Here are five things I want you to know:
- My friends, Kumail and Emily, wrote and produced a movie called The Big Sick. It’s about how they met and fell in love, and it’s wonderful. It’s a great date movie. It’s funny, it’s heartwarming without being saccharine, and it’s a true story! It’s a little indie movie, but it’s holding its own against big summer blockbusters, which is awesome. I want everyone to see it because it’s a great film (it should absolutely be considered during the award-o-rama season), but also because the way the studios work, it’ll only stay in theaters if it continues to outperform expectations. So please go see it, and tell your friends about it. (Those of you who are old enough to remember the early MeFi days will know where I got my linking style.)
- Yesterday morning, Anne woke me up twenty minutes before my alarm did, because she needed me to hear the noise our air conditioner was making. It couldn’t have waited until I was ready to wake up, when I was starting to come out of my deep sleep cycle, because it was making a noise similar to putting a handful of ball bearings and some broken glass into a blender. It turns out that the motor blew out during the hottest three days of the year so far, because I am a fucking idiot who forgot to change the ten dollar air filter (in my defense, we did the math on the calendar and realized that Anne was in emergency surgery when I should have been changing it, so I may have gotten the reminder from my task list a whole second before I dismissed it forever). It was so hot in our house, things in our pantry were melting. I’m grateful that we had eighteen hundred dollars in a sock just for such an occasion, and by the time the sun had done its worst, it was repaired. So consider this your reminder to go look at your air filter and change it, if necessary.
- I played games for the first time in months yesterday. My group was dealt a TPK when the last two members moved away in January, and I haven’t had anyone to play with. At first, I was happy to take the break, because gaming has been my job for the last four years. But as time went by, I became acutely aware of how significant gaming is to my life, my joy, and my reason for being. Tabletop is complicated for me, (and, honestly, Board Game Subreddit: maybe it just isn’t the right snow for you and you don’t need to rage at me about every single episode we do) and while I’m grateful as hell for everything it’s done to promote the hobby, the way Legendary has handled the fourth season and the relentless shitting on it and me by random internet strangers has taken its toll. I’d been so consumed by the things that made the show a bummer this season, and I’d been unable to play games for the sake of playing games for so long, I completely lost sight of how much I love gaming, how proud I am of our show, and the good it has done not just for my life, but for the thousands of other people who have shared their stories with me. So when we played Lords of Waterdeep and Splendor yesterday, it was like coming out of a fog of sadness for the first time in at least half a year.
- I’ve been listening to a lot of Bob Marley recently, and just this morning I came across a record I didn’t know about: Dreams of Freedom (Ambient Translation of Bob Marley in Dub). If you enjoyed the ambient tracks or the dub reggae I played on Radio Free Burrito, you have got to check out this record. It’s beautiful.
- Speaking of RFB, I had an episode about 3/4 finished two weeks ago, but I really just hated it so I sent it to the land of wind and ghosts. I know that I’m overdue to release a new show, but I didn’t appreciate just how challenging it is to do a weekly podcast that isn’t about current events, or features interviews. I feel like I have to go to this mental box to find stuff to talk about, and recently it’s been empty and sad (HEY JUST LIKE ME HA HA THAT IS A JOKE AND NOT REAL AT ALL EVERYTHING IS FINE I AM FINE HA HA HA). So rather than force something that I think is shitty garbage that sucks, I’ve just been waiting until I have something worthwhile to make.
So that’s five things I want you to know on this lovely Sunday that’s way too fucking hot. What do you want me to know?
EDIT OH SHIT I FORGOT I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THIS ALSO BUT SIX THINGS I WANT YOU TO KNOW IS WEIRD TITLE SO I’M NOT CHANGING IT: I am honored to be a guest on this week’s Lovett or Leave It podcast.
I want you to know that I really look forward to your posts. I’m a freelance web developer and work on my own, and while normally I like that just fine (and so do my dogs), sometimes it gets a tiny bit lonely. But when I get one of your posts in my box, I feel like I get you and I’m not alone. I appreciate you being a real person. I’ve been a fan for a long time (since Stand By Me) and feel lucky to have seen the panel you and Felicia Day gave at Denver Comic Con a few years ago. Thank you for being real and for sharing a bit of your life. It is appreciated.
