In Review: Father Geek’s Monthly Newsletter (May 2014)

Greetings, Geeks!

Another month has slipped by like a ninja in the night…or a ship…or a ship full of ninjas. It’s May and that means Spring in Southern Minnesota is “kind of” here. Last year, we had one bugger of a snowstorm in May that took down trees and had many people questioning their decision to live in the upper Midwest. Throwing caution to the wind, as it were, everyone in Minnesota is now wearing shorts. Temperature be damned…

April was a busy month! I was able to get many more game reviews published than I originally thought possible. This had to do mostly with me not having much to do during the evenings and my professional life starting to calm down a bit. May is looking like a real disaster, however. As you may (or may not) know, my family is in the process of moving. Everything we own is going into boxes and into multiple storage buildings. While I am most pleased to report that I have sold my house, I am at a loss to tell you where I will be moving to. We continue to look for a house, while at the same time move out of the one we have. Luckily, we have a place to stay, but my family needs to be moved and settled (somewhat) before school starts in the Fall.

Talk about stress, eh?

May 4th, the official Star Wars Day (as in “May the Fourth Be With You“) has come and gone. I hope you got your Jedi-on-something-wicked and celebrated it with a massive light saber flash mob. If you celebrated it like my family did, I gathered the children at my feet and told them how stupid Ewoks were and why Jar-Jar Binks should be nuked on site. Geek Pride Day is on May 25th. Make sure you fly those Geek colors with enthusiasm and let everyone know you don’t give a damn about how strange your hobbies are. On a relevant side note, there is still no excuse for Furries or Bronies. Still, to each their own. I’m not judging (yes I am).

Moving on…

Site Improvements and Changes

I have made several changes to the website based on reader comments.

• Search Improvements: I have changed my search engine for the site to better provide relevant search results. I’m watching what terms are NOT found and taking steps to reduce zero results as much as possible. If you are a frequent user of the search function on Father Geek, I think you’ll find the returned results to be much more specific to your interests.
• Removed User Voting: The star rating found at the top of each of the reviews has been removed. I found that the star rating function was not used as often as I thought it would and also incorrectly suggested the game’s overall level of endorsement. I have removed it, but you are still very much welcome (and encouraged) to leave your thoughts about the game in the comments.
• Game Summaries: Both the search results and the game review index now include game summaries. This was added in response to a reader’s comment that they wanted to see what the game was about at a higher level. Included in the summary is the number of players, the game minimum ages (both from the publishers and us), the time it takes to complete the game, and the endorsements from the groups. These results are also displayed in the search results. Note that these values are new, which means that I have to update 500+ reviews by hand. It’ll be time-consuming, but well worth it.
• Advanced Search: Still VERY EARLY DAYS, but I am providing users the ability to search based on criteria. Again, this work is based on user comments and it’s my hope it helps you find games that interest you  in a much more logical fashion. I am not affiliated with any store or group, so I don’t offer any suggestions on where you should buy a game. I do encourage you to shop around, however. Get the cheapest, and if you can, ALWAYS support your friendly local game store (FLGS). If you’d like to give it a try, I welcome you to do so. I have left the comments open for the page, giving you an opportunity to provide feedback.

As always, I welcome you to contact me with any suggestions. I’m here for you, after all.

Coming Up in May:

• Galipotes
• AnimaLogic
• Fish to Fish
• EquiLogic
• Reflection
• Rock Paper Scissors BANG!
• Daredevils & Company
• Arena Gladiators
• 12 Realms
• Acuity
• Rapid Reflex
• Mage Wars: Druid vs. Necromancer

Last Month’s Scribbles:

• Say Anything Family Edition
• Pet Detectives
• You’re Pulling My Leg!
• You’re Pulling My Leg! Junior Edition
• If Only I Had…
• Card Craft
• Tsuro of the Seas
• Tsuro of the Seas: Veterans of the Seas Game Expansion
• Disc Duelers
• Celestial Rainbows
• Empires of Zidal
• Slap Wacky!
• And maybe a few more if I can find the time…

My thanks, as always, for reading the nonsense that I write.

Roll High and Duck Low!

Your buddy,

Father Geek