Here’s a little review of a different kind. Just read–the eyes you save could be your own. (I apologize for NOTHING there.)

Having gone nearly three years without glasses after the tragic demise of my old pair, I was pretty well out of patience with having to stick in my contacts every time I needed to drive five minutes to the grocery store or wanted to watch TV. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pay the several hundred dollars a new pair would cost me. I’d heard good things about the website Zenni Optical over the years, but wasn’t too sure about buying from them. I mean…glasses, frames AND lenses, for as little as $8.00 a pair from some place on the Internet? My last pair of glasses clocked in at a cool $400 (my eyes are short-bus special). How good could glasses that cost me less than my favourite sushi lunch really be?

The short answer is, “Really damn good.”

The longer answer is, “Even better than the pair that cost me four hundred kicks to the clams!”

A month ago, I finally gave in to the burning desire to own a good pair of glasses, and also gave into the equally burnariffic urge to NOT pay $400 for them. So I hit up Zenni-land, and was pretty impressed right away at what I had to choose from. So much so, actually, that I ended up with two pairs, one costing a sweet base cost of $8.00, and the other $9.95. My wonky prescription, which my old optometrist’s glasses office claimed they’d have to charge extra for? No problem! was Zenni’s stance, and my credit card and I rejoiced. I sprang an extra $4.95 for the anti-reflection coating on each pair, the lenses came with free anti-scratch coating and UV shielding, and the shipping was $4.95–a flat rate no matter how many glasses you order. I passed on the offer of polarized clip-on shades since I already have a pair of polarized sunglasses I wear over my regular glasses. My grand total for two pairs of eye-saving love? $32.80. Suck on that, $400 glasses! You’re no longer welcome in my life.

The glasses arrived about two weeks later, and I was thrilled with them out of the package. They were much smaller and lighter than my old pair, made of titanium (my former pair was made of a heavy bulky metal because I was told my lenses were too thick to be supported by lighter materials). After a day or so of my ears and nose getting used to the fact that there was something on them, it felt like I wasn’t wearing glasses at all. And the most important aspect, the prescription, is spot-on. I can wear these glasses all day if needed without eyestrain or headache. I know where I’ll be getting my glasses from now on!

You do need to do your homework before ordering. The best thing you can do beforehand is to go visit physical stores and try on their frames to see what feels and looks good on you. Write down the brand names and all the little letters and numbers engraved into the temple arms of the frames you like. Then, go to your favourite search engine and input that information until you find the specs of each set of frames: lens width, lens height, bridge, temple arm length, and frame width. The more info you can track down, the better chance you stand of finding just what you want, particularly when it comes to lens size information. On Zenni, look for frames that have lens shapes and frame size specs similar to the frames you liked in person. They don’t have to be an exact match, but you want them to be as close as you can get, within about five to ten millimeters if possible.

In addition to your prescription, you’ll also need to know your pupillary distance (PD), something optometrists often don’t write on your prescription. This is the distance between your eyes, and it’s VERY important you have this measurement correct (I don’t recommend trying to measure it yourself). Luckily, you can walk into just about any place that sells glasses and have them determine your PD. Zenni also provides helpful data on how to read the measurements you’re given for every section of the ordering process, so even though you may be confused to start, everything is explained and made easy. Trust me, doing the little bit of legwork is totally worth saving a few hundred dollars on your glasses!

Zenni also makes sure to verify the information in your order before making the glasses. If you make a mistake or buy an add-on you don’t really know that you need for your prescription, they’ll contact you to explain why you don’t need the extra purchase and refund any extra money you were charged. When you place your order, Zenni tells you that you will receive a receipt by e-mail; mine didn’t come until my glasses were shipped about two weeks later, so don’t worry if you don’t get your receipt e-mail right after ordering. But make sure to check your spam filters regularly–Zenni sends their glasses with Delivery Confirmation, which means you get a tracking code in that e-mail! Speaking of shipping, Zenni’s service is much faster than in previous years. I remember hearing that all their glasses used to come from Asia and could sometimes take months to arrive and be processed through (and occasionally rejected by) customs. Now, orders for US customers are coming from California, which is good news to anyone in the country who prefers to have their glasses in days rather than weeks. Glasses ordered in other countries still come from Asia, I believe.