I love games too and have gotten back into them in part because of you.
I also want you to know that I just changed our filthy air filter.
I want you to know you’re awesome and it sucks that your brain is being a jerk, but it doesn’t reduce your awesomeness at all
I loved hearing your comments on Lovett or Leave It. I love Radio Free Burrito because I like hearing your perspective on the world and culture at large. You are a wonderful commentator. You are always introducing me to new books, music and media. Thank you for always making me think. Your efforts are appreciated whenever you have the time to put your thoughts together and share them with us.
I want you to know that the things you create and share make me happy. Well, sometimes they make me sad, but only when it’s appropriate, but even then it makes me happy that I got to read, watch, or hear something that makes me feel feels. So like thanks for making stuff …and stuff.
I think internet troll must be sad angry little people. And they must be quite fearful. Only attacking from some internet distance. It must be hard to just shake them off. You are person who needs to create and create well so these cruel sad creatures must truly hurt you. Tabletop has been a delight. I thank you for doing the show.
Wil, as others have said, I do apologize for whatever hate and vitriol you’ve been on the receiving end of regarding Tabletop. It appears that most people forget that ‘free content’ is never really free, and that an hour of a scripted program is never recorded in an hour. I am among the many (many, many) who owe their involvement in the wonderful board gaming/tabletop community to you and your drive to promote it in an welcoming, inviting way through Tabletop. For that, I will always be grateful.
I’m sorry that something you love, for all manner of reasons, has become “work” for you, in that un-fun, un-satisfying way. All of us who know you understand that you’ve only ever tried to deliver the best end product you could; any delays or run-arounds that ‘the man’ has imposed on your show, we’ve understood to be out of your control.
To wrap it up, thank-you for everything you’ve done — and continue to do — for the tabletop community. Thank-you for everything you write and share with us; your creativity and bravery are an inspiration. Thank-you for being you, and sharing your world with all of us, as often as you do.
I want you to know my sister & 2 of my nieces accompanied me to Pridefest today to show their support of me in my overly religious family. We had a great time & none of us feel we are condemned to hell.
My two-year-old sister is conspiring to kill Santa Claus
I’m going to put ditto marks here for what EricR said. He’s right, and said all the things eloquently I would have said. I will add this though…our household is a gaming household. Everything from Scrabble, to Fluxx, to Yahtzee, to online gaming. It feels better gaming and interacting than to try to sit through a tv show that has thirteen commercials. And yes, I sat and counted during a show (first set was nine, second set was thirteen, third set was eleven, last set was nine again). I don’t watch regular television but I do watch things that hold my interest and Tabletop is one of them. I love the enthusiasm and fun you bring to the games and explanations that help determine if we want to try playing it too. Right now we’re in the middle of PlayerUnknown’s Battleground, Darkest Dungeon, and some game hubby found about being stranded on a planet and you have to survive until you can eventually build a spaceship and get off the planet with all your people. (Maybe called RimWorld.) It’s a very intricate thinking game and worthwhile – unless you have to get up for work and stayed up too late wondering why the sheep exploded and your one and only medic is fighting and some toon is wandering around aimlessly. Yeah, Sunday was that kind of day.
Five things I want Wil Wheaton to know:
I saw The Big Sick, it totally rocks, and Kumail himself liked one of my tweets about it. So for non @wilw folks reading this, go see it already. It has the best 9/11 joke of all time.
Air filters don’t cause air conditioners to break, unless this is a Mirror/Mirror episode.
Despite the frustrations of The Business, your joy and delight in gaming comes through in every episode of TableTop.
Intersection of point 1 and point 3: Emily is cooler than Kumail, since she won on TableTop, and Kumail placed second to some dude named Wheaton.
Play more games! Create things! Love your wife!
(OK, point 5 is really three things, but if you can put six points in your list of five, I can put in seven. And soon we’ll take this all the way up to eleven. Or, if you’re playing DnD, take it all the way to elven.)
I’ll just let you know that to me, Tabletop is and was a very entertaining show, and it is a huge part of what got me into the hobby, and I would like to personally thank you for that! I would like to also take this moment to thank you for all your content, and I’m behind the 8 ball here but I am totally going to go buy your new book! So there’s a thing…..
