The Dojo is Dying

[Gumby Khan]

Hello, everyone. I was invited over from the Dojo Forums by Spiderman and I recognize many names here from long ago. Hope that doesn't scare any of you, but I am like Ferret and Zadok001. I remember when the Dojo Forums first opened their doors and all the problems they had. Remember when people were double posting, cause they kept hitting the back button? Or when it was discovered that your title was dependent on how many posts there were? There was one section almost dedicated to people who posted crap 50 times in a row, just to get their "Member" status? Ahh, those were the days...
Am I the only one remeniscing here? Well, back in those days, I would always look for posts from people who actually put thought and creativity into their posts. Ferret, you always amused me while stating your points eloquently. Zadok001, I may not always have agreed with you, but I always respected your argument. theorgg, I thought you were a little psycho back then, but I see much has changed. Spiderman, you arrived later, but were a welcome change to the ranting of most of the new members of that time. I could go on, but that would be a rant, wouldn't it.
Anyhow, after such a long time, I returned to the Dojo Forums by happenstance, because as you all know the link was hidden as a little title in a small box off to the right. Well, my jaw dropped when I saw the "new" forum and I was completely lost. I searched for the old names and found only a few of you. Then scanned some of the posts. Ugh, what a waste of cyberspace.
Luckily, Spiderman came to my rescue and showed me the light. The CPA is like an old warm coat and when I put it on, it's like coming home. SO, as I kick up my heels and make myself comfortable, "How are you all doing?"

"There's no place like home"
-young girl from Kansas

 

[Zadok001]

Welcome aboard, Gumby! Good to see another familiar face (well, familiar screenname, anyways).

You most certainly are not the only one feeling nostalgic here. I miss listening to Gizmo and Treefolk argue about little green weenies. I miss the fifty some odd long post about Episode One. Oh, well. 'All good things,' right?

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but how many of the old forums Big Name people _haven't_ shown up here? I can't think of any... Welcome aboard, once again.

--Zadok001, aka Greater Good fanatic
CPA Founder
"Orgg? He hasn't changed, still quite pyscho."

 

[Zadok001]

Roflmao. That'll teach me to hit the 'Include Signature' button after already typing it out....

 

[Gumby Khan]

Good to know even the great sometimes slip.
I remember one that I don't see here. I think the name was Lanfear, but I am not sure anymore. We had a small discussion about something or other and I had to apologize for my ignorance. Also, remember that HUGE thread by Yogi? It was about how he was so superior and how dare the Dojo reject his submissions? Glad he never resurfaced. Anyhow, glad to be here.

"Hajime Mashite"

 

[Ed Sullivan]

God, I remember that thread! That was a hoot. There's an example of what happens when a message boards' admin(s) are non exsistant

-mike

 

[Spiderman]

The only big names I can think of are (oddly enough since they were just mentioned by Zadok) are Gizmo and Treefolk.

 

[Ferret]

Hey Gumby! Welcome to our little cell of resistance! It's nice to see more of the old Dojo crowd making it here!

Life is good...

-ferret

"...say, since you live in Japan do you get to see first run episodes of Iron Chef?"

 

[Gumby Khan]

Iron Chef? Is that like Yan Can Cook? I mostly watch shows like Tenchi Muyo, Pokemon (new series), and a bunch of afternoon toons that I don't even know the name of. Here in Japan, they don't have a regular schedule of shows. For instance, if you watch Galaxy Cowboy at 3pm on Tuesday, then next week at 3pm, they may have another toon on instead, or no toons at all! It's best just to rent the anime, if you can catch them at the video store. Strangely enough, the Japanese like to make a LOT of X-rated anime and it's hard to filter those out of your selection, unless you can read Kanji. Once I accidently picked one up and my whole family was watching it when all of a sudden...well, let's just say I never moved so fast to hit the eject button in my life!
Is there anything y'all want to know in particular? Video Games, Anime, Pokemon? I'll try and do some research if you like.

"Sensei, the ninja's are attacking and the dojo is burning, but my...what a large Yakata you have there! (cheezy 70's music in the background)"
-Long John Samurai

 

[theorgg]

aaahh, yes.

BECOME A MENBER!!!

