Forsooth! Knights of Badassdom trailer is truly awesome.

Good morrow! Verily thou hadst heard of The Knights of Badassdom. Ye olde trailer has appeared on YouTube and 'tis most splendid! Good sirs Peter Dinklage, Steve Zahn, Danny Pudi, Ryan Kwanten and the good ladye Summer Glau star in this film about Live Action Role Players. This movie looks most hilarious. I bit thee watch it and laugh heartily.

Have you ever LARPed? I think it'd be really fun! Except when you summon a demon, of course.

Fare thee well!

Your Friendly Local Game Shop: Amazing Wonders Gaming & Hobby Center

I believe there is a strong community of folks in the gaming and comic book world that needs to be cultivated. Your Friendly Local Game Shop (or Your Friendly Local Comic Shop) will provide a way for     me to highlight such places and give an in-depth review of the store based on the following criteria:

• Initial Impressions
• Customer Service
• Atmosphere
• Selection
• Value
• Online Experience
• Overall Score

Join me as I venture to these meccas of geekdom.

148 W Tiverton Way STE 150
Lexington, KY 40503
859.272.0750

Hours: M - Th 10 am - 9 pm
Fri - Sat 10 am - 11 pm
Sun 1 pm - 6 pm
Website
Facebook | Twitter

A few weeks ago I was told about a new game shop by a friend. Shortly thereafter, a Facebook friend “liked” their page and I decided to check the store out and it was inside this store where the idea for this blog feature was born. Lexington has few stores which solely cater to the needs of gamers. Amazing Wonders sells board games, card games, game accessories such as dice, and hobby/science kits. A selection of beverages and candies also aid a gamer in his or her quest for ultimate awesomeness. Because this is a new feature, I took some pictures on my iPhone, so forgive the poor quality. I'd like to take some better pictures in the future and make that a definite part of the blog.

Initial Impressions: 5/5

Amazing Wonders is located on Tiverton Way among a hodge-podge of restaurants, offices, and specialty stores. The location is plagued by short lived businesses, so I'm very happy to see such a unique business go in there. Not only does AW sell games, they also specialize in hobby and science projects as well. One thought I had upon visiting the evening of 4/29 was how busy the store was. It was great to see so many people out for their nightly events. It was also nice to see that the store was so clean and neatly organized.

Customer Service: 5/5

Staff members greet you at the door and ask if you need help with anything. If you need to ask a price, everyone answers and obliges with courtesy and professionalism. They make it their point to help you and make sure that your experience is the best ever. They fulfill special orders and will place items on hold for you. The staff is also very pleasant on the telephone when calling for inquiries. I can't say enough great things about the staff at Amazing Wonders.

Atmosphere: 5/5 

Amazing Wonders is much more than a game store; with the event center in the back, a true sense of community is fostered there. Jason Ratliff, owner of AW explained that while many of the games that are played in the store are competitive, he wants to encourage people to socialize and have fun with other gamers. “Gamers have games in common,” he said, but many of the people that you would interact with [in the game store] aren't people you would meet in your day to day life. Customer turned employee Ben Parks said that AW is a place where you can go and everyone will call you by name, that it has a friendly, but competitive atmosphere.

The store is aesthetically pleasing. The store is spacious and games are neatly arranged, with many popular titles facing outward for ease of shopping. There is an interesting contrast in the lighting in the store and in the event center, with the store lighting creating a subtle, homey feel. The store walls are painted orange and the event center walls are a vibrant green, which create excitement. Jason explained that he didn't want the store to feel like a dungeon.

Selection: 5/5

The store has a wide selection of both popular titles and more obscure games. They sell many different types of board games, card games, as well as role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Jason said that Magic the Gathering, Arkham Horror, Flux, Dominion and Dungeons and Dragons are among the most popular titles that are played and people meet up to play them on a weekly basis. If you can't find something you're looking for, the staff will place a special order for you. Island shelving units highlight popular games such as the Game of Thrones board and card games as well as the RPG. There is also a large display of Cthulhu and Lovecraftian horror games. In addition to the games themselves, they offer a wide array of game accessories like Chessex dice and dice bags. I'm a fan of pretty dice and was pleasantly surprised at their dice selection, which includes full sets, D10 sets, and individuals.

Value: 5/5

For a new, independently owned store, I found their prices to be extremely fair. Their merchandise was priced comparably to other stores and close if not the same as MSRP. For the selection, prices are great.

