So on AAroads we have a variety of different things we are interested in. We are mostly all interested in roads, but what hobbies most overlap with the roadgeek community? Obviously, other geography and travel related hobbies overlap a lot, as well as other adventure/nature hobbies like hiking. But international/Europe travel doesn't seem to have a big overlap- on this forum, most people would rather spend a week on dirt roads in Alaska than a week in Italy. Travel that has one mostly spending time in one city seems to not have a big overlap, but taking trains throughout Europe might have more of an overlap. I've also found that hobbies like vintage cars overlap, which is not surprising. Other types of travel/transportation geeking like railfanning and urban planning seem to have to big overlap. Also old music. For less overlap, most female/gen z dominated hobbies seem to have very little overlap with the roadgeek community. For example, modern music/rap music is not very popular. Also hobbies less popular with the non-white community. Look at the length of the baseball thread vs the NBA thread. This forum seems to match the interests of white men aged 25-65 though there are some exceptions.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on December 17, 2024, 01:12:52 AMSo on AAroads we have a variety of different things we are interested in. We are mostly all interested in roads, but what hobbies most overlap with the roadgeek community? Obviously, other geography and travel related hobbies overlap a lot, as well as other adventure/nature hobbies like hiking. But international/Europe travel doesn't seem to have a big overlap- on this forum, most people would rather spend a week on dirt roads in Alaska than a week in Italy. Travel that has one mostly spending time in one city seems to not have a big overlap, but taking trains throughout Europe might have more of an overlap. I've also found that hobbies like vintage cars overlap, which is not surprising. Other types of travel/transportation geeking like railfanning and urban planning seem to have to big overlap. Also old music. For less overlap, most female/gen z dominated hobbies seem to have very little overlap with the roadgeek community. For example, modern music/rap music is not very popular. Also hobbies less popular with the non-white community. Look at the length of the baseball thread vs the NBA thread. This forum seems to match the interests of white men aged 25-65 though there are some exceptions.
I, obviously, really enjoy international travel. I don't tend to stay in one place very long, and so I end up doing some roadtripping (normally via bus) when I'm in foreign countries. Normally, the roads aren't the main attraction when I'm abroad as much as they would be on a roadtrip here in the states, but I definitely try to pick places where the drives are scenic. As this is predominantly a US based group, it's not surprising that international travel is less popular. A good chunk of Americans have never left the country, and that's not necessarily an indictment on Americans either. A) The US is a long way away from other places and B) every kind of terrain can be found in the US. I've just been fascinated by travel since I was a little kid, especially to exotic places, and since I've had the means to do so, I've tried to take advantage.
Trains are fine, but I'm not a train nerd. Just a means to an end to go to new places.
I do hike a ton, including "climbing" mountains. I'm going to climb Kilimanjaro in June.
I don't love MODERN rap, with very few exceptions, but I do love 90's and 2000's rap, so there's that.
International travel really depends on the subset of road enthusiasts you're talking about. A lot of the ones with the means to do so quite enjoy extensive international travel, myself included. They just aren't super active on this forum in most cases, but many of the MTR-era road enthusiasts are big world travelers. Money is the big thing there, as it's expensive and time-consuming for most to leave either the US or Canada (and most forum users are in one of those two countries).
Railfanning also has a LOT of overlap, even among forum users. Not a total overlap, no, but there is enough that they are correlated. The new rail side of Travel Mapping has a decent amount of crossover users. Some people into both have made it a habit to combine the two in their material. I certainly will not turn down a chance to get a great combined road/rail photo.
And then hiking. Hiking circles overlap greatly with travel circles, and since all road enthusiasts are by definition in travel circles, the link is clear. Some people use hikes as an excuse to see new roads and vice-versa, some incorporate road and rail-related sights into their hikes. I do a lot of both, combining new roads with new hikes and making it a point to hike old and abandoned roads and railroads, as well as overlooks of road and rail infrastructure. Also, "peakbagging" is literally clinching mountains, so it is a very natural thing to do when new roads/etc. become hard to obtain. My expansion into county highpointing came when I was starting to run out of new roads in daytrip range.
