Most of my pet peeves are about games, but let's talk about Gamers. All new peeves courtesy of BSW, today.
- Lag is a legitimate excuse for slow play. "Sorry, there are people in my home" isn't. So, you are being rude to two groups of people? Gee, that's OK then.
- I'm not terribly fond of "Sorry, I'm also IMing."
- Disappearing for 5 minutes with the excuse "Sorry, boss in the room" really pisses me off. If I had know that, I'd have chatted (which opens a new window with a loud noise).
- Slow play is even more annoying when the game is clearly won/lost. I had a 25 minute game of San Juan (typical game, 10 minutes). And a 50 minute game of PR (30).
- I'm really tired of people who say "What was that?" in response to a play. People make mistakes. Feel free to think it all you want, though.
I did see a novel new PR opening. Going first (4 player) I took quarry [coffee/sugar/tobacco]. The next player built (indigo, sugar, sm market, I took sm. market). Prospector. Mayor. Governor moves ... mayor. Now everyone has a manned good (except me) and the next player crafts and trades. [Note that the 3rd player skips mayor after taking the sug/sug opening. Bizarre]. Each other player gets 1-3 gold. I'm not sure that the 2nd player was well served by this play though, he only got 1 Gold (which he would have gotten by taking trader). Of course, I get hosed out of the first trade ... but having the small market is reasonable compensation. I built indigo, then hospice. Despite missing both factories and harbors (and not trading until the 3rd trader], I got enough diversity and late shipping (sm. warehouse + wharf) to eek out the win. [I should have lost, but the mistakes made against me later became mistakes made that helped me.] In any case, after swinging anti-hospice, I realize it's a pretty good mid-game build, particularly if you are going corn or tobacco (or even large indigo/sugar). The people help out. The timing may gain you a few extra bucks/vps. It may very well pay for itself as much as a large market/office. In my case, it was a "What do I have to lose build", but it worked out. Also of interest is that the wharf is usually consider an alternative to the small warehouse, but here I needed both (to hold 3 and ship 3).
Puerto Rico is still full of surprises. I wonder what the new expansion will bring?