She's Gotta Have It! | |
by Debbie Ginsberg | |
|
| |
|
The problem with going to the mall with other people is that I always want to buy what they buy. Even if it's something I'd never buy on my own, like a purse, I always want one too. I'd hate to miss out on the one purse which might actually be cool or something. Because I'm a geek, the Dealer's Room at Gen Con isn't really much different from the mall. Its fraught with the same peril. Last year, I had to be especially careful - my husband and I had just bought a new house, an enterprise which pretty much ate all of our money. And then there was that pesky "new baby on the way" thing. So when I walked around the Dealer's Room, I had to be especially vigilant. And I was. I didn't buy any new games. No new books. Absolutely no new dice. But then one of my friends noticed an interesting little booth. The booth featured no bells or whistles. The company sold only one product. But when we saw its new merchandise, we both knew we had to have one, especially with the great discount for two. What was this item we had to have? A funny T-Shirt? The latest video game? No: dice boxes. We had to have a dice box, one from Diceboxes.com. There were large and small dice boxes, about 6 to 12 inches long. We could customize our boxes with a choice of three gorgeous wood finishes and various colored felt linings. The boxes featured a sliding panel top that could be stored underneath the box. And, at under $20 each, they were reasonably priced. As I parted with my hard-earned money, I wondered if this was a responsible purchase. Since buying it, however, it's proven to be my most useful gaming accessory. See, BDB (Before Dice Box), I had two problems when gaming. One, I could never find my dice. I had two bags to keep track of, one for Champions and one for, well, everything else. But I could never seem to find the right bag at the right time. Second, in real life, "table top gaming" is more like "sit in comfortable chairs in the living room gaming" and my lap, or even my laptop computer, were a bit too unsteady to roll dice. Especially once that baby took over both my lap and laptop computer space. Since getting the box, my dice are easy to find. A large wooden box stands out among household detritus much better than small leather bags. I can also find my printed character sheets - they are in the box. Best of all, I always have a place to roll my dice. No more trying to roll 10d6 in the space next to my trackpad. And, after this rave review, I'd love to recommend that everyone buy a dice box from Diceboxes.com. Alas, the company does not yet seem to have set up its website. But look for them next year at Gen Con. Soon you'll find that in addition to junk food, caffeine, gaming books, and dice, you can't imagine gaming without your very own box. |