Eurogames evangelism?

Have a look at the talk Quinns gave not half a year ago to a video games audience about why board games are cool and how it's going through a golden age.

Main reason for Golden Age? The blend of 'german style' mechanics and 'american style' foces on theme and conflict.

jurrga.blogspot.nl/2012/11/a-golden-age-...ing-maybe-maybe.html

You may or may not agree with his arguments, but it is clear that he feels hybrids are the best thing ever happened and that is something I've heard on FAT a lot as well. This guy may be more of an ally than we think.

Why he seems to switch from this position to euro good, Ameritrash bad? I can't say. I don't think he means it

On the other hand, it's been strangely quiet at Shut Up & Sit Down over the last couple of months.

Jur, the gist of that linked article was that Ameritrash games are fun, but fun is just a phase. Eventually, experienced boardgamers will outgrow fun and gravitate towards serious eurogames for serious people. Important, brown games of tremendous intellectual weight are clearly superior to random fun games with strong themes.

Maybe that writer enjoyed Ameritrash and hybrids in the past, but his tastes seem to have changed since then.

Shellhead wrote: Jur, the gist of that linked article was that Ameritrash games are fun, but fun is just a phase. Eventually, experienced boardgamers will outgrow fun and gravitate towards serious eurogames for serious people. Important, brown games of tremendous intellectual weight are clearly superior to random fun games with strong themes.

Maybe that writer enjoyed Ameritrash and hybrids in the past, but his tastes seem to have changed since then.

http://www.shutupshow.com/post/43987374151/games-news-25-02-13

"This week also saw the announcement of the official Firefly board game! Which we could all safely assume will be rubbish and go back to de-scaling our kettles, except it’s by Gale Force Nine, the same design team that made the really quite great Spartacus game. So it might not be anything other than good!

No details as yet, but it looks an awful lot like Merchants & Marauders to me. Which could be problematic, since it’s hard to imagine a better game of salty smuggling than that beauty."

Yeah, it sounds totally like he's developed a dislike for Ameritrash games. Oh, wait, no. It sounds like he still likes them.

So, what's the gist of the article? "Finally, you'll be enjoying everything the hobby has to offer, and you will be at peace. Because a board gamer cannot survive on theme alone." I don't know about you, but it sounds like a conclusion to me.

His only sin is that he's trying to drive home his point by making fun of the Ameritrash experience (like: waking up in the morning with a terrible hangover and a token up your bum). And, as we all know, the only thing that a dedicated Ameritrasher hates more than Eurosnoots who can't take a joke, is someone who makes fun of Ameritrash.

HELLO EVERYBODY.

Author of the article here! A BGG user called Kate Tristan pointed me to this discussion, and I'm grateful. Hopefully I can clear a few things up.

First things first: Kotaku changed my fucking headline after I submitted my copy.

My head was "Why your board game collection needs some Euro-style games." They changed it to "Forget Game of Thrones. The best board games are German style!" Which did a very good job of paving over the article's tongue-in-cheek tone. Combine that with a bunch of Kotaku readers who've never heard the term Ameritrash and you've got yourself a shitstorm. I'm a cockholster now, apparently, which is a shame, but whatever. I asked them to change it back and NEVER DO THAT AGAIN, but that doesn't change the URL.

As lots of people in this thread have adduced, I love Ameritrash. I started a new Descent 2e campaign about five days ago. Five minutes ago I finished sending an email to a Wizards of the Coat PR asking for Ikusa.

I also love eurogames. And hybrids. And party games! And drinking games. And I'm trying to get into wargames, which I'm finding is like trying to insert my head up a drainpipe, so I'd be very grateful for any entry-level wargames you guys wanted to recommend.

The purpose of the article was to ruffle some feathers among Kotaku's predominantly male, videogamer readership. The ones who are most likely to begin and end their collection at the Fantasy Flight games I name in the article.

I wanted to poke them in the eye and ask them if they knew there was more to board games. The "you" I'm talking to/about in the article represents an Ameritrash gamer who does prefer Eurogames, but he doesn't know it yet because he hasn't tried them, or even looked into them. That's all.

I'm not elitist. I don't think eurogames are better than ameritrash any more than I think swans are better than cheddar cheese. They're different games with radically different schools of thought behind them.

...That said, it is weird being called elitist by people in this thread who really DO consider ameritrash better than eurogames.