Do I seem happy with my glasses? Because I totally am. And now, my glasses and I are going to play Oblivion on the PC while still being able to see the DVR’d episode of The Venture Bros. playing on the TV four feet away. Long live Zenni Optical!

…congratulations to Richard and Katy, the supreme rulers of the Spwugniverse!!!!!

They are the essence of everything that is Spwug.  Without either of them, this site wouldn’t be here to bring you a daily dose of all things geek.

It was an honor and a privilege to witness the joining of these two forces of good.  They are my friends.  They are my family.  I am proud to be the head writer of something they envisioned, and I am proud to be a part of their lives.

My best wishes to both of you, Pocky Rich and Katy.  Here’s to bigger and greater things.  With your powers combined, anything is possible.

When I’m on the phone with family, my housemate is usually a few feet away, blowing zombies to pieces in Call of Duty 5 or racking up headshots in Battlefield 1943. A common phone conversation goes like this:

THEM: I hear a lot of noise over there. Is he playing games again?
ME: Yep, he’s playing online with some friends.
THEM: Everyone’s staying home to play?
ME: Yeah, no one wanted to waste time and gas driving over to someone’s house, and then we’d still have to drive back home later ’cause we all have work tomorrow.
THEM: So do you guys ever actually hang out anymore, or do you just all stay home and play video games without ever seeing each other?

Gamers are reclusive, shunning the light, not to mention all other people. Surviving on chips in order to gain one more level before work, one more rare drop item, as their chair strains under the player’s ever-increasing bulk. It’s a common myth about gamers, and one that’s probably had most of us rolling our eyes at some point (and had the guilty gamers struggling to get their respective behinds unstuck from their chairs). Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to raise a counterpoint. Not with the fact that you can actually socialize with friends while gaming, via headsets like you’re talking on the phone. No, this is about a much more physical type of gaming interaction.

The Sunday LAN Party. It’s become a sort of tradition amongst my group, only failing to take place when most of us are out of town or have to work. We pick a house, and everyone lugs over their computers and consoles, their handhelds, their huge flatscreen monitors, movies, drinks, and a whole lot of potluckin’-good food. People take turns playing games, since it almost never happens that everyone owns the game currently being played on the local network. While a group game is in session, anyone not playing eats, chats with whoever’s nearby, watches movies, plays cards, or mucks about on a Nintendo DS or a PSP. Even the people who are engrossed in multiplayer gaming are talking with one another–that is, when they’re not yelling instructions like, “ZOMBIE BEHIND YOU!” or “Crap! I need a revive!”

In other words, it’s a real party, full of real party activities (some of which are fueled by real alcohol), and real party people (who may or may not be raisin’ their hands in the air like they just don’t care). It just has the word “LAN” in front of it.

And that bit about us gamers shunning the light? I took this photo at the last LAN party (only had my cell phone camera, sadly). Check out the full-size version, and….Why, just LOOK at all that sunlight coming in through the patio door! Okay, so that part’s a bit tongue-in-cheek….Still, though. It’s natural light. I think it counts.

The boys were gracious enough to reveal part of their screens for this photo, to showcase the variety of gaming we get up to at these things (albeit they’re all on PS3s at the moment. Some Nintendo and PC gaming was going on outside of camera range.) Can YOU identify all the games being represented here?

That’s all for this installment. Tune in next time for…I don’t even know what, but it’ll be here!

…I found them!!

They were at a Big K-Mart down the street.  I was tempted to buy the whole box, but in the end I just bought six.

My search is over.  We now return you to your regularly-scheduled program, already in progress…

Annnnnnd…I’m back! Don’t applaud or nothin’….

Do I hear…chirping?