Glad gaming is fun again 🙂
I really enjoy your blog. I want you to know that I’d like to know if you are making any appearances in Northern California anytime soon. Thanks
Thanks to you and Tabletop, I played Forbidden Island with my daughter today and we had a great time !
I really want to hug you, because you sound like you need it. However, you’re on the other side of the country, and as I’m a perfect stranger, it would be both problematic and awkward for me to do so. Therefore, consider yourself virtually hugged. 🤗
I love Tabletop. Co-ops in general, and D&D in particular, are my thing. I love working with my team to get things done and the whacky and fun things people come up with. The more competitive or adversarial games give me anxiety. Tabletop gives me the chance to learn about all kinds of games and the play styles from a safe distance and enjoy the fun of them all vicariously. Thank you for giving us this show and sharing the joy you have for games. It means a lot to many.
Sir, I am sorry that the people who decide that tearing others down is the only way they can enjoy themselves have been after you. I have completely enjoyed everything I can find from you several of my friends and I play games regularly and play several games we saw on tabletop. As such you have brought great joy to the 5 of us and for that I say thank you. There is just one question and I completely understand if I never get a response but I must ask will there be a second season of Titansgrave? I understand you are extreamly busy so I would not ask for a date but just is it still a thing on the list.
Heya Wil. I still love watching Tabletop, even as a ‘srs gamer’ — there’s the occasional rule wrong or such, but at the same time, the same happens in my groups, and the sheer fun you guys have more than makes up for any of those. 🙂 Also, gotta say, loved ya on Lovett. Was great getting to hear you in a different environment like that.
I want you to know that I love Tabletop! It has led me to discover so many cool and awesome games, and also serves as a really good introduction to how to play them because they make it easier to read the rules.
I wish the world and the Internet would allow you to enjoy making that show as purely and wholeheartedly every season as I do watching it.
I wish you all the best,
Helene
Thanks for reminding me to check my A/C filter! It’s washable, but that thing was super-clogged with dust.
I’m not missing a single episode of Tabletop. And today my 5 year old son will join me to watch (him for the first time) that very special episode when you played Catan Junior (a game which we acquired recently and my son has beaten me 2 to 1 after 3 matches). Tabletop is the reason I started promoting boardgames in my local area, offering free workshops, gathering families with children to play my own boardgames at some nearby little toy shop, so they could gain some knowledge of what’s happening in the tabletop gaming industry. Thank you Wil!
Two things!
First, you have a Polish-South African fan writing to you from the southern tip of Africa. We are a very rare breed – maybe a hundred of us in the whole world – so I guess that makes us both special 🙂
Second, Tabletop and TV Crimes got me through the worst month of my life. After a bumpy start to the year, in May work became hellish, a good friend died suddenly, then my beloved gran passed away. That sent me into one of the few legit depressive periods I’ve experienced, and all those terrible times when I simply could not crawl out of bed were softened by the lovely, positive, shiny, funny things that you’ve made for us. As I climb out of the pit (slowly, steadily) catching up on Radio Free Burrito has kept me going.
So thanks, sincerely.
We are feeling the whole loss of A/C thing. We lost power twice this past weekend for several hours (we live in Houston where the numbers aren’t as high but humidity is horrid). Thankfully, we didn’t have to go through last night without it, but a giant storm drove our white german shepherd into our bed for a good portion of the night. I’m glad it got fixed.
I’m really sorry people are so shitty to you. We love Tabletop so much! Can’t wait until Titansgrave comes back (will it?). Those characters haunt my dreams …
If you crochet or knit in very hot weather, you will enjoy your craft more if you work on small projects that do not cover your lap (so not afghans), and you work in cotton yarn or thread instead of wool. This is something that is important to know if you ever decide to knit or crochet on a hot day, so I am telling you now.
This is truth!
Hey Man, Tabletop is fun and entertaining. Trolls will say anything to get attention. Glad your wife is doing better!
I still love Tabletop.
I wish you did too.