As far as why there isn't a ton of female-dominated hobby overlap, well, most road (and rail) enthusiasts are male. The handful of women in the hobby often do have other hobbies that tend to be female coded. Things like gaming are not particularly gendered at this point, and that is pretty popular among many in this hobby.
Just to clarify, by international travel I'm more talking about the "fly to London, stay there for 5 days, fly back to the US", mostly visiting the famous sights in London, more than all international travel.
For least, one of them has to be tornado sirens. I certainly ain't too aware of too many other people on here who are also siren enthusiasts, though I'm aware of a few siren enthusiasts who are also traffic signal collectors or railfans.
For some reason, I think collecting license plates (which I do) qualifies.
Things with no obvious reason to have any overlap, but they seem to:
- Game shows. There's at least three people here that have accounts on golden-road.net. The host of Jeopardy! has an account here.
- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AMThings with no obvious reason to have any overlap, but they seem to:
- Game shows. There's at least three people here that have accounts on golden-road.net. The host of Jeopardy! has an account here.
- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
I was obsessed with The Weather Channel as a kid to the point that I learned the interstates by watching the radars (though they did not tell me about that I-95 gap in NJ).
I have no idea what the racial makeup of this forum is. Do we know it's whiter than US demographics would indicate?
Current video games seem to have very little overlap. Max Rocktansky will often mention 1990s games, and Minecraft gets the occasional mention, but no Call of Duty, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto, most things by Valve, etc.
While there is some overlap I'm finding there is a difference between Road Enthusiasts and Driving Enthusiasts.
In that thought I've noticed that Driving Enthusiasts tends to have overlap with Ghost Towning circles but only a little with Road Enthusiasts.
Quote from: hotdogPi on December 17, 2024, 07:37:57 AMI have no idea what the racial makeup of this forum is. Do we know it's whiter than US demographics would indicate?
While there isn't a data set one can glean it is highly caucasian and male from off forum road fan groups.
Interestingly our Facebook page offers some demographic statistics. We have a 66.3% male following and are most popular in the 45-54 age demographic at 21.2%.
All this speculation needs to be confirmed via a survey of our forum members. :D
I'm surprised we don't have more "car guys" here.
Graphic design has quite a bit of overlap with roadgeek activity via highway related signage and iconography. I make my living doing graphic design work, so it isn't really a hobby. But there are lots of people who mess around with graphics on an amateur/hobbyist level.
When I was a kid my family traveled around a lot by car due to my dad being in the Marine Corps. We lived all over the country and even overseas for 3 years. My dad would get a month of leave each year; he would usually take that during the summer when me and my brother were out of school so we could drive to places in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico to visit family. I already loved drawing at the time, but the highway signs on those road trips stuck in my brain.
Quote from: thspfc on December 17, 2024, 12:35:49 PMI'm surprised we don't have more "car guys" here.
We're out there, but cars are an expensive hobby and a lot of us have disparate interests in the specific cars we like and there isn't much overlap.
Quote from: Takumi on December 17, 2024, 02:04:35 PMQuote from: thspfc on December 17, 2024, 12:35:49 PMI'm surprised we don't have more "car guys" here.
We're out there, but cars are an expensive hobby and a lot of us have disparate interests in the specific cars we like and there isn't much overlap.
I'm certainly a car guy myself. I'm more from the world of car clubs prior to my time on the forum. I used host to driving events with the last major club I was part of a couple times a year. They weren't too dissimilar to how road meets go.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on December 17, 2024, 01:53:40 AMJust to clarify, by international travel I'm more talking about the "fly to London, stay there for 5 days, fly back to the US", mostly visiting the famous sights in London, more than all international travel.
We have quite a bit of that (I, obviously, tend to notice it a bit more as it's people coming to my patch) though it's not talked about in great detail here.
I think a key thing is there's other, better, places to look for travel advice. And unless it's road-related this isn't really a forum for posting your holiday snaps (international or domestic). And a trip to London or Paris doesn't have much roadgeekery around it.
Some of my hobbies that seem less likely to correspond with road geeks are:
Mountain Climbing
Wine
Heavy Board Games
Backpacking
Poker
Motorsports, I dunno if it has overlap with roadgeekery but I do recognize one poster from the NASCAR subreddit who is a regular here! (I only lurk on Reddit though and don't have an account there)
Probably my one hobby with the least crossover here would be Korean pop music...