That’s a fine way to say hallo, after I’ve gone to all the trouble of going down to Panama City Beach, Florida and bringing you all back a souvenir! But because I love you all THIIIIIIS much, I’ll give it to you anyways.

What is it, you ask? Is it that webcomic review I promised you’d get on the 11th since you wouldn’t get it on the 4th?

Well…no. No, it isn’t. The moral of this story, kids, is to always expect the unexpected when it comes to road trips. In my case, the “unexpected” was a complete replacement of my car’s compressor, radiator, front engine mount, and several other bits ‘n’ ends (I am so over Honda after owning two…I’m going back to Toyota for my next car!) I got home from Florida half a week later than originally planned. And so, due to an extreme lack of time, you don’t get your promised, already-delayed webcomic review this week. Can you ever forgive me?

What’s that, you say? “Give us this present, and maybe we’ll consider it”? Well, fine, then. Here you are! I bring you…the beach.

“The beach?” you ask. “What’s a beach have to do with a geek blog? Beaches aren’t geeky! The sand and the salt water damages our portable electronics. The sun makes it hard to see our tiny screens. It’s almost impossible to get a wireless signal by the ocean. And geeks don’t tan; we BURN! What about the beach could possibly be pleasing to us?!”

Oh, come on, give me SOME credit here! I took this photo from the balcony of the condo I was staying in:

Now THAT’S geekery at its finest.

(….Don’t get the joke? Then you suck need some education about the Battlefield video game series. First, look at this webpage for Battlefield: Bad Company. Then look at this Easter Egg from Battlefield 1943. [It's a shame how explaining a joke ruins the punchline.])

“Oh, PLEASE! THAT’S our souvenir?! But that’s just cheap and CHEESY!”

Well, isn’t that what beach souvenirs are supposed to be?

Like LeVar Burton, I’ll see ya next time!

Ahhhh…welcome back, boils and ghouls! Here we are, for another spine-tingling installment of Tales from the Video Game Phobia Crypt!

(*Sigh*….It just doesn’t have the same ring to it. And don’t ever let me channel the Cryptkeeper again.)

Here I am, back in the land of the living! Not even lengthy power outages can keep me from posting! (Except for the part where they DID…but I’m back now, at least for the moment. A few of you will get me when I shout “TOSHIIII!!!!!”) Before we dive in, I’d like to warn all two of my readers that I likely won’t get to post next week. I’ll be hitting the beach, and not only will I not have Internet access there, I’m not sure when I’ll be near a computer again before the end of next week. So instead of promising you a late post, I’ll play it safe and just say, if it happens, if happens. If it doesn’t…well, I’ll be seeing you August 11th with the webcomic review that was due the 4th!

And now for something completely different.

Last time, I delved into real-life phobias carrying over into video games. This time, I’ll talk a bit about a phenomenon unique to video games: phobias that originate from the games themselves. Again, we’ll be using one of my own as an example.

Now, let’s start off by stating that I love me some ocean. I don’t like to swim in it so much, but that’s only because the fish seem to be under the impression that my toes are a free meal. But I don’t have any real-life phobia of the open water….Well, maybe just a smidge of apprehension because you never know what’s under the surface. (Ask my sister how much the jellyfish love her toes!) But that’s what we call Playing It Safe, kids. Always respect the water. And wait thirty minutes after eating to go in.

Oh, 2D gaming, how I miss thee. Swimming in the water and dodging Cheep-Cheeps was such a breeze before the era of 3D games….

Super Mario 64. The game that turned the water’s deeps into a bloody playground of terror (minus the blood). I ain’t afraid of no water! I’ll just jump off this here Jolly Roger ship and take a peek at what’s under the surface, and OH MY GOD THAT GIGANTIC HUGE BLOODY GREAT EEL CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AND CHOMPED ME. WHERE DID THAT THING COME FROM?! OH THE HORROR! OH THE HUMANITY! OH THE RIPPING POLYGONS!