My only disappointment in this season of TableTop is that I didn’t get to contribute to it. I eagerly await each episode and I have already purchased some of the games (Dragon Farkle and Mysterium) and I am eyeing Fury of Dracula. Incidentally, I LOVED the 2 part episode! I am still introducing people to some of the games you have introduced us to. I look forward to your emails and your updates and I hope you understand the joy you bring to a lot of people. Just remember, when in doubt, PLAY MORE GAMES!
s/Wil Wheaton/me/
s/”air conditioner”/furnace/
s/California/Alberta/
s/”hottest day of the summer”/”coldest day of winter”/
s/”making horrible noises”/”turning on and turning off again right away”/
s/”because my wife was in the hospital”/”because I didn’t even realize that we needed to change the air filters”/
I don’t have 5 things i want you to know but i wanted to say I love tabletop, it’s one of my favorite internet shows, sorry that people are dicks, there’s people who enjoy it that don’t feel the need to troll and yeah something like that would be tons of work. (I’m trying to give moral support don’t know if i’m doing ok or not) I was in a gaming group together but one of the people is selfish and we were having it at his place but two people had to drive 45 minutes and so they were like lets meet half way at this gaming shop, and the person at the house was like i don’t want to travel mer mer mer. And I would’ve been fine with that, i should go up there and find a group which for me is harder than someone is like ooh new person i’m gonna talk to you! where i’m like um new human i want to talk to you but i dunno if i should i’ll just stare awkwardly at you hoping you wave.
Wil, here’s one thing I want you to know:
Pew Research studied what sort of post in social media garners the most engagement in the form of likes, reshares and comments. They divided posts into three categories, agreement, disagreement, and indignant disagreement. It turns out that indignant disagreement drives the most engagement.
So that the reason we can’t have nice things. If you want attention on social media, the best way to do it is to act like a dick. And the more important and famous the person you are acting like a dick toward, the more attention you will get.
This has nothing to do with you, or Tabletop and everything to do with people wanting the attention. I watch every episode these days and enjoy them a lot. The FATE Core game you did recently inspired me to run a FATE Core game at home just yesterday.
Wil, what I can perceive of you shows me a very likeable, nice and hard working person.
You created something wonderful with Tabletop and Titansgrave – NEVER FORGET THIS !
The mayority of the people who see your shows love you – just a hateful and sad (but loud) minority is spraying their bile.
Please don’t listen to them !
Tabletop showed me so many great games (some of them I’m owning now) – so you enriched my live with a great show and with new games.
A heartfelt greeting from Germany (Also to Anne)
And – PLAY MORE GAMES !
I want you to know I’m looking forward to GenCon in just a few short weeks and I’m hoping I get to catch a glimpse of you (maybe get a selfie with you?!) there! 😊 I can’t believe the 4-day passes sold out already… I’m having a hard time imagining it even more crowded than the last 2 years…
I do some freelance editing for Ulisses-Spiele NA’s “The Dark Eye” line. You should come check it out! It’s a beautiful RPG! ~ Trish
1) A filter will not break a motor. So, this didn’t happen because of you. It just happened, period. 2) $1800 for a motor? At most, that’s a $200 part — $400 with labor. Sorry it happened, but #yougotscrewed
I don’t have an air conditioner in my central FL garage apartment/room/hut that has wall cracks wide enough to let in sun and rain. I was offered one when I first moved here, but the person offering was well known for attached strings. So no regrets there, but it does get warm.
Because The Hut is severely space limited, I don’t keep a pantry anymore. The kitchen is a microwave, a crockpot and a dorm fridge, with dry goods kept on one shelf of a nearby bookshelf. Milanos do not hold up in the afore mentioned heat, so I sympathize with your melting pantry, but it does speak well for the quality of chocolate they use making them. And I really want an electric frying pan.
Ever since I was a child I wanted to be a hermit. When I was told about St. Francis living among all these wild animals that loved him, that was what I wanted. Then I found out the myth was bullshit, and history tells different story I did not like. Then I discovered Thoreau and I was in heaven. That was what I wanted. Then I found out he would have starved without the help of his sisters and friends’ wives, and they did his laundry, too. This wasn’t quite as bad as St. Francis, but I still felt duped. So here I am, having recreated an urban version of the woods and the bean patch and the pond. My hut is in a backyard surrounded by huge live oaks, my garden is in pots on a table outside one of my two windows, and it’s mostly herbs. And the pond, well the land owner has an above ground pool they don’t take care of so it’s dark green and full of tadpoles. The sound of frog orgies on a summer night is really loud, but also comforting and induces relaxation so I can sleep.
