Oneiromancer wrote:
I knew the name "Tablesaw" sounded familiar...
http://forum.caravelgames.com/member.php?Action=viewprofile&username=Tablesaw
If you look in the blog linked from the article (not the same one as linked from his forum profile), the guy has the same avatar and quote in his signature...so the same person. Who hasn't posted on the forum since August 2005. But obviously DROD still holds a special place in his heart!
Just because I haven't posted doesn't mean I don't still read. I just haven't been keeping track for a while, and when I do read, I rarely find I have something to say that hasn't already been mentioned.
My pedigree: I started with DROD in the Webfoot version. I can't recall precisely when I started, but I remember having to download a demo from Beethro's Roasted Roach Grill to get past the tar level. I wasn't able to complete the game until Caravel DROD. It took me until after AE was released, but I refused to upgrade until I'd beaten it.
As for the other comments:
GSW columns generally take a hardcore/elitist bent, and mine is no different. Really, it's hard to have a non-elitist voice when the defining concept of the column is that
Tetris doesn't deserve to be called a puzzle game. Accordingly, I focused on the greater depth the game's puzzles have developed over the years, instead of the more product-specific aspects like humor and improved graphics. I do recommend DROD to my non-puzzle-obsessed friends, and that pitch tends not to mention "
optimization puzzles."
Also, I was inspired by Erik's "
Lost Tribe"
Illumination, which is why it got such a long quotation. All of the games discussed in "
Beyond Tetris"
are meant for the same Lost Tribe.
Rabscuttle's improvement will be grudgingly mentioned in a "
Beyond Tetris"
errata column sometime this week (along with a mention of Smitemastery 101). I was very torn about displaying my #1s so prominently. Clearly, my fears were well-founded. Ah well, I'll always have KDD 19:2S. (I will, right?)
Yes, I was a tester for The Puzzle Boat, and I just recently collaborated with
GregB as part of the team running the
2007 MIT Mystery Hunt. Also, I've agreed to collaborate on a new "
Intercoastal Altercations"
for later this year. The agreement was made over drinks, but it was only the first round, so I think it still stands.
____________________________
It's the saw of the table!