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Wednesday 13 July 2016

Game Weekend

Piteru decided to come over for a long visit spanning two days... naturally, this was the perfect opportunity to sit down and play as much as physically possible +1



Android: Netrunner
Specially for this occasion, I caved in and bought some packs for Netrunner.

I guess we both highly like the game. Its asymetry is definitely a high selling point.

Of course,
Piteru had to go with his favourite Criminal faction while I picked one of the new Corp identities I got.

Android: Netrunner
There was criminal activity in the form of unsollicited hacking and behind the scene deals made.

I built an aggressive deck with what I had but instead of going for servers left and right,
Piteru just had to play it safe... which costed him the game!

DC Deck-Building Game
Next up was possibly one of our favourite games.

We did get to go to town beforehand so I had a new Expansion set to add to the DC Deck-Building Game.
Piteru didn't like the idea of using the Watchmen Expansion but I convinced him to give it a try when I mention the traitor mechanic.

Unfortunately, he made it way too obvious that he's the secret villain. I still didn't manage to win...


Carcassonne
This is where Piteru surprised me.
He bought me a game!
Obviously, there was no way we wouldn't play it.

Carcassonne is a classic among boardgames and highly enjoyable, even with just the base set. We had a small fray over a city at some point but never managed to finish it anyway.


Splendor
Splendor is a game Piteru bought me last time he came over. Do I sense a pattern here? Maybe...

I must say, he got a lot better at playing it then before. Someone must have been practicing as he stole victory away from me with a single point!


Epic PVP
Piteru wanted to play Epic PVP.
We went with an odd pairing.

Since he picked a High Elf, I went with a Dark Elf and then, instead of picking some goody-do-gooder class, he combined it with a backstabbing Rogue! I just had to pick a honorable Samurai. We went at it back and forth.

Completely different than the last time I remember.
I suppose we both learned how to play it.

Android: Netrunner

When I looked at all the viruses, I got an idea for an Anarchist virus-heavy deck. While I generally play Corporation, I like the Anarchists as a faction.

What can I say? Some people just want to see the world burn... and look at all those virus counters!

I managed to pull off some good synergy between those cards.


DC Deck-Building Game

Piteru wanted a rematch...
of a game he won.
Don't ask...

This time we dealt out our heroes randomnly, Silk Spectre vs Nite Owl... and throughout the game we each suspected the other to be the Secret Supervillain!...
 
So when we got to the final stage of the game, it was revealed we were both good guys! We also made the game harder for ourselves because I misread one line of the rulebook.

The funniest part of the game was at the end when, although we were on the same side, Piotrek killed my character... this is the sort of friends I have...

One Hit Kill

Lastly, we played One Hit Kill.

It's an easy and quick set collection game with the added benefit of getting to smash your opponent with THE HAMMER OF THE GODS... as
Piteru rightly deserves after the last game...

Monday 4 July 2016

Brexit

It's been well over a week since the UK held a referendum on whether or not to leave the EU.

Normally, I avoid talking about current events here because they don't affect me on a personal level. This, however, had a very strong impact on me.

British politics is going crazy at the moment. People are coming out of the woodwork claiming they regret their Leave vote, while it turns out a lot of people didn't go vote Remain because the weather wasn't nice. Farage is insulting EU politicians while The Guardian proclaims him as some kind of Messiah. Seemingly everyone is pushing for Corbyn to resign. Everyone and their mum is running for Prime Minister. Brexit promises are denied, like they never happened. There are protests on the streets of London. There's a petition for another referendum.

There's probably a lot of other nonsense going on too amid all this chaos.

As for me, I'm not sure what to think. I'm more worried about others and what this will mean for the economy of the British Isle than myself personally. When the results came in, a lot of my friends started talking about getting passports of other EU countries and figuring out ways to move out of the UK.


It saddens me to hear that. This whole referendum saddens me in general. When I first voiced my emotions, I was met with reassurances that no one is going to be kicking out EU-nationals. Whether that's the case or not isn't an issue for me. I would ideally prefer to keep my life the way it is and work on improving it rather than be forced to start over, obviously, but my gripes are mainly ideological.

I moved to England because at the time I thought of it as a progressive and cosmopolitan country. Precisely the kind of place I wanted to live in. I was tired of living among people who'd judge others based on arbitrary qualities like where they were born, who they were attracted to or what their interests were.

I've met some great people over here in Brighton who helped me through some harsh times. Although I haven't been subject to any 'racist' attacks, which are on the rise since the referendum, I can't help but wonder. If all the people I care about were to leave and I'm left in a country of nationalistic bigots, what's the point of staying here at all?