FIRST Robotics. I know there's at least one other member of this board involved.
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on December 17, 2024, 05:24:00 AMFor some reason, I think collecting license plates (which I do) qualifies.
I have every license plate that I've ever owned, but never had an interest in collecting plates in general.
Quote from: 74/171FAN on December 17, 2024, 07:33:03 AMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AMThings with no obvious reason to have any overlap, but they seem to:
- Game shows. There's at least three people here that have accounts on golden-road.net. The host of Jeopardy! has an account here.
- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
I was obsessed with The Weather Channel as a kid to the point that I learned the interstates by watching the radars (though they did not tell me about that I-95 gap in NJ).
Heh, that wouldn't have worked for me. The WS4000 maps had Interstate shields with no numbers in them.
On the flip side, you could learn airport codes from them since they had those instead of city names.
Quote from: english si on December 17, 2024, 04:34:16 PMQuote from: Roadgeekteen on December 17, 2024, 01:53:40 AMJust to clarify, by international travel I'm more talking about the "fly to London, stay there for 5 days, fly back to the US", mostly visiting the famous sights in London, more than all international travel.
We have quite a bit of that (I, obviously, tend to notice it a bit more as it's people coming to my patch) though it's not talked about in great detail here.
I think a key thing is there's other, better, places to look for travel advice. And unless it's road-related this isn't really a forum for posting your holiday snaps (international or domestic). And a trip to London or Paris doesn't have much roadgeekery around it.
Admittedly even most of my domestic travelling ain't roadgeek related, though I do like to look for roadgeekery-stuff when I'm out and about. It's part of why I've only ever clinched one US highway (two if you count Alt. US 72) and have only clinched like I-16 and I-65 as far as 2dis go. I think the closest I get is usually when I decide to take a daytrip somewhere for signal hunting, usually my trips are railfanning-related and occasionally siren-related, with the occasional ponycon mixed in in recent years. I think the last time I went on a full signal hunt was back in 2023 when I went down to the Selma area in the spring.
There seems to be more people here interested in 'American Top 40'.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
There seems to be a bit of an overlap between roadgeeks and the furry community as well. Oddly enough, something a friend of mine mentioned today reminded me of this - right on the same day this thread was posted!
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 08:42:03 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
And in my world, Catan is a light game. Definitely a gateway game to the heavier stuff though.
Map collecting. I'm also realignment chair for my Toastmasters district, which involves stars on maps.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 08:42:03 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
My wife and I have talked about getting into D&D, and even bought a new player starter kit months ago, but we just haven't had time. We do play some board games, such as Carcassonne (which is sort of like Catan, but a bit simpler and able to be played with only two players).
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 17, 2024, 02:52:55 PMQuote from: Takumi on December 17, 2024, 02:04:35 PMQuote from: thspfc on December 17, 2024, 12:35:49 PMI'm surprised we don't have more "car guys" here.
We're out there, but cars are an expensive hobby and a lot of us have disparate interests in the specific cars we like and there isn't much overlap.
I'm certainly a car guy myself. I'm more from the world of car clubs prior to my time on the forum. I used host to driving events with the last major club I was part of a couple times a year. They weren't too dissimilar to how road meets go.
I tried doing that a few times, but lack of interest, and infighting among those who were interested, turned me off to the idea. Now I just go to the local Cars & Coffee once every year or two.
I like Dungeons & Dragons, but I don't do much of it anymore.
We had a big Dungeons & Dragons campaign that lasted for years.
Quote from: Takumi on December 17, 2024, 11:07:32 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 08:42:03 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
My wife and I have talked about getting into D&D, and even bought a new player starter kit months ago, but we just haven't had time. We do play some board games, such as Carcassonne (which is sort of like Catan, but a bit simpler and able to be played with only two players).
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 17, 2024, 02:52:55 PMQuote from: Takumi on December 17, 2024, 02:04:35 PMQuote from: thspfc on December 17, 2024, 12:35:49 PMI'm surprised we don't have more "car guys" here.
