A Tale of Trading
One of the things I do as an avid member of the board game community is participate in board game trades. To date I have participated in about 30 board game trades. They can range from talking online and exchanging games through the mail to meeting up with someone and having an awesome discussion about the hobby I love. Today was the latter and I would like to talk about it!
It is like trading in Catan but you still have friends after the exchange!!
The tale starts with my interest in LCGs. I had the desire to get the base set for Star Wars: The Card Game. So I put it onto my trade requests on BGG and looked at possible trades. One came up with a gentleman from Texas name Ken. We bartered for a bit trying to make sure we were both getting what we wanted. Finally we both settled on something and I asked for his address so I could ship the games out. He mentioned that he would be in town for a concert in a month and we could just do the trade then. Ken is a member of the band named Old 97’s so he was going to be in town for a show, how interesting.
Not as bloody as the canon , but just as brutal!
We keep talking through the month and I let him know I just placed top 4 in a Regional Game of Thrones LCG. Turns out they have been playing AGOT for a little bit on the road and are loving it. The conversation proceeds and we have a few awesome chats about the game and strategy and the fun stuff. We hope to have some time to play before his show and see who claims the Iron Throne.
Don’t worry they pull in very large crowd. We are just at sound test!
The day comes and I meet him at the Bluebird. I was a bit nervous as I have never been to a venue before a show without a ticket. I walk in and look around the venue; The bar, the stage, behind the stage and I finally find him! We proceed to talk about board games, podcasts, and the horror genre for about an hour and a half, right up to his band’s sound test. I got to stay, watch, and ever got to hear a song off their new album. Then we did the trade and talked a bit more and parted ways.
It is quite amazing the things that happen when you engage in a community. You can meet people and partake in experiences that you never thought you would. These relationships are the things that make our community such a wonderful and amazing place. I am happy to say that I have made a new friend today and I hope Ken can say the same. I would say if you have not engaged in meeting people in our community, you should reach out. You never know who you will meet and what kinds of things you will experience. However, there was one down side. We talked about board games so long I got a parking ticket for staying past 6pm. But I am not complaining. Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next time!
-Kyle