My dog likes your podcast, especially when Seamus barks. We listen together, and he will raise his head when Seamus chases the mailman off once again and we’re all safe for another day. He used to jump up and say Mailman? I haven’t seen one of those in a long long time. But now he just acknowledges Seamus’ duty. My cat just swears under her breath and goes under the bed to pout.
I spend a lot of time living vicariously though the internet. Yeah, modern day hermits even have wifi. Tabletop is fun, and since I don’t do reddit and don’t care to, haters can’t ruin it for me. I like you as Gamemaster. It would be fun to play with you at the table. Vicariously. Via the internet.
That’s my 5 things, but somehow WordPress removed my numberings. Just count paragraphs.
A thank you letter for you, Mr. Wheaton.
I’ve said it before on here – but I love Tabletop. It has been the catalyst for turning me, a musician/non-gamer muggle into a happy participant for my husband’s hobby. This has done wonders for my marriage as it’s really important to him that his significant other participates (and not just under duress). In the first year of our marriage, he would try to explain games to me so I could learn them and play, but for whatever reason, the way he explained them and the way my brain understands game instruction don’t mesh. We watch Tabletop as a couple after the kid has gone to bed (snuggle time!), and it allows me to see a game in action, piquing my interest and teaching me the game in a way I can understand. I can’t thank you enough, Wil, for your work, and I’m sorry for the issues it’s caused.
Also, I’ve also gotten into audiobooks in the last year due to a move that created a long commute. Your performance in Ready Player One has been one of my favorites of the entire year. I also just finished Scalzi’s Fuzzy Nation, and loved what you did with that, too. So, thank you for those gifts as well.
Lastly, your openness about your mental health issues has inspired me to walk in your footsteps. I am open and honest about my struggles with anxiety, depression, and PTSD, and work to combat the stigma of getting treatment whenever possible. Thank you for leading the way in this fight.
I hope things get better on the fronts they need improvement on, and I hope that things keep being awesome where they are already that way.
Podcast topic ideas: albums from the past couple of years that really caught your ear, game design mechanics that give you a boner (or something), and packing tips for JoCo cruises.
Also, fuck the haters.
I’ve had Lords of Waterdeep and Ticket to Ride on my iPad for years. Do you know who’s responsible for that?
You, Mr Wheaton, it’s all you.
While I love board games I’ve always been more partial to what the kids call Ameri-Trash mainly because it’s what I grew up on.
I’ve always been a sucker for a cheap licensed character game.
I had a gaming group years ago and then, you know…life. So I don’t really have a close group to play with. Could I find one? Probably but not being the most social person in my 40+ years, it’s challenging to show up in strange place and meet a bunch of new people. (back on track in 3…2…)
Anyway, Tabletop has allowed me to discover all sorts of new games and, in some cases, play them.
So thank you (and the crew) for Tabletop!
It’s sad when a thing you love and is your escape from the world becomes a thing that makes you sad. I’ve had to take a step back from hobbies when that happened to me. When I picked some of them (but not all of them) back up, I made a commitment that for that hobby every time I did something for “work” or sale (I’m an avid sewer) that then I make something for me. Doesn’t matter what it is. But it’s something fun for me. Maybe there’a way to do that with playing games when it’s your job. Make sure you plan a game night. Even if it’s just you and Anne. No commitments aside from opening 1 box and doing a thing. And remind yourself what you like about playing games.
I hope that you continue to find the fun in playing games. Even if we never see another Tabletop.
My daughter is more impressed that our friend has met you than that she is working on MST3K. That has to say something. 😁
When it comes to games, your word is her gospel. AND she is now into Choose Your Own Adventure books because Wil reads them.
So, from this 8 year old’s mom, keep being you. You make the world a better place to breathe in.