We're out there, but cars are an expensive hobby and a lot of us have disparate interests in the specific cars we like and there isn't much overlap.
I'm certainly a car guy myself. I'm more from the world of car clubs prior to my time on the forum. I used host to driving events with the last major club I was part of a couple times a year. They weren't too dissimilar to how road meets go.
I tried doing that a few times, but lack of interest, and infighting among those who were interested, turned me off to the idea. Now I just go to the local Cars & Coffee once every year or two.
I just wish Fresno had a decent car show scene. The handful of shows I've been to have been comprised of mostly tuner cars. I don't mind that segment, but it gets boring when that is the only thing there.
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on December 17, 2024, 05:24:00 AMFor some reason, I think collecting license plates (which I do) qualifies.
There's enough overlap between license plate collectors and county counters that they host their annual conventions at the same place, and the latter group has a ton of overlap with roadgeeks. There's a common thread of being interested in geography and visiting new places.
Two of my other hobbies, birding and theme parks, are similar to each other in that they can involve traveling to new places but it's not an intrinsic part of the hobby. I know a few people in each of those who are also into roads, but not all that many.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 17, 2024, 11:11:36 PMQuote from: Takumi on December 17, 2024, 11:07:32 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 08:42:03 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
My wife and I have talked about getting into D&D, and even bought a new player starter kit months ago, but we just haven't had time. We do play some board games, such as Carcassonne (which is sort of like Catan, but a bit simpler and able to be played with only two players).
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 17, 2024, 02:52:55 PMQuote from: Takumi on December 17, 2024, 02:04:35 PMQuote from: thspfc on December 17, 2024, 12:35:49 PMI'm surprised we don't have more "car guys" here.
We're out there, but cars are an expensive hobby and a lot of us have disparate interests in the specific cars we like and there isn't much overlap.
I'm certainly a car guy myself. I'm more from the world of car clubs prior to my time on the forum. I used host to driving events with the last major club I was part of a couple times a year. They weren't too dissimilar to how road meets go.
I tried doing that a few times, but lack of interest, and infighting among those who were interested, turned me off to the idea. Now I just go to the local Cars & Coffee once every year or two.
I just wish Fresno had a decent car show scene. The handful of shows I've been to have been comprised of mostly tuner cars. I don't mind that segment, but it gets boring when that is the only thing there.
I get that. Richmond's car scene has a bit of everything, which is fun. I enjoy Cars & Coffee because you'll see a Nissan Skyline parked next to a newish Mustang next to an old truck parked next to a Ferrari next to some obscure JDM import. I just haven't gotten around to going there since they changed locations.
Quote from: bandit957 on December 17, 2024, 08:40:28 PMThere seems to be more people here interested in 'American Top 40'.
Having been an avid listener of AT40 in the late 70s and early 80s, I can see the commonality.
People in the road geek community seem to like to see things in order. Orderings and Lists. Like those who talk about the Interstate grid (and complain about violations). Or topic like "Lowest Numbered Route You Haven't Been On", "How Many Mississippi River Crossings Have You Made", "What's The Highest Exit Number In Your State", on and on.
Kind of the same thing with the countdown. Seeing the music we listened to organized in neat numbered lists.
Actually I can come up with two hobbies of mine with nearly identical names but are at the two extremes of the spectrum.
Among most overlap with road geek community - Bridges (the highway structures)
Among least overlap with road geek community - Bridge (the card game)
Quote from: vdeane on December 17, 2024, 09:16:25 PMThere seems to be a bit of an overlap between roadgeeks and the furry community as well. Oddly enough, something a friend of mine mentioned today reminded me of this - right on the same day this thread was posted!
Despite my username, I'm not a furry. I absolutely hang out in communities that have a lot of furries, though.
I kinda am a furry, admittedly. More in the brony community/MLP fandom though.
Quote from: LilianaUwU on December 18, 2024, 01:29:51 AMQuote from: vdeane on December 17, 2024, 09:16:25 PMThere seems to be a bit of an overlap between roadgeeks and the furry community as well. Oddly enough, something a friend of mine mentioned today reminded me of this - right on the same day this thread was posted!
