Sam on Maui

One of the coolest parts of any board game would be the custom parts. But, one of the worst parts of any board game would be the custom parts. Particularly custom dice. Why? Because they’re harder to fake having, to improvise. So, as a result, I figured I’d better map the dice on these two games, lest I lose them, the dog eats them, or they go off to the 5th Dimension without me.

Onward and upward, I reckon? It seems there’s a lot more Dilithium and Zen trading hands than I’ve seen in a while. That said, it also seems that the Z:D ratio' of being under 1:100 is pretty much the new norm. I figure with people getting to where they want to be in the Reputation system, they’re using their Omega and Romulan Marks to buy Dilithium to sell or use for Fleet projects. So, why is the price not really going adjusting much? Seems that people are willing to pay the higher prices for Dilithium, and sellers are more than happy to sell at that price per Zen.

More playing with numbers! Sometimes I feel like an old druid or something, looking at numerical guts in an attempt to predict the future. Well, not quite. More like looking at the data, all spilled out on the floor, going, “Well, that’s interesting.” Average Z:D Average Buying Zen volume Average Buying Dilithium volume Average Buying Total Voume So, what can we see here? I’ll go ahead and say that this is almost like a Rorschach test due to the lack of better information. I’ve never made it a secret that my way of getting data is limited, and is at best the tip of the iceberg. We can’t see the successful transactions, nor can we get a full picture of offerings (ie, entire the 1:25 to 1:500 range). That said, I think we can say that trading seems to be up, with more offerings being up on the board than before. Now, whether that means the number of successful transactions is up or not is impossible to tell, simply because when the Exchange updates itself, you only...

Well, I think its safe to say whatever rut we saw pre- and post- Season 7 is over, at least for trading volume. Wow. How long will it last? Not a clue. But, overall, it seems there’s a lot of people buying and selling Dilithium (although there’s a sharp dip recently – wonder if I messed up recording a number?).

Happy Valentine’s Day! This time of year I’d normally be complaining that City of Heroes was rerunning the same event as last year, and that Halloween plus Christmas got all the developer love. sigh Can’t do that anymore. So, be sure to enjoy your games, whatever they are, while they’re still around. Anyhow, enough of that, and onto the data!

Last night I got around to priming the individual COGs; Cole, Baird, Dom and Fenix. Rather than using the gesso like I did the Locust, I used Army Painter’s spray primer. The reason why is I didn’t want the primer to shrink away like the gesso does, and the thinner layer of the stuff meant I should have a little more detail with the figures. Why the concern? Because they’re the player’s pieces, I wanted them to be better looking and more detailed than the Locust. They are the heroes, after all. Moreover, unlike the Locust, they’re well defined characters as a group, the protagonists of the series, and really the guys you spend the most time with in game. As such, they really deserve more attention.

The Drones, the Boomers, the Theron Guard, the Kantus, and the Berzerker. Primed and painted. I started with them Saturday night, did a bit more Sunday, and finished up tonight. How did it go? I think it went along pretty decently!