ArchivedLogs:Game Theory

Game Theory
Dramatis Personae Micah, Isak	8 October 2014 Unfamiliar territory for Isak and...yeah, not so much for Micah.
Location <NYC> Pandemonium Games - Lower East Side
Two floors of geekery, Pandemonium Games in the Lower East Side is, at first blush, a bookstore rather than a gaming store, small and cozy with aisles dedicated to sci-fi and fantasy books. The glass counter opposite the bookshelves, admittedly, does hold a wealth of cards from various collectible card games, though binders of Magic cards predominate. Bins of dice in a wide variety of colours stand at one end of the counter. It is the lower level of the store that is usually the busy one, though. The stairs leading down to the basement head first into shelves and shelves of games; board games, RPG sourcebooks, Warhammer figurines, battle mats. Beyond the shelves of goods, a much larger room is mostly bare save its many wide tables, filled at all hours with people playing tabletop games of all kinds. It has been a lovely, clear-sunny, crisp fall day. Temperatures are falling into a chillier range now that the sun is bowing out to the early creep of darkness into the evening. Micah brings a bit of the cool breeze in with him along with the tinkling of the bells over the door as he ducks into the game shop on his way home. This last is betrayed by his work clothes, TARDIS blue polo shirt and khakis only partly hidden under his olive jacket, newsboy cap, green gradient fingerless gloves, and messenger bag at his hip. Despite his mission of picking up a special ordered Dixit expansion for next game night, he is drawn first to the dice bins. As always...though the one-die-per-visit rule has yet to be reinstated since the entire collection went up in the Village Lofts explosion. He digs through one or two of the containers looking for new recruits rather systematically. Isak sticks out a bit in a place like this. He's a nerd for fashion, not for Star Wars. He's wearing a light gray wool peacoat with red skinny jeans and a yellow scarf. He's standing in front of the gaming book section with a perplexed look on his face. He bites the edge of his lower lip. There is a light plastic clatter against the table here and there as dice are tested for an acceptable level of not rolling terribly. It's just a louder version of the same sound being repeated on tables downstairs where games are in progress, really. Micah selects a blue and purple tie dye styled d20, a glittery purple d10, and silver swirly d4, and a green d6 with red pips. That's enough for one visit, it would seem. He collects the selected dice in one hand before heading for the back of the checkout line. "I don't understand any of this," says Isak out loud, and to not anyone in particular. He scratches the side of his head and runs his fingers over the spines of the book. "It's like engineering manuals. People do this for fun?" He opens one up and scans the pages. The rather /lengthy/ line for a Tuesday evening positions Micah close to the back of the room and its shelves of books. “Nothin' like engineerin' manuals, b'lieve me. I've read enough of both. Of course it's for fun. What else'd it be doin'?” His grin tugs a little lopsided, one eyebrow creeping up a fraction to match. “Y'lookin' for somethin' specific or just got lost?” Isak flips over the book, reads the spine, then slides it back on the shelf. "My cousin back in Sweden. He asked me to look for a book he can't get at home. I asked him if he'd ever heard of the internet, but apparently it's out of print. Thought they might have a secondhand section here." "Not that I know of," Micah replies with a small, slightly apologetic shrug. "Best bet would be t'check online where folks sell their old stuff. Ebay or some such. Though geeks have a tendency /not/ t'get rid of books. Maybe you'll luck out if it's that old." He rolls the dice in his hand, plastic sides clacking against one another as they move. "Apparently it's only been out of print for about four months. If he wants it, chances are people who are into this stuff wouldn't let an out of print book sit on the shelf." Isak turns his head and squints at the spines. Then he straightens up and looks around. "I think I know what some people feel when they come into a Blomgren shop. Slightly out of place. A bit like I am an intruder." Micah giggles at that characterisation. "Oh, hardly that. Folks're usually pretty cool with people wanderin' 'round places like this. I mean. If y'sat down at a table where a game's goin' on an' asked people t'explain their colourful little figures, they /might/ could have some jokes t'make. But then y'got geeks an' an opportunity t'talk 'bout the thing they're interested in, so, as long as y'weren't interruptin' horribly..." Another shrug comes with that, dice still circulating in his hand. "I'd go ahead an' ask at the counter if they have it. If they don't, they might be able t'refer you. Or special order. Or tell you t'look on the internet." "I swear that kid thinks I have magic powers. My powers are weak compared to the power of Google." Isak chuckles and rocks back a step. He nods towards Micah's hand. "I've always wondered. Why do those things have so many sides?" "Google pretty much /is/ magic," Micah asserts with a grin. "Any sufficiently advanced technology." The pause in his answer to Isak's question might imply biting back the instinctual response. "Whole point of usin' dice is t'add an element of chance. Number of sides changes your probabilities of things happenin'. If y'only had coins, everythin' would be 50/50. If y'only had 6 sided dice, you're limited there, an' so on. Havin' options of number of sides gives y'finer control of how likely y'want things t'be in your game. Sometimes they have /fewer/. S'four sided dice, for example. Game theory's actually pretty interestin'... Oh, it also helps if y'want a huge list of things t'choose from. Like...rollin' a d100 t'determine a Rod of Wonder effect. Gives y'lots of things that can happen." He shifts a little along with the line moving up. "Then y'get dice /pools/, an' all the statistical fun of rollin' /several/ at once." Isak reaches out and picks up a shiny one. He turns it over in his hand. "I guess so. I've never been one for numbers and statistics. But I can see the appeal, I suppose." He hefts the die. "Something tactile in a very digital world. Retro." "Y'don't /need/ t'be too up on the statistics just t'play. But it's important for game creation. 'Specially for developin' game balance." Micah's head tilts slightly. "Of course, it helps t'take advantage of games if you're good at pokin' the rules. But not everybody's just lookin' t'munchkin everythin'." The retro comment earns a giggle. "Yeah, there's a lotta that in the gamin' world. Pretty much exist t'fuss over why the original version of whatever was better. An', yeah...computers can serve the /purpose/ of dice, but they just aren't as satisfyin'." He shifts nearer the counter with the line once more. Isak lets the die roll off his fingers and back into the bin. It clatters against its neighbours. "I understand this about as much as the people downstairs would understand the intricacies of the fashion world. Different...uh, there is an idiom..." His English is very good, but occasionally there are hiccups. "I'm sure there're several that'd fit the bill, but I catch your meanin'. S'all 'bout what you're familiar with, really." Micah chuckles softly. His turn in the line comes up. "Well, good luck with findin' your book. I'd definitely check with these guys." The gesture of thumb at the fellow working the register implies a certain level of familiarity. The fact that the fellow collects Micah's order from where it was behind the counter without /asking/ implies this more heavily. Micah adds the small pile of dice to the game box when it arrives, then digs in his wallet for a credit card to swap digital currency for goods. "Have a good night!" Isak lifts a hand towards Micah. "You too. And, good luck of you play a game?" He smiles, then turns back to look at the books while he waits for the line to get a little smaller. Maybe someone pushed the mystery book behind the others.