iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/09/2026

Went to the "community book sale" and bought a stack of mid-1980s #scifi magazines, mostly for the game reviews. So I guess I collect vintage sci-fi magazines now. I think there's even a review of #StarFrontiers in there somewhere!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/09/2026

Phil and I apparently have two mutual friends on Facebook, but one of those friends is deceased. We're all getting old, and researching old school game history often feels like a race against the Grim Reaper.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 07/09/2026

If I was playing the #MontyPython RPG, I would use this soap so I showed up at games smelling of elderberries. It's immersive!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/08/2026

The next time a job interviewer asks me to describe a personal weakness, I'm going to say "I can't make joke so obvious that multiple redditors won't try to correct me on history I lived through."

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/08/2026

Bought an old collection of the "Bulletin of the British Model Soldier Society" this week, and might have another lead on German #toysoldier sizing? The December 1968 issue says Heyde had TEN standard #miniatures sizes! I didn't know yet if these were guild standard sizes, or just Heyde's system.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026

The local art supply store is trolling me with their sticker display.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026

I picked up two more issues of the MWAN newsletter to look for responses to Toby Barrett's original letter, and what did I find? A second person claiming they learned about the eye-height standard from Willie Suren! Is this all going to trace back to Suren making excuses for his 1970s #scalecreep?

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 23/08/2026

Three months later, #WizardCon still seems doomed. The Facebook page is still AWOL, the website says they've rescheduled to October, but the promised event list is overdue on Tabletop Events.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 14/08/2026

Jeez Louise! If #GenCon went badge-less like #ECCC, I'd have to use a second phone just for my badge, and I'd hang it from my neck in protest.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026

So, the #cryptocurrency dorks on Reddit have been talking about dice a lot since last week. When a post appeared in r/dice looking for a Chinese manufacturer and talking about "bits of entropy," I knew right away: That's a crypto-bro dork. And he has a business plan... for dice!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 08/08/2026

I was checking the mailroom for a package I'm expecting, and noticed one of the other tenants has received a package from @goodmangames.bsky.social. There's an #OSR guy in my apartment complex! Shit, there goes the neighborhood.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 03/08/2026

There were for different vendors (including the soda company) at #GenCon this year named some variation of "Critical Hit." Hey folks, maybe we should declare a moratorium on using this phrase in business names? It's getting confusing!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026

They turned off the lights and told us to leave! (Look at those sad faces.) #GenCon 2026 is complete. See you next year, Indianapolis!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026

Took a while to get to the official #GenCon pizza this year. "Dragon's Luau" is a spicy pineapple pizza. My wife and I agree: Too much spice, not enough pineapple.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026

My wife @coreyosullivan.com drinks @redbull.com everyday, so we did what we had to do to get this #GenCon baggage ribbon for her.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026

A quick record of the storm damage at #GenCon: Part of the board gaming hall is closed, and some Block Party tents have collapsed.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 02/08/2026

There's is a free photo "booth" at #GenCon. The pictures it takes are not great. Look at that stomach it added to me!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 01/08/2026

Tornado Warning at #GenCon ended 15 minutes early, but now we've got a flash flood warning?

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 01/08/2026

Signed up for a last-minute paint-and-take at #GenCon because it will help my wife earn a badge ribbon she wants. Not going to ruin my reputation by photographing my shitty miniature.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026

Trapped in a extremely bloody session of the Dune board game at #GenCon where everyone is unclear on the rules and the gamemaster is occasionally asking Siri for help.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026

Wife and I attended the first session of the #DnD Carnival at #GenCon 2026. It's pretty, but they're clearly still working out the kinks.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026

When I used to travel solo to #GenCon, I'd bring just a box of crackers and a bag of beef jerky for motel snacks. My wife packed a cheese cutting board this year, and I don't know how I feel about that.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/07/2026

My wife's silent review of the official #GenCon #beer.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026

My wife @coreyosullivan.com declared it was taco time at #GenCon because the taco stand had the shortest line.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026

We are now officially Gen Caffeinated, and it only cost us 54 bucks. At least the #GenCon souvenir cups have lids this year!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026

We've made our plan for the #GenCon Exhibitor Hall, and now we join the crowd to await the Opening Day crush. See you on the other side, shoppers!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026

After being DENIED last night, we have successfully acquired our #GenCon swagless bags and coupon books. Now we are scanning the coupon books for freebies and deals!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 30/07/2026