Remember Unagi the eel? It was all fun and video games until his bulk filled your TV screen and whacked the air supply out of you with one sweep of his tail. Here’s a 1:04 video showing the stage where you’re actually supposed to get right up in his face and make him come out to attack you.

Are you out of your freakin’ mind, Nintendo?! “Can the Eel Come out to Play?” Heck no, the eel can’t come out to play! Make him stay home! My mom says he’s a bad influence.

Are you laughing at me? Look, those were some swanky graphics back in the day. Low-resolution polygons be darned–that huge blank stare struck fear into the heart of this formerly-fearless gamer! My sister had to complete all the water stages after that. For me, this began my descent down a dark road of paranoia. The water was safe no longer. At least, not in Mario’s world. (Oddly, I never had a problem playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s underwater segments. Maybe because I knew that there were no subaqueous enemies outside of the Water Temple, and inside the Water Temple was almost like being on land.)

Most of the games I played since that time didn’t involve water combat or going underwater, so my fear of Unagi and the unknown depths went largely forgotten…until four months ago, when I finally caught up to the rest of the gaming world and started playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I emerged from the beginning sewer dungeon into a world of beautiful, expansive landscapes, fearless and ready for my next challenge (finding clothes for my character, if this screenshot I took is any indication)….

….But wait, what’s that moving under the surface of the water? Is that…is that a huge, ugly, fang-filled fish that probably wants to eat my face and then swallow my bones? Why, yes, according to this link, I do believe it is! What is this cold terror that grips my heart? Oh, hallo, water phobia, I thought we’d fallen out of touch over a decade ago. What are you doing here again? OH GODS NO I ACCIDENTALLY FELL OFF THE DOCK AND INTO THE WATER. GET ME TO SHORE NOW!!!! SWIM SWIM SWIM SWIM OH THANK ALL THE NINE DIVINES I made it to the shore again. Let’s just hyperventilate over here for about five minutes until my hearts stops running a marathon, okay? Sooooo not going for a swim again.

I don’t live with my family anymore, so getting my sister to kill these aquatic monstrosities, appropriately called Slaughterfish, was not an option. Luckily, my housemate (who’s also the one who introduced me to Oblivion) was game to take care of any large fanged fish that needed killing. Which was awesome, since there’s a quest that requires you to kill a dozen of these horrific things, swimming in some of the darkest, murkiest water in the game, which only makes the phobia worse. (Luckily, I play on the PC, and was soon able to install an unofficial mod that makes the water crystal-clear. No less frightening, though.)

It’s odd how something that you know isn’t real can frighten you more than what you know IS real. A real body of water doesn’t make me blink, but put me in a virtual ocean of unknown terrors….I suppose that’s why horror movies are so popular. But you can have your axe murderers–if you want to scare me, set your thriller movie in Jolly Roger Bay.

Surely I can’t be the only one out there who’s too chicken to face certain parts of video games. Anyone care to admit their gaming weaknesses?….Yeah, I don’t blame you. I probably wouldn’t admit it, either.

And now, it’s time for me to meet some great friends for some good sushi. You call it dinner. I call it revenge.

P.S. Does my arachnophobia from my last post get triggered by Oblivion? Take a look at this link and decide. Giving them the upper half of an attractive woman doesn’t numb the fear quite as much as you’d expect, once they start moving.

There’s no denying that video games have had a huge impact on society, even upon those who don’t play them. In the early 1990s, a survey revealed that more people recognized Mario than Mickey Mouse. A certain disbarred lawyer afflicted with, shall we say, “a lack of total sanity” had his career shattered by his misguided attempts to have video games criminalized. And let’s not forget the money brought in every year by games and the merchandise and events they spawn (Penny Arcade Expo, anyone?)

With an epic opener like that, you’d probably think I’m getting into some really deep discussion territory here. My friend, you’d be wrong.

I’m going to talk about a phenomenon unique to video games: game phobias. Specifically, my own.

