Geek Chic Experience Part 2: Delivery

Spoilers:  I got a Geek Chic Table recently.  Here's my experiences of getting one.  In this post, we'll cover the day it was delivered.

Saturday, August 22 was our last D&D game on our old table

Our full setup on the old table.

Using the white board for the last time.

 As our party was finishing fighting some troglodytes, we got the call.  They were going to be able to deliver the table THAT night.  In fact, they'd be arriving in an hour.  We finished up our adventure for the night and quickly cleared the area for the delivery.

So empty!

We sat there, some of the players leveling their characters, when there was the knock at the door.  THEY'RE HERE!!!!

The table goes over there

The delivery guys brought everything in and were incredible friendly, personable, and careful.

We posed with the table still on its side.

Then the guy went through all of the different pieces of the table, showing us how each piece attached.  We even got to help install stuff.  The first things to install were the white board and non-glare acrylic. (They installed the acrylic upside down, but we figured it out later.)

 Next up were the various grids and printings under the acrylic, as well as the fabric layer.  We got the space printing specifically for X-wing, Federation Commander, and similar games.  You can lay a hex   map over it so that you can play Fedcom easily, or leave it off for X-wing type games.

Then the guy showed us how to put in the leaves to turn it into a dining table.

Next came the accessories.  We got a LOT of accessories.

Specifically, we got 6 each of the counter holders, bins and cup holders.  As well as the tables for the sides without drawers.

We tested the drawers, too.

Finally, we got inner "leaf guards/desks" for having larger table top area along with an inner play space.

One of the really awesome things about this is that the guy literally ran through every piece of the table to make sure it fit and worked correctly.  Not a thing was missed.  As he went through things, he explained everything.  How to clean it. How to avoid damage.  How to use it.  Everything.  I have never experienced anyone being THAT thorough about anything before.  Super professional.

In the next part, I'll tell you all about our first experiences using the table in all of its forms.

Geek Chic Experience Part 1: Ordering and Waiting

Spoilers:  I got a Geek Chic Table this weekend.  Here's my experiences of getting one.  In this part, we talk about what it was like to order it and wait for it.

Playing Memoir '44 Eastern Front

It all began early 2014.  At that time, my partner and I were in a really good financial situation and wanted to "splurge" on something to enhance our favorite hobby together:  board games.  I googled for "Geek Board Game Table" and discovered Geek Chic.  In late April, we decided to put down a deposit on an Emissary table and waited for our "valet" to contact us. Just a few weeks later, Beth from Geek Chic contacted us to start walking through our decisions.

The valet experience was fantastic.  Over the next month, she gathered all sorts of information from us.  How big the room was.  How big our games were.  How big we were.  What games we play.  etc. etc. etc.  They had little pamphlets and flyers for every decision we might make.  What type of felt we wanted.  What type of wood. The design of the leaves. The various accessories.  Everything was incredibly well presented and laid out, and all of our questions were answered with surprising clarity.

Between June and September, we sort of dropped out of communication with Geek Chic, due to getting married and such, but as soon as we got back, we started talking to them again.  We were supposed to go into production in October, but were delayed until December, which gave us a little extra breathing room to finalize everything.  We had our final design done on November 11, 2014.

The rest of the experience wasn't as smooth as the beginning.  We were frequently told by Geek chic that we would get communications at such and such time, but then they wouldn't contact us at all.  After a few weeks, I'd email them and finally get a response.  There were definitely some communication issues, some of which may have been on my side, but a few were definitely on theirs. To their credit, when I emailed them about these delays in communication, they'd usually have a good explanation.  It was just disappointing after such a wonderful valet experience to have such a mediocre customer experience during the manufacturing phase.  I could detail all of it, but it's not necessary.  I wouldn't say it was a *bad* experience.  Just mediocre.

All that said, the table was finally finished on August 4, 2015 and Geek Chic sent us a bunch of pictures of the table in its pre-shipped form.

A few weeks ahead, we were given a call that the table would be delivered between Saturday, August 22 and Monday, August 24, probably on Sunday, August 23, 2015.

In the next part, I'll go over the delivery day experience!

Outer Wilds

Contribute to the OuterWilds Campaign

Outer Wilds is my favorite game of all time, and it hasn't even been released yet.

Back a few years ago, a small group of college students put together a tiny demo of a game for a school project.  It was an ambitious, but incredible project that resonated with the hearts of people everywhere.  This year, the leader (or only member?) of that team joined a real software development company, and his first project as part of that team is to turn this little project into a fully featured game.

If I were to say what makes this game so great, it is that it is the first game I have ever seen that takes the dream, fantasy, and wonder of space flight, as seen through the lens of science fiction, and distills it into an immensely fun and playable experience.

The game is essentially a game of exploration and discovery.  A wide and wonderful solar system lay before you, and you can explore it at your whim.  After a brief introduction to the world you're joining, and to how to maneuver and navigate in this environment, you are thrown to the winds of space in your very own space ship.  You travel to and from distant planets throughout your solar system, discovering what is happening and unveiling a deep and fundamental mystery as you go.

This isn't a game of getting achievements, or racking up points.  There's no laser guns or beam weapons.  What danger there is is found predominantly in the environment itself.  Don't land too hard or you'll damage your ship or break your leg.  Don't turn on autopilot so that it takes you through the sun.  There's no inventory.  No complex events.  Nothing you'd normally see in a game.  Just you and an environment to explore, and what an environment it is.

Flying in this game is magical.  It is effortless and free, unbound by the realities of space.  A fantastic rendition of travel through the stars that manages to hold to just enough reality to fulfill your imagination of what space might be like without making things hard, like you might find in Kerbal Space Program.  This is the Neverending Story of space flight, riding your luck dragon through the cosmos, feeling the wind in your hair in an entirely unrealistic, and yet delightful experience.  One of my favorite things to do is to get out of my ship and just coast along, watching the planets go by.

The version that has been resleased so far is unfinished.  Seeking answers to some of the mysteries present in the game simply wind up at a dead end.  A void where *something* should be.  A space that feels like it should be more meaningful than it winds up being.  They are looking for funding to help finish the game and release it for all to enjoy, with all of these gaps and dead ends filled in.  The world we have explored so far will be completed, and the story will go on without leaving us hungry and wanting for more as it has in the past.

I strongly recommend you check out the alpha, freely available online, and if you like it, go to the link above and give them $20 or so.  The world will be a better place for it. :)

Oh, and here's their AWESOME pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL5bEI5siwE