wish I was at BGGCon.

NoBloMo #18 - A NoVloMo...Kinda

My blog is what I do. It allows me to be expressive behind words, to describe, in intricate detail, my inner thoughts and share them in digestible bites. Plus, it gives me the most out of my "A" in English. So, a NoBloMo thing is only natural. I don't have the time, really, to do something like a vlog per day. It's hard enough to get a blog entry per day.

NoBloMo #17 - I Boardgame

I want to revive something that I started around GenCon. The #IBoardgame hashtag.

NoBloMo #16 - Rolling Dice

In an entirely unscientific-based rant, I want to talk for a moment about rolling D6 dice, and how I'm falling less in love with the pips. This is vastly different from Pip on Twitter, whom I adore. But I digress...the diagram you see above is what I think about every time people focus on the value of two dice rolling. See? TOTALLY unscientific.

NoBloMo #15 - Being Crafty

This Sunday's been a bit of a burner, so let's just lay out things I've crafted that I'm proud of.

NoBloMo #14 - NoBloMo Stats

Today was a bit busy, so I'm using an out today just to observe my NoBloMo stats, and...wow.

NoBloMo #13 - No Regrets

I joke a lot about not being able to attend board game cons that are out-of-state. Origins, GenCon, Dice Tower Con, and the upcoming BGGCon. Realistically, if I did, it would have to be a family trip (unless it's business, I can't stand the thought of leaving my wife and child alone for days on end), and even that's not possible, with my second kid on his way very soon. But, as a wise smart person sternly said, "NO REGRETS." And really, I shouldn't have any.

NoBloMo #12 - Kickstarter Waits

Years ago, I thought Kickstarter was all the rage, that you'd be the first person to fund and support the really cool gems of board games that have taken a liking to the funding format there. To be the first one in line to give designers their money and be the first ones to own their beloved creation.

To this day, I am still waiting.

NoBloMo #11 - We Landed on a Comet!!

Earlier today, the European Space Agency (ESA) successfully landed an unmanned space traveller named the Philae probe onto a comet called 67P, about 310 million miles away.

NoBloMo #10 - Analyzing the Urge to Buy

You see the next board game people are clamoring to get. It's all over the social media feeds, getting high praises and reviews, and everyone's playing it non-stop. You want it SO bad.

Now, stop.

NoBloMo #9 - Relaxing, Pleasant Games

There's something special about a game when there's no killing, world-saving, or bad story-telling. When a game pulls you in with its theme, its visuals, it's a beautiful thing. Games like this allow a departure from the "destroy all monsters" attitude, and give players a peaceful environment, one in which they can step back from time to time and just...enjoy.

Here are some good games that give a nice, pleasant theme that can relax your mind.

NoBloMo #8 - I LOVE Dice

[All images have been borrowed from BGG, because I took too long writing this article. :| Except for the one above. That's my cool clear die, and my homemade dice tray!]

I love dice. They are the epitome of chance, providing a simple and quick way to determine what will happen to your character after a vigorous toss. In the right environment, dice can truly make-or-break a board game. I can go on and on and on and on...but, instead, I'll list the dice games that I've played that stand out.

NoBloMo #7 - Are There Neglected Cards and Components in Board Games?

After playing a lot of Star Realms and reading people talk about their favorite cards to get during matches, it got me thinking about the cards that people DON'T go for. Then it got me thinking more about the CCG (collectible card game) and LCG (living card game) scene out there, about cards that never get any playtime because other cards eclipse them completely. Now, I'm not entirely sure how the metagame is for something like NetRunner (if anyone can enlighten me, let me know), but I'm sure there may be some cards that no one even bothers with at all when deck-building.

NoBloMo #6 - Twitter

It's funny. I started my Twitter account in 2009 as a portable way to connect to people through my Blackberry, while walking the floors of E3. I'll save you the exposure of those early tweets, which are SUPER boring. BUT, my account existed, so I decided to leverage it for more exposure back in 2011. And 2012.

NoBloMo #5 - Analog Gaming

It surprised me that my VERY first blog entry mentioned board games, and yet I never talked about it at all until only two years ago. In my defense, the only direction I knew at the time then was video games, but I added everything else for good measure, should the opportunity arise to discuss.

It only took five years later, and the birth of my daughter.

NoBloMo #4 - The "Finished" Stamp of Approval

Probably the one distinguishing trademark of my blog, to me, was the "Finished" posts. At an early age, I tried to keep track of the games I finished, all on a 5.25" floppy on my mom's i386 PC. It was a simple text program that I kept adding game titles to, and printing it out like some official document, on tractor-fed paper.

NoBloMo #3 - The Evolution of Gameritis

I still can't believe I started this blog more than seven years ago. That means NOTHING to anyone else but me, but it shows how persistent I was to write something here. But finding a voice in my own blog was harder than I thought.

NoBloMo #2 - The Origins of Gameritis

So, how did "Gameritis" came about?

My Take on NaNoWriMo - NoBloMo!

Hey guys!

Due to (some WAY TOO easy) persuasion, I'm doing my take on National Novel Writing Month for November and doing NoBloMo - November Blogging Month!

Yes, I know what it sounds like. But stay with me.

NO GIGGLING!

Are you good?

Okay, so the whole thing with National Novel Writing Month is to promote writing during the month of November, with the final goal to finish by the end of it! It's a great thing to do if you're up for the challenge! Me, I'm lucky to even get a blog post up.

Which is why I'm taking a spin on this and making it NoBloMo! (HUSH!) I'll be attempting to write a blog entry every day for the month of November. About what? Well, whatever is on my mind, or what I found, or whatever I deem unique enough to warrant a post.

(Yes, it's November 2nd. I forgot yesterday, but I just started now, so give me a break!)

So I thought that the first thing I'd discuss is the reason my blog articles are so sparse.

Why So Little Blog Articles?

Life. Family. Kids. Sleep.

Those are the easy reasons to pick out. But, in fact, I have a few brewing. I'm an editor-freak, constantly re-working my own pieces to no end. It's not that I'm a little of a perfectionist, but when I write things, I want the focus to remain on-point. I've went on wild tangents in previous articles, so much so that I've had to chop off LARGE hunks of it to get back on track. It's not easy at first, but I got used to it over time. It's easy to write out streams of thought (like what I'm doing now), but if I want to REALLY get my point across, I aim to deliver my best quality of work...often at the sacrifice of numerous delays.

So, whatever articles that appear here are the best work I produce. What I lack in quantity, I more than make up for quality. It matters how I present my words, even though most of the stuff on this blog is mainly an outlet that I never expected any audience to read. Since 2007, this was, has, and always will be a personal diary of sorts that is open to the public. If anyone comes and read these, I hope they entertain as well as amuse!

Tomorrow, I'll talk about the origins of this blog and its name!