Despite my username, I'm not a furry. I absolutely hang out in communities that have a lot of furries, though.
We're all here to support you when you're ready.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AMThings with no obvious reason to have any overlap, but they seem to:
- Game shows. There's at least three people here that have accounts on golden-road.net. The host of Jeopardy! has an account here.
Numbers, I guess. Many of them are based on matching or guessing numbers, and that puts things "in a place".
Also, the number of people that are fascinated with retail (not necessarily "shopping"), which might explain its own overlap.
Jeopardy! because we all like to show off what we know. Or find out what we don't know.
Quote- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
Where there's maps, travel, planning, and more numbers; weather surely plays a part. But yeah...maps!
Back when I was like 9-10, watching TWC for an hour was like an easy travel escape. We didn't really have the means for a trip to places like Bismarck or Altoona, so that's how you caught a glimpse of how life might have been like there.
Quote from: freebrickproductions on December 17, 2024, 03:11:03 AMFor least, one of them has to be tornado sirens. I certainly ain't too aware of too many other people on here who are also siren enthusiasts, though I'm aware of a few siren enthusiasts who are also traffic signal collectors or railfans.
You could argue there's some overlap as it relates to both sirens and roads being part of our overall infrastructure. I have a vague interest in a lot of other topics tangentially related to roadgeeking, like sirens, aviation, and railfanning, but I never get very deep into it.
Furry stuff seems to have a huge overlap with essentially every "nerdy" niche hobby/interest probably just because it's a nerd/geeky thing to do. I have a few friends who like it. Admittedly I dabble in it every now and then thanks to their influence, but it's not a huge interest of mine.
Quote from: Rothman on December 17, 2024, 08:25:37 AMAll this speculation needs to be confirmed via a survey of our forum members. :D
With mod/admin approval I would gladly conduct one (what do y'all think?). I am a nerd for demographics and useless niche statistics. In a few demographic areas I probably stand out a little from most of this forum lol.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 17, 2024, 08:09:57 AMQuote from: hotdogPi on December 17, 2024, 07:37:57 AMI have no idea what the racial makeup of this forum is. Do we know it's whiter than US demographics would indicate?
While there isn't a data set one can glean it is highly caucasian and male from off forum road fan groups.
Interestingly our Facebook page offers some demographic statistics. We have a 66.3% male following and are most popular in the 45-54 age demographic at 21.2%.
The funny thing is I recall going to the Richmond, VA road meet and being the only non-Caucasian person there. :-D
But yeah, a lot of my interests overlap the ones already listed: weather, game shows (particularly TPiR and Jeopardy!), motorsports, gaming, photography...not a furry, though, that's not for me.
Quote from: index on December 18, 2024, 01:00:57 PMWith mod/admin approval I would gladly conduct one (what do y'all think?). I am a nerd for demographics and useless niche statistics. In a few demographic areas I probably stand out a little from most of this forum lol.
Hey, I'd totally fill one out if you conducted one.
Amusingly my wife I believe has been the only non-Caucasian at the three meets she has attended. I'm also wondering if she is near the top of the list of spouses that has attended the most meets.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on December 17, 2024, 01:12:52 AMLook at the length of the baseball thread vs the NBA thread. This forum seems to match the interests of white men aged 25-65 though there are some exceptions.
The NFL far outpaces the baseball thread, and hockey is not too far behind either. But for some reason, only college football and NASCAR trail the NBA by a considerable margin, so I have reason to believe that Northerners are more interested in this forum than Southerners.
(Go Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Hawks!)Quote from: dlsterner on December 18, 2024, 01:12:41 AMQuote from: bandit957 on December 17, 2024, 08:40:28 PMThere seems to be more people here interested in 'American Top 40'.
Having been an avid listener of AT40 in the late 70s and early 80s, I can see the commonality.
People in the road geek community seem to like to see things in order. Orderings and Lists. Like those who talk about the Interstate grid (and complain about violations). Or topic like "Lowest Numbered Route You Haven't Been On", "How Many Mississippi River Crossings Have You Made", "What's The Highest Exit Number In Your State", on and on.