In the “real world,” phobia-wise, I’m probably best known for being terrified of anything vaguely arachnid-like. But that didn’t matter in video games! I’ve sliced my fair share of crab/spider-like Gohmas in the land of Hyrule, as well as stomped the nasty little web-spinning buggers (or should I say, arachners? Or just spiders?) in various 2D platform games. Oh, fighting and destroying spiders was all fun ‘n’ games when all the action was in two dimensions. It was blissful revenge for all the times those little jerks made their webs right over the head of my bed.

Then video games decided it was time to step things up a bit, and went 3D.

I’ll never forgive you, Ocarina of Time.

The very first level of The Legend of Zelda’s initial foray into 3D gaming. Absolutely crawling with various species of Skulltula, the new giant spiders of the Zelda universe. I thought the first level was supposed to take it easy on you! Give you a feel for the game! Apparently no one told the Great Deku Tree dungeon that. I remember s-l-o-w-l-y inching my way through that tree, jumping every time a spider dropped out of nowhere. The scratching sounds of the Gold Skulltulas told me where to find them, but they also wreaked havoc on my nerves, knowing that soon, I’d have to face another arachnid. (The fact that there’s one in there you don’t kill until later in the game didn’t help. Its presence taunted me, reminding me that I’d have to come get it if I wanted to complete the Gold Skulltula sidequest. And you’d better believe I did want to. I was going to eliminate every spider in Hyrule.)

Then I came to the darkened boss room, where I heard skittering along the ceiling and saw little bits of debris falling from where the as-yet-unseen boss knocked them loose. My heart rate jumped up by about nine times over. I was going to fight a giant spider. I knew it. But the game couldn’t be happy just letting me know what I was going to face and then triggering the fight once I entered the room. Oh, no, it forced me to look for the giant spider Gohma; the battle doesn’t start until you make first-person eye contact with the traumatizingly-ugly thing. I believe it took me a good fifteen minutes to get up the courage to switch to first-person mode and look around.

The actual battle itself is a bit of a blur. I believe it largely consisted of me jumping and flinching nervously in my seat and constantly yelping out words that aren’t repeatable on this site. Eventually, though, I was victorious, and Skulltulas largely became a bad memory until the Forest Temple–except for the gold ones that inevitably landed on my head when I rolled into trees. And the people who had been turned into Skulltulas in Kakariko Village. The head of the family, with his giant spider’s body and contorted human arm and face, still makes me shiver…as does his plaintive scream when you attack the vulnerable belly.

GAAAH! I don’t want your money–I want to NEVER SEE YOUR ANTI-ALIASED FACE WITHIN 500 MILES OF ME AGAIN!!

Ugh….I…I need a hot shower. And a family-size flyswatter.

You know, Ocarina of Time is actually the genesis of many of my in-game fears. Remember the creepy woman-scream of the ReDeads? The strange bloody spots and organic-looking waste in the Kakariko Village well dungeon? The Kakariko Village graveyard and its many secrets? (Is it just me, or is Ocarina’s Kakariko Village a neverending source of Lovecraftian horror?) The deep, dark shadows that might or might not conceal face-eating enemies, just waiting to get a little taste of Legendary Hero?

I never got scared playing a video game until the fifth Zelda title came along. (My forays into the survival horror genre came later. Don’t even get me STARTED on Resident Evil 2, with its own giant spiders and its Lickers.) But what I’ve addressed here is a phobia that already existed for me in the “real world” and merely carried over to the in-game world. Stick with me, and next time, we’ll dive even deeper into game world phobias by addressing ones that exist only while playing video games.

….And yes, it took a lot of guts–and a little hyperventilating–for me to include spider-filled screenshots in this post. And I now know I may never be able to complete The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess because of THIS:

If you don’t see anything frightening about that picture, then, my friend, you are crazy.

Welcome to this week’s post of my Geek Journal!