I am the one that started that post...
aahh, nastalgia.
well, the ones that I can think of are Jacob##(well, believe me mike, I calculated the odds of doing somthing stupid, and I went ahead anyway...)
ChaosTurtle(I wish he wasn't a critique of us. great opinions.)
Lainfear(we know what happened to HER, she was the gamer of the week at the dojo.)

I don't remember that many more.
mabe I'll extend an arm out to chaosturtle
chaostortle@hotmail, wasn't it?

 

[Zadok001]

Iron Chef is a neat little show... Ferret, are you still able to watch it? I could've sworn that they canceled showing it English.

 

[Ferret]

Iron Chef is shown on the Food Network on Friday and Saturday night at 10pm EST (7pm PST) and re-run at 1am EST (10pm PST).

The whole cast has English voice-overs except for Chairman Kaga who has subtitles - he's the star of the show so he can't be dubbed!

The show is like a combination of American Gladiators and any cooking show you've ever watched. It's worth watching at least once just for the entertainment value...

-ferret

"...If memory serves me correctly..."

 

[Gumby Khan]

Tell me Ferret, Iron Chef is NOT an Anime, right? Does it have six or so contestants that have to do strange cooking tasks? I saw one that had everyone using different types of chopsticks to pick up all kinds of things. There are a lot of strange shows on Japanese TV and you don't need to know Japanese to enjoy them. Last night, as a matter of fact, this show had two guys go around town and sneak into peoples bedrooms. They would take some food (like sushi, curry, sausage, etc.) and wave it in their face or tap their eyes with it, until they woke up. Then they would start a timer and scream at them to eat it, eat it now! When they got over their initial panic and stopped screaming "Nan-dayo?" (What the...?), they would finally take a bite and stop the timer. The lower the time, the better their ranking was. The winner was 6.1 sec. and he had ham strips laid across his face to wake him up. The loser was a kick-boxer who didn't speak Japanese and whom the game show hosts thought was going to kick their a$$! Anyhow, that's just an example. I could record some of these if you like, but they won't be dubbed nor sub-titled. It's better to make up what they're saying anyway!

"Who the hell are you and why are you trying to feed me squid?"
-Last words heard before hitting the floor

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Orgg,
I am here, and honored that you remember me.
But a critic? Me?
Oh, yeah... it's been awhile, but I recall now. I'll try to keep setting you guys straight every now and again when I can.

Now, let me say this...
I consider myself a casual player, but to me the casual player is not restricted to not ever playing in sanctioned tournaments, or playing only "for fun." I like to go to local sanctioned tournaments (as well as every Prerelease since Tempest) and get in on the tech. I don't often do so well, because my card pool is mediocre. Students like me are often cash-poor.
The point is, I hope you'll not consider me too out-of-line if I actually come out in favor of something WotC does.

Peace, all!

-- The Chaos Turtle
"A little sunburnt by the glare of life."

Coming Soon: Why the current Arena point system sucks. Any takers?

 

[Dune Echo]

Actually Chaos Turtle, we've all agreed to take a much more positive approach to what WotC is doing. They've actually listened to the general populace in regards to the game's speed. Maybe they'll listen to us some more if we continue to be positive and praise what we consider them to be doing right.

Also, we're not saying that no one should play tournaments. We're just sick of the "pro-players" who need broken cards in every set and for whom cards like Sizzle and Flame Jet suck because they're more geared towards multiplayer settings. A lot the people here do play tournaments. We can't condemn someone for having fun. We can only condemn someone who doesn't contribute to the fun of Magic. Also, we're just tired of hearing about the "tier 1" decks all the time. Personally, I love all-commons play and I think that it has a lot of potential, especially since it's so close to the roots of Magic.

-----------------
Dune Echo

... now if only I could find a way to make my favorite uncommon cards (Albino Troll, Cradle Guard, and Skyshroud Elite) legal in an all-commons tourney...

 

[Ferret]

Gumby: Iron Chef is kind of like a game show. The producers find a local chef in Japan and pit him against one of the four chefs that they have in the "Stadium" that represent four different styles of cooking (French, Japanese, Chines, and Italian).