Kind of the same thing with the countdown. Seeing the music we listened to organized in neat numbered lists.
The Casey Kasem-hosted AT40 is in a class of its own, because the music it showcased is way better than the newer stuff that Ryan Seacrest has to work with. I love to hear the 80s shows in particular because that was the decade when pop was at its absolute best.
Not necessarily a separate hobby, but I am fascinated by traffic-generating events, often to the point of obsession.
Half the reason I was so closely following the eclipse earlier this year - which brings up another overlapping hobby, by the way - was because of the incredible and unusual movement of people to/from a certain area.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 10:08:13 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 08:42:03 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
And in my world, Catan is a light game. Definitely a gateway game to the heavier stuff though.
Catan's complexity level is where most of my experience is. Before the pandemic we were friends with the owner of a board game store, and we would get together with him and a few other friends and play the hot new releases so he'd be able to advise customers on them (he basically functioned as a sommelier of board games, where he could find out someone's preferred themes, complexity level, and game mechanics and recommend a game they'd like). Most of his customers were looking for games in the Catan-level complexity range, so that was most of what we'd play. (He mostly drug out Twilight Imperium that one time just to illustrate that games could get way, way heavier than that.)
Of course, the worst thing about learning anything at all about the board game scene is that you also have to learn to bite your tongue when someone brings up anything in the Parker Brothers/Hasbro tier as being any good.
That's why I stick with Milton-Bradley.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 18, 2024, 04:22:40 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 10:08:13 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 08:42:03 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 17, 2024, 04:53:47 PMHeavy Board Games
This is a little surprising to me. You'd think there'd be more board gamer/roadgeek overlap. (I haven't really done any of the really hard drugs when it comes to board games—I made it through one turn of Twilight Imperium once—but you'd think there'd be people into the Catan-tier stuff.)
I'm also kind of surprised that I'm pretty sure there's only one other D&D player here besides me (and I only know that cause I DMed him to tell him his avatar was cool, and it turned out it was his D&D character).
And in my world, Catan is a light game. Definitely a gateway game to the heavier stuff though.
Catan's complexity level is where most of my experience is. Before the pandemic we were friends with the owner of a board game store, and we would get together with him and a few other friends and play the hot new releases so he'd be able to advise customers on them (he basically functioned as a sommelier of board games, where he could find out someone's preferred themes, complexity level, and game mechanics and recommend a game they'd like). Most of his customers were looking for games in the Catan-level complexity range, so that was most of what we'd play. (He mostly drug out Twilight Imperium that one time just to illustrate that games could get way, way heavier than that.)
Of course, the worst thing about learning anything at all about the board game scene is that you also have to learn to bite your tongue when someone brings up anything in the Parker Brothers/Hasbro tier as being any good.
I try not to be a board game snob. But I own about 120 games or so, most of which are of the heavy variety that take at least 30 minutes to explain the rules and 2-3 hours to play. Never actually played TI as I don't often have 8-9 hours to dedicate to anything at all, much less a board game. The new hotness that is TI-esque is called Arcs and you can break up the campaign pretty easily into three 2-3 hour chunks. Looking to try that campaign soon, but have only played the base standalone game thus far.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 18, 2024, 04:22:40 PM...you also have to learn to bite your tongue when someone brings up anything [...] as being any good.
There's a certain skill in answering those kinds of questions without losing the ability to garner respect, friends, and/or ever getting laid again.
On the Internet, eh...not so much. Freak flag's a-flying in all but the worst weather.
Quote from: formulanone on December 18, 2024, 05:13:54 PMThere's a certain skill in answering those kinds of questions without losing the ability to garner respect, friends, and/or ever getting laid again.
Learning when such things are not worth the trouble is also a skill. (For example, is it actually a good idea to lower one's standards to the point of sleeping with someone who thinks Monopoly is a good game?)
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AMThings with no obvious reason to have any overlap, but they seem to:
- Game shows. There's at least three people here that have accounts on golden-road.net. The host of Jeopardy! has an account here.
- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
I concur about TWC. Since I'm younger, I grew up with the IntelliSTAR 1, but the interest remains the same. I've even created a few simulations on YouTube within the past couple years and I'm still trying