It's that time of year again, when I remind you: #GenCon is SOLD OUT. If you didn't bother to get a badge by now, don't bother to show up,

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 29/07/2026

I've lost my wife at the first event of #GenCon. She may or may not be somewhere in the photo.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 05/07/2026

So, like, is this #dice game made from unicorn bones? What a terrifying thing to sell to little girls!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 21/06/2026

Wait... they approved my group membership application? We're all going to regret that.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 21/06/2026

Sometimes, I think Origins Gamefair only exists so that #GenCon will have a little brother to pick on. Anyway, I expect to be banned from this group soon, because I probably deserve it!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 21/06/2026

I'm not attending #Origins2026 but Facebook keeps recommending the discussion group to me, and the complaints are something.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 21/06/2026

Picked up my #GenCon badge and tickets from the Post Office today. As usual, the free badge lanyard is advertising a game I've never heard of and will never play.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 31/05/2026

Looks like someone made another big donation of #dice bags to the local craft reuse store. #AnnArbor has such generous alcoholics!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 18/05/2026

Just discovered #Amazon has an "About You" section that lists what it's discerned about my consumer preferences. Amazon isn't quite sure if I own a car, but it is sure that I play games with "specialty #dice."

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 17/05/2026

#GenCon tickets purchased. Struck out on #FantasyAGE, but that was mostly because of scheduling conflicts. Got tickets for both of the #Dune games @coreyosullivan.com wants to play. She loves "Dune." I, on the other hand, might need to pack a cheat sheet.

Theater handout for the 1983 "Dune" film.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 17/05/2026

Wishlists submitted to #GenCon. Now I can go so something useful will I wait, like putting on some pants.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 14/05/2026

Just bought two badges and started two wishlists. I guess @coreyosullivan.com and I are going to #GenCon this summer!

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 27/04/2026

Um, do you also think characters are saying "sigh" when word balloons in old comics say "sigh"?

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 26/04/2026

The local bar stopped having #boardgame days, so @coreyosullivan.com and I are trying game night at a cocktail club. Lower turnout, but I'm getting drunk faster than usual.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 25/04/2026

#WizardCon has suspended its Facebook account so that it doesn't have to face questions from people who were planning to attend. That's not the action of an honest convention organizer.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 22/04/2026

Now Lou is gone, Gamescience will probably be gone soon, and we'll never know what the next dice shape would have been. You should still go buy some of his dice, though, while you still can.

Lou Zocchi and Contrarian, at Gen Con 2008.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 22/04/2026

MetaScape flopped, but Lou kept selling the leftover #dice for years. Eventually, he decided to sell a "normal d16" and it was a big hit! Gamers still wanted more shapes of numbered dice. He followed up with a d14, d3, d5, and tod24. (I bought them all and use them all, of course.)

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 22/04/2026

High impact #dice were cool, but Lou Zocchi really changed the industry in 1980, when Gamescience started selling 10-sided d10. He proved that gamers would buy new dice shapes if they were useful. The 10-sider was hit. In 1981, TSR added it to the official #DnD dice sets.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 22/04/2026

Zocchi invented the idea of "premium dice" in 1974, charging 4x as much as TSR's #TTRPG dice, but guaranteeing high-impact Gamescience dice would last longer. By longer, Lou meant "two years" -- this ad is from 1978! archive.org/bcdownload/N... Yes, TSR's #dice were that bad back then.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 22/04/2026

Although Gamescience didn't start manufacturing #dice until 1974, Zocchi was already thinking about dice in 1971, when he speculated about the possibilities of 10-sided dice in Wargamer's Newsletter. fourcats.co.uk/mags/files/W...

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 18/04/2026

I have a hobby (#rucking, if you must know) that requires a sturdy #backpack, so I'm used to Facebook showing me advertisements for backpacks. Still, I was a little surprised to learn there are TWO companies producing official #DnD backpacks.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 18/04/2026

What's odd about the article is that it seems to ignore its own reference to eye-height when it goes on to discuss scale ratios and repurposing larger-scale figures as giants. It's also insists that scale ratios only be calculated in English units! That bothers me.

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Contrarian @pataverse.com · 18/04/2026

Found an even earlier reference to measuring #miniatures by eye height in the November 1979 issue of #DragonMagazine. It's also the earliest article I've found that describes "six feet" as the average soldier height.

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