Sorry that I skipped last week’s entry; I was busy working at Anime Mid-Atlantic. ^^

If you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, you’ve heard that several big celebrities have passed away this week:  Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson.  I’m not going to say much except that they will all be missed in their own way and that out of the three, Jackson’s death was the most unexpected to me.

Not much in the way of geeky movies last week, but we’re good to go this week:  The second Transformers film was released this past Wednesday.  Reviews have been mixed from what I’ve heard, but a friend and co-worker who has already seen it said that he really enjoyed it and thinks that it’s better than the first one.  I’ll have to wait on my own judgment until I see it tomorrow.

Windows 7 is still working quite well for me on both my main system and my laptop.  Microsoft recently announced the upgrade and full version pricing, so now I have an idea on what it’s going to cost me to switch permanently to Win7.  With the ability to do an in-place upgrade to a different version of Win7 being made easy (Home Premium -> Pro -> Ultimate, just buy a new product key, no need to do a new install), I’m thinking of going with the full version of Home Premium to start, then upgrading as needed; however, this is dependent on what the pricing will be to do said upgrade(s).  If it costs more than the difference between the versions’ normal prices to do an upgrade, I’m sure Microsoft will get a lot of flack for that.  If they’re smart, the in-place upgrades will be cheaper.

This concludes this week’s post, thanks for reading!

The air is changing… The breezes whisper its arrival…

Time grows short.

Yes, that’s right, Anime Expo (AX), one of the largest anime (/manga/video game/etc.) conventions in the nation is almost upon us!  If you plan to cosplay at AX and haven’t started your costume yet – better get crackin’!

The vast majority of costumes require more than just cotton or polyester; they require titanium alloys, precious stones, tiny supercomputers, and other impossible pieces to make up a character’s armor and accessories.  But unless you’re insanely wealthy (and probably a little insane), you’ll take the budget route and use tried and true materials, like resin, foam, wood, or clay.

Clay is great for armor details and oddly-shaped accessories – which is the reason I chose it to form the jewelry that Princess Zelda adorns in her Twilight Princess form.  As you can see, it’s definitely not something you can pick up at a store, and if you try to buy a ready-made set online, you’re looking at spending a couple hundred bucks – and that’s just for the headdress!  If you’re artistic or can bribe a friend who is, you’re better off trying to attempt making it yourself…

…no matter how daunting the task may appear. *gulp*

To make accessories like these, you can choose from a variety of clay on the market.  I’m going to focus on two for now – Crayola Model Magic and Sculpey UltraLight.  Crayola’s Model Magic seems like a cosplayer’s dream – it’s cheap (one 4 oz. bag costs around $3.00), it air dries in a day, and it’s lightweight.  But Model Magic requires a surprising amount of extra work to ensure long life of a prop.  Most cosplayers that use Model Magic recommend coating the dried piece with a few coats of gesso, glazing, and/or covering with material to strengthen the piece.  The old (and possibly current) formula of Model Magic also performs a magic trick when paired with metal – it chemically reacts with the metal, producing a brown, rusty goo over time (I learned this the hard way with some ornaments I created years ago and unearthed later).  If you’re making a one-time-use prop and don’t care about durability as much as cost, this is a good way to go.

On the other hand, if you want all that blood, sweat, and tears spent trying to form these intricate pieces not to have been spent in vain, Sculpey UltraLight is a great option.  I stumbled upon this stuff while trying to hunt down some Hearty Clay, and decided to give it a shot.  I love this stuff.  It’s soft and forms easily (a little too easily at times – I don’t think Zelda would approve of my fingerprints all over her jewelry), it bakes well, can be sanded and drilled, and best of all, it’s pretty durable.  I made an extra test piece and when dropped, it bounced and didn’t shatter.  Now mind you, this was a piece shaped like one of the leaves in Zelda’s crown, and not something super delicate, but I was surprised at how well it stood up to the repeated abuse my fiancé and I put it through.