After the introductions the theme ingredient is introduced - usually seafood or some random fruit or vegetable - and they have 60 minutes to prepare as many dishes as possible using the theme and then a panel of judges - along w/ the enigmatic "Chairman" Kaga - try out the dishes and rate them and determine the winner...Usually the Iron Chef wins, but the occasional surprise happens when the Iron Chef actually loses. The announcers go crazy, but the Iron Chefs are usually pretty cool about it.

It's a lot of fun to watch if you can find it. It's put out by Fuji Tv. Let us know if you can find it.

-ferret

"...for more info visit <A HREF="http://www.ironchef.com..."" TARGET=_blank>http://www.ironchef.com..."</A>

 

[Zadok001]

I don't think there's any problem with going to tourneys or having the latest 'tech.' I mean, like I said in my aritcle a while back, I have all the current 'hot' cards. 4 Force of Will, 4 Masticore, 4 Ports, 4 Necro, etc... I can and have built a lot of 'techy' decks. The real difference is I don't always play to win. I'll build an infinite combo, play it in a ten player game, and go off turn 2. Then I concede.

Anyways, it's good to have you here, Chaos!

 

[theorgg]

HEY! that's a great idea!

even out the odds of all the players, then concede.

great idea, stickman! Now I need some more saporling bursts. in our chaos games, If thou are out of life, thou stick around. thou just can't control mana or your creatures when thee leave. go off, kill the verdant forces, kill the thorns, kill the annoying blue player, kill self. if anyone wants to use my burst, they can. if not...

I thanketh thee for thine idea...


caneth the tell that I'm having to study shakespear in school lately?:{ )

 

[Gumby Khan]

Ferret, I did a little checking and I think it airs on Fridays here. Did you want me tape it for ya?

"Pass the snow peas, please?"

 

[Zadok001]

Methinks thou doth protest too much, Orgg. You want something to read in your spare time? Check out Finnegan's Wake. Someone made the horrible, evil decision to hand me that book in 8th grade. Such fun, such fun.

--Zadok001, aka Greater Good fanatic
CPA Founder
"We have more sprouts than they have hands."

'Riverrun, past Eve and Adam, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, past the castle of commodious victious at Environs.' (Btw, if anyone here can explain this book to me, you have my utmost respect.)

 

[Spiderman]

Dune Echo: Just some thoughts on your post:

"Actually Chaos Turtle, we've all agreed to take a much more positive approach to what WotC is doing. They've actually listened to the general populace in regards to the game's speed. Maybe they'll listen to us some more if we continue to be positive and praise what we consider them to be doing right."

Now, I'm thinking the general populace is referring to casual players AND tourney players. Which means there were alot more of people's opinions to consider. The issues the CPA want to bring to WOTC's attention seem to have a smaller membership base.

"Also, we're not saying that no one should play tournaments. We're just sick of the "pro-players" who need broken cards in every set and for whom cards like Sizzle and Flame Jet suck because they're more geared towards multiplayer settings."

I'm not sure that pro-players "need" broken cards, I think they're just better in finding them. Did they ask for Academy? I think they take the card list and look at possible broken cards. And even then they can hit or miss. Necropotence was underrated (admittedly in the early tourney scene), Masticore wasn't picked up right away, and Cursed Scroll was overlooked for a while. The point is that WOTC puts out the cards and pros take the list and break it; they don't ASK for it (with maybe the exception of the Player Designed Cards).

"A lot the people here do play tournaments. We can't condemn someone for having fun. We can only condemn someone who doesn't contribute to the fun of Magic. Also, we're just tired of hearing about the "tier 1" decks all the time. Personally, I love all-commons play and I think that it has a lot of potential, especially since it's so close to the roots of Magic."

All I can really say here is try to filter out any tourney talk, which is admittedly hard. But face it, it's geared towards another audience. If a tier 1 deck is going to beat an all commons deck most of the time, a tourney player is going to want to hear about the tier 1 deck. In fact, I can imagine tourney players setting up their own board and saying "Gee, I hate all of this all-common deck lists and multi-player cards, get back to the 'killer' cards".

Again, the point is, like I mentioned before on Pokemon, if it's something you don't want to read, try not to. And realize that though casual players may outnumber tourney players, the ones who apparently want change (CPA) don't and it'll be really hard to make something happen.

Boy, call me pessimistic! Please take all of the above with a grain of salt, I always lose track of what I'm saying as I cut and paste and even when I go back and read it.