Online Experience: 4/5

Amazing Wonders has a website, but it's not quite full of goodies yet. There are some pictures, and pertinent information like hours and location, but it would be cool if they listed inventory or specials on their site. I think it would also be neat to be able to place orders or submit hold requests via the internet. A lot of their focus has been on their Facebook page. Their Facebook feed posts to Twitter and I think it would be cool if they incorporated Twitter a bit more in their marketing.

Overall Score: 4.8/5

Amazing Wonders has pretty much anything you could possibly want from a gaming store. I was hesitant to give them 5 of 5 in so many areas because this is my first review, but Jason and the folks down at the store really deserve it for all of their hard work. It's a great place to shop if you're a gaming nerd or newb alike. If you're a newgamer, come out to the weekly events and sit at the beginners table.

Amazing Wonders is a place for gamers by gamers. Jason said that he's been gaming for a very long time and wanted to create a family-friendly (but also adult-friendly) atmosphere for kids and adults alike to open up the box and delve into a game. The store is adult-friendly in that many of the players for the Magic the Gathering event were dressed in their 9 to 5 clothes. While the female population wasn't huge, it was a lot more than I'd seen in other stores. You can grab some food from a nearby restaurant and make yourself at home in the gaming center.

Have you been to Amazing Wonders? 

Let me know what you thought of the store in the comments below!

View my other images of the store on Flickr.

And the wait begins...

Blizzard Entertainment has been working on Cataclysm the third expansion for World of Warcraft even before Wrath of the Lich King was released in 2008. The details were unveiled at Blizzcon 2009 and since we found out that there would be two new races, Goblin and Worgen, we've been shivering with antici...pation.


Get it? We're shivering cause it's Blizzard and not just because it's a Rocky Horror Picture Show reference. Gosh, if I have to explain it to you, half the fun is lost.

Um, I digress. New races, new race-class combinations, new lands and flying in the entirety of Azeroth?! The Cataclysm is sure to change everything that we've come to know and love. Deathwing is back and with a vengeance and everyone in the World of Warcraft isn't going to know what hit him.

But for now, we wait. Of course, Blizzard hasn't released a definitive release date as of yet, but have gone on record saying that it's on track for 2010. That being said, they also told us that it wouldn't be released until they were happy with it, meaning that it was a finished, polished product.

According to new information by MMO Champion (via Wow Insider) a new release date for Cataclysm floating around is November 2. This is the first "official" date that has been mentioned in the year since the details of Cataclysm emerged at Blizzcon 2009.

From MMO-Champion a few days ago

Keep in mind that Blizzard didn't announce it because the release can still be postponed, but as far as I know the target release date for Cataclysm is the first week of November (that would be November 2, if you like numbers). The first part of the Cataclysm prologue started exactly 8 weeks before that and the next part of the pre-Cataclysm event will probably happen in 2 or 4 weeks depending on their schedule. 

So nothing is set in stone yet, but they do make a great point about the timeline. Patch 4.0.1 just hit the Player Test Realms and I know that Tarinae over at A Healdin's Tear has downloaded it and is waiting on her character copy. (That's taking up to 4 days, btw.) I do not look for the last patch before Cataclysm to drop for another month or so in live play.

I believe that the last patch before Wrath of the Lich King dropped one month to the day before the expansion came out. That patch brought us the attunement taken out of Onyxia as well as ramped up the Scourge invasion. It also brought us the barber shops, if memory serves.

But here's the real question. Do you buy the Collector's Edition. In 2008, Tarinae stood in line for hours to get our hands on the coveted items. Granted she stood in line much longer, because I didn't skip class, but it was still a lot of fun. However, money's a bit tight this year so I don't think I'll be dropping the $80 on it, unless my mom decides that it can be an early Christmas present.

It's black... like Deathwing's soul

Granted, I really want the mousepad and the Mini Deathwing, but I don't know. As soon as we get a release date, I think I'll make up my mind.

If you take a look at the bottom, you'll see that the release date on Walmart.com was once 11/30/2010. This was Wednesday, September 1 and not 2 weeks later the news broke about a Nov 2 release. It now says 12/31/2010.

For now, we'll just wait for more news. I'm going to sift through all of the warrior and protection paladin news to bring you the latest information. I am also super excited about Archaeology, so I'll update everyone that as well.