Although this clay requires an oven to harden pieces, it only takes fifteen minutes per quarter inch of thickness to bake – much nicer than waiting the twenty-four hours required for Model Magic.  Once the piece has cooled, you can sand it and paint it with standard acrylic paint.  If you don’t sand the entire piece beforehand (I didn’t…), it’ll just require a few extra coats of paint – something you’d want to do anyway, sanded or not.

I haven’t completed my Zelda armor/jewelry yet, but so far, I’m very happy with the results I’ve experienced with the Sculpey UltraLight.  It’s a bit more pricey than Model Magic – it comes in a 10oz package only, which runs around $10.00 – $12.00, but the saved frustration from having to remake your props will make it all worthwhile.

You can find Model Magic and Sculpey UltraLight at most craft stores and online.

Have a safe Cinco de Mayo, Spwug readers, and may you finish your costume BEFORE 3 AM the night before AX!

Greetings, my fellow Spwugians.

Remember that six-week-long course you were forced to take to fulfill some ridiculous college requirement?  You probably came out of those “how to study” or “find your true calling” classes with an armload of books you never cracked open and only an ounce more useful information than you started with.  What if I told you there was a six-week course that was actually interesting and gave you something useful for your hard-earned money?  If you’ve got six free Sunday afternoons and some extra cash (yeah, I know, I just snickered too) , the makers of Warhammer 40,000 and the new War of the Ring tabletop games have a proposition for you – to join them in the “Games Workshop Academy.”

For your fifty dollar academy fee (yes, that’s a “5” and a “0”), you’ll be enrolled in a six-week class made up of you and up to five other students.  Each week, you’ll focus on a different gaming-related topic – from figure construction and painting to rules and gameplay of some of the tabletop games the workshop offers.  During that time you may possibly score yourself a free (no slight of hand required) figure or two, and at the end of the course, each student receives a large case to house your future armies or any other game elements.  So sure, sounds fantastic on paper, but is the course really worth the hefty price-tag?

All sugar-coating aside – this academy is not for everyone.  If you’re just curious about model building or painting, you’re better off buying a book or searching for tutorials on the Internet, and spending the fifty dollars on materials.

This class is best-suited for people who are very interested in the Games Workshop games or similar tabletop games, want to know how to get started, and how to build the same awesome armies and terrain displayed on each Games Workshop game table.  The majority of the classes (obviously) are geared towards setting players up with the figures, paints, books, and other tools necessary to play the game.  In other words, in place of that fifty-dollar “Study Skills” book, you’ll be encouraged to buy the fifty-dollar game bible.  If you’re planning on playing the game, you’re pretty set.  If not, as with any other course, you can skip the homework that requires the book, deal with your instructor’s sighs, and move on.

Luckily, in my experience at least, the instructors never force the game on you – they’re more excited to show you how much fun you can have and how you can customize the game to your liking.  They don’t work on commission, so they’re free to treat you like a fellow human being, not part of a quota.  Just as with any other class, the instructor can make or break each session.  I definitely experienced a distinct range with my instructors.  My favorite instructor kept the class light and extremely nerdy, while my least favorite decided to spend most of the time talking (mainly about his awesome painting skills) and only allowed us a few moments of hands-on learning.  My advice is to check out your nearest shop beforehand and get a feel for the people working there.

One last piece of advice – if at all possible, try to take the classes with friends.  Not only will you have a better time (duh), you may be able to score a larger terrain set (i.e. a fort) to share collectively, and you’ll have more freedom over your schedule (i.e. Freedom to collectively postpone classes if need be.  Be advised that if you miss a class, your instructor will insist you make it up at some point during the week!)

My final verdict?  If you’re looking to get into these types of games or want to do something fun and nerdy with your friends, this is a good way to go.  If not, you’re better off sinking the money into materials and scouring the Internet.  I think I’ve learned some useful information from my time spent as an academy student – especially on how to build terrain.  Let me put it this way, if my home someday includes a miniature replica of Rivendell, complete with tiny working lanterns, you know why.

For more information about Games Workshop and their collection of games, visit:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/home.jsp