13 years... The House of Rants is 13 years old...

 Most blogs die by the 33rd month... I have that beat for 10 years... I literally spent my 30s blogging. I started in my late 20s and now I'm in my 40s... I-I-I can't believe it... I stuck to this and somehow managed to beat the 10 year mark... How is it possible!?

The answer is simple: it's not about the money. Sure, getting my first paycheck after 13 years would be awesome, not gonna lie. It's a bonus... besides, I'll probably be dead by the time I reach the second Paycheck from blogging... and George RR Martin will still be readying The Winds of Winter... or dead and someone else would be carrying on his duties. The reason I blog is to vent about some stuff... whether I love it or not is irrelevant.it just needs to draw my attention. I have to admit that Real Life™ has gotten in the way of my posting. Sometimes it almost feels like a chore... *cough cough* Advent Calendar *cough cough* I've felt a bit of burnout at times. Mostly due to Real Life™ issues. I'm working on some of those right now. 

Thing is that as I'm now in my 40s and dealing with a lot of stuff on my plate and the global situations have me questioning myself. Getting bent out of shape due to toys, movies, or videogames; is it really worth it? Some might say that I should "ease up" on the angry reactions, but this issue also happens with positive posts as well. But it's not just the blog related stuff... I'm losing interest in things I enjoy. Currently dealing with a Medical Professional, because I have to make sure it's  depression, stress, anxiety, insomnia related, or not.

While it has been hard at times... venting here has actually helped me with my struggles. It gave me a sense of normalcy when my life got flipped turned upside down... and I TRULY agreed with the Elric brothers and their boneheaded decision. I want to believe that writing on this blog has given me a BIT of clarity and in a way protected my sanity. 

I honestly don't know what the future will bring... but so far, I want to keep on going, not just for my loyal 20 readers, but for myself... maybe one day before 2040 I'll be able to reach the legendary First Paycheck achievement from Blogger or Google... hell, I have no idea who would be the one paying me for all of this...

It's been one hell of a ride... but we're not here to hear me mope about my Real Life™ issues. Let's talk about something else!

Evolution of Board games: a rant

Board games have to adapt and evolve... for example, The Game of Life is completely different. The 60s version is not the same as the 70s/80s (the main difference between 70s vs 80s was dollar values.) Then the 90s version added some different gameplay elements and so did the 2000s and 2010s. My issue is that since I never saved the late 80s Game of Life I had as a kid, I'm now SOL and can't play the Game of Life as I knew it... so, what I'm going to suggest is a Special "Deluxe" collector's edition of The Game of Life, that while not a 100% Accurate representation of the board and game piece to the era, it has all the stuff required to play the game from each era... you get the "60s board" and accessories, you get the "70s-80s board" with its era accessories, the "90s version" with its era appropriate accessories, and current version. 

Something similar could be done with Mousetrap. But instead of an all in one releasing multiple versions based on past eras of Mousetrap. Like say: 1970s Mousetrap and have the game be the 1970s version while the box has 70s inspired art. Then 1990s Mousetrap would be the 1990s version of the game, with each version being released having not only a dofferent ruleset based on its era, but the Rube- Goldberg trap being different.

Same thing would apply to Clue. It should have the Traditional Clue board and the things from the less Popular and discontinued Discover the Secrets version. With Traditional you get 2 boards... the older version with older spacing for the characters where you can use Mrs. White and the modern version with the new spacing and Dr. Orchid replaces White.

The idea is to "preserve past versions" through educating the newer generations of their games' histories. That way they can connect to older family members... and to coax the old farts into accepting the newer versions. 

Let's leave Mr. Bucket out if this...