--- In piecepack@yahoogroups.com, "Ron Hale-Evans" <rwhe@> wrote:
> Does anyone else have my, er, problem? Is
> there a 12 Step program for this?
Hello. My name is Clark, and I'm a piecepackaholic.
(Hi, Clark!)
I can't really remember very well how or even when I first learned
about the piecepack. It may have been from someone I thought I trusted
as a friend at the time, but who turned out to be a pusher. No, that's
a lie, and these meetings aren't for liars. The truth is, I tried to
stay away, I really did. But then I heard about a design contest, and
I was looking for a high, and I just, I just ... did it. But the
numbness of piecepack familiarity has muddled my memory to the point
where I just don't recall the details any more. Or maybe I'm still
repressing those memories. It's hard to face, you know? And I know I'm
rambling now, trying to delay naming my own demons. But delay as I
might, admitting I have a piecepack problem is something I can't avoid
any longer.
So here's my story. I started down the slippery slope of piecepack
addiction around the time that Mesomorph released their second edition
set. I knew about the piecepack before then, had heard stories of
other users and the effects piecepacks had had on them. I didn't run
in "those" circles, and I never thought of myself as an addictive
personality. Nevertheless, I was kind of scared of the piecepack and
its possibilities. See, I knew it was something I might get hooked on
if I let myself, and I didn't want that to happen. Does anyone ever
want to get hooked? So I avoided piecepacks. I mean, I wasn't one of
those crazy guys that stand out on a street corner preaching against
the evils of piecepacks or anything like that. I just didn't say
anything one way or the other. I may not have approved, but my silence
didn't disapprove, either. Secretly I kept visiting the web sites,
downloading the graphics, and then quickly deleting them and clearing
my browser cache and history before anything came of it. Once, I tried
making a tiny cardboard set, thinking that just a little bit couldn't
hurt, right? And it really was a little thing. It was 1/3 size or so,
and everything fit in a cassette tape case, easy to hide. But because
it was so small and hard to use, it taunted me, it begged me for more.
And I was lost. And I knew it. So one cold evening, with a clear head
and a deliberate will, I sat down at my computer, went to the
Mesomorph site, pressed that PayPal button, and ordered a second
edition set.
It wasn't bad at first. In fact, piecepacking was kind of fun! I
played a few games, made up a couple, and even showed it to my
friends. Man, I thought I was in control then. Little did I know. Then
I heard there was going to be a new edition, and it was going to have
an expansion for playing cards. Something inside me told me not to do
it, but I did anyway. I ordered another. And another. And I started
making more and more new games willy-nilly. I was in trouble and I
knew it. I tried to get rid of some of the accumulating piecepacks by
giving them away as gifts to family members and leaving them at
other's houses after gaming sessions, but I couldn't get enough. Then,
tragedy struck. I won one of the piecepack design contests.
Now I was in deep. I had to judge and comment on a ton of other games,
and some of them (miraculously) required more piecepacks than I had on
hand at the time. So I bought more. Then there was yet another
expansion, something with the four seasons, so I had to have it. And I
saw that another company (IcePack Games) was selling piecepacks, so I
bought everything they had as well, including weaponry sets, basic
sets, playing card sets, piecepack cards, piecepack money, you name
it. And recently Blue Panther started making piecepacks, too, and I'm
finding myself in a car with two stacks of rules to about 50 different
games, heading up the highway to meet in a secret pizza parlor to play
piecepack games with the Blue Panther himself. And then a few days
later, I find myself heading up the very same highway again, this time
with a car load of spray paint to make a few custom sets. I find
myself downloading VASSAL modules and making decks of piecepack cards
with nanDECK, even sending piecepack contraband across international
borders! Need I go on?
Well, a lot of time has passed since that first taste, and I keep
trying to take control of my piecepack addiction, but I've never been
able to do so. I've tried to hide it, keeping piecepacks in the car
(multiple sets), at work (multiple sets) and under the bed (multiple
sets), but all to no avail. So here I am, still scraping money
together to buy every new thing, still even promoting piecepacks to
others. I simply can't help myself. I'm powerless and out of control.
But that's the first step, right? Did I do it? I admitted that I'm
powerless. I know it's only a start, and I have a long, long way yet
to go, but I just needed to get that off my chest. I ... I'd like to
sit down now, if it's OK.
Clark