If people are interested, as a consequence of my Kotaku article I started this thread on r/boardgames , asking a comparatively unbiased and small, yet dedicated group of boardgamers whether they thought I should continue using the term Ameritrash at all. Since, y'know, every single person who's new to boardgaming will consider it a snobbish term until they're laboriously told it's not.

The upshot is that I'm not going to use the term Ameritrash ever again. In future, I'll either be using American-style, thematic or pulp, if I have to.

Thanks everybody!

Oh jesus

I just caught the 11 page thread over there discussing that same reddit post. Which includes Michael Barnes, a writer I really like, calling me unprofessional! Which is awesome.

Before anyone jumps on this, I've made up my mind. I'm not using the term Ameritrash anymore. More than anything, I'm writing about board games to get more people into board games. I've got nothing to gain from using jargon that's confusing to newcomers.

Quinns wrote: Oh jesus

I just caught the 11 page thread over there discussing that same reddit post. Which includes Michael Barnes, a writer I really like, calling me unprofessional! Which is awesome.

Before anyone jumps on this, I've made up my mind. I'm not using the term Ameritrash anymore. More than anything, I'm writing about board games to get more people into board games. I've got nothing to gain from using jargon that's confusing to newcomers.

Responding to internet abuse in a thread?! How unprofessional!

Keep up the good work. I've enjoyed your videos and articles that I've seen. Sucks that they changed your title on you, but it seems to have resulted in more hits, which was probably what your editor was trying to do.

OK, guys, I'm the kind who boasts about being right, but guess who was right? That's right, I was right! Suck on it!

Quinns: just wait until you get to the comment about your balls. :DDDD

Quinns wrote: The upshot is that I'm not going to use the term Ameritrash ever again. In future, I'll either be using American-style, thematic or pulp, if I have to.

"Pulp games" is probably the best term you could use -- very easy to understand what you're getting at. "Ameritrash" is an esoteric term used by a small audience within a niche hobby.

And I for one thought you were unfairly shit on for your article.

THERE HE IS! GET HIM!

Quinns, thanks for showing up here and clarifying the intent of your article.

Thanks Quinns. I hope that after you have wept quietly from all of the abuse we dished out you can see fit to maybe join other discussions here. Personally, I really did feel like the title ruined any tongue-in-cheek attempt, and I responded to it. So I'm glad that you are indeed as cool as we all thought, and apologies for reacting to what you didn't really mean to write in the first place.

Hey it's only been 7 years since the Euro Ameritrash wars and I know I was a big instigator in the whole bru-ha-ha. But I've always loved Ameritrashy games, and I love Euro games, wargames and 18xx...Shoot I'm even a mean player of Scrabble and Monopoly. But I only miss one thing.

I miss being called an "elitist". It gave me an air of sophistication even though it was completely misplaced. But I was a sham sitting there playing TI:3 and Dune and making funny pictures of Ameritards.

Maybe we'll get lucky and people will spark up the battle once more, even though most games today are hybrids of each other anyway. But I like the old ways.

Quinns wrote: HELLO EVERYBODY.



I think swans are better than cheddar cheese.

Thanks everybody!

I'm not sure i can accept this, but otherwise thanks for the post.


I agree that Pulp is probably a more discernible word though.

As for getting in to war games; have you tried any of the columbia block games?

Chapel wrote: Hey it's only been 7 years since the Euro Ameritrash wars and I know I was a big instigator in the whole bru-ha-ha. But I've always loved Ameritrashy games, and I love Euro games, wargames and 18xx...Shoot I'm even a mean player of Scrabble and Monopoly. But I only miss one thing.

I miss being called an "elitist". It gave me an air of sophistication even though it was completely misplaced. But I was a sham sitting there playing TI:3 and Dune and making funny pictures of Ameritards.

Maybe we'll get lucky and people will spark up the battle once more, even though most games today are hybrids of each other anyway. But I like the old ways.

Oh Chappie, you're such a 'snoot.





*I was just saying that to make you feel better. You're actually badass. If you start writing your blog again

Good job Quintin and don't mind the dickheads over here. They aren't really they just like to preen a bit too much.

Chapel wrote:
Maybe we'll get lucky and people will spark up the battle once more, even though most games today are hybrids of each other anyway. But I like the old ways.

Apparently you haven't stuck your nose in here: fortressat.com/forum/10-ameritrash/14511...he-term-qameritrashq