I am (almost) always of the opinion that I’d rather wait on quality, especially quality as determined by the creator. If that means waiting on RFB, I’ll be fine, and better for it.
Also, your post a while back about Woob has gotten me into Woob and a whole genre of music that I hadn’t explored before. Thank you.
I want you to know that I appreciate your work, no matter how often you send it out in the world. I’m glad you played some games and reclaimed your happy place. Do that some more. And finally, EVERYTHING IS FINE I AM FINE HA HA HA TOO 😉
The worst thing about turning your favorite hobby into a job is that it turns your favorite hobby into a job. But know that I still love TableTop so much that I bought the T-shirt and will continue to love and support it long after its gone. Until then, follow your bliss so you can bring it back and share it with the world. 🙂
Other exciting thing to know: The episode of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” featuring Wil is on tonight! Finally!
I am a fan, have been a fan, and likely will continue being a fan for a long time. Once it was because I could empathize with the characters you played, then because I loved your writing in books, but when i found your blog, I realized that in the end, it was because you are a good man and I am proud to admire such qualities. Thank you for being there in my life with your work, then and now, and for sharing yourself with the world. The world, and my life, are better for it.
What I would like Wil Wheaton to know:
1. I’m currently in a place where my depression is particularly hard, and I’m riding it out as well as I am because I get to yell at Depression about how you outrank him.
2. I really enjoy TableTop even when I have no intention of playing the game you show us all.
3. I’ve bought 4 games as a result (they are the only games I’ve bought since my unlooked-for divorce) of TableTop and find it useful to rewatch the episodes even if there was a major deviation from the rules.
4. If it makes you feel any better, I’m even more glad I’ve never tried to turn my hobby (magic) into a source of income, because I’m now more convinced than ever that doing so would make me not like magic as much.
Thank you for sharing. You’re helping us when you do it.
I love reading ur comments/reviews regarding both books & movies! Have u ever read books by Mike Wells or Luke Murphy? They write thrillers & they r very good at what they do.
What I want you to know is:
I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated all of the work you have done on tabletop, as well as your writing and other scattered works that I have seen. I have discovered new games because of you… some of which are now favourites.
You are an awesome person and both you and your wife inspire me greatly… particularly because you so clearly demonstrate to the world that you are in fact also still human, while being incredibly awesome.
As a single mother with a very young child going through a particularly bad patch, reading your site, as well as your wife’s blog are both sites that I can always turn to and which always remind me that the world is good place and that there is hope for a brighter future for my daughter and I.
Hi Wil,
I just wanted to say – I love Tabletop, and it’s the only reason I joined alpha – why join alpha? Because that way I got to see the newest episodes of Tabletop as soon as possible. Now that the season has completed, I’ve cancelled alpha and will only rejoin if/when you do another season for them.
Tabletop has also been an inspiration to me to “play more games”, and while I don’t have a gaming group around me, I did at least manage to introduce my family to exploding kittens and zombie dice at various gatherings. Both proved great hits, so much so I had to leave my sets with my sister 😉
I think you’ve done amazing work with Tabletop, and would definitely love to see more. That said, if it has become a chore to you rather than a pleasure, then I’d totally understand if you walked away from it.
I’m really glad to hear that Anne is doing better – on the occasions she’s been on Tabletop, she’s been amazing (including destroying the position at the end of ticket to ride!)
I also suffer from depression and similar issues, so I really, really appreciate you sharing your experiences.
Take care and be well,
Paul.
I wanted you to know that I caught you on an episode of “Who’s Line Is It Anyways?” and I thought you were one of the more outstanding celebrity ad-libbers that I’ve caught on the show in quite sometime. I never really knew how actually funny you can be, and that you have excellent comedic timing.
Btw, I was randomly watching TV last night and saw you on Whose Line Is It Anyway. You did a great job. Very clever.
I’d like you to know that I’m glad to see you writing again. That I wrote two short fanfics recently after losing all creative energy for months and months. That I’ve gotten back on the activity bandwagon and have lost six pounds and my mom noticed last night without knowing anything about it (need to do another charity run/tri – it’s been years!). That we lost our super old dog Hobie. And that I’m super happy for you to be playing games again!
Okay. That’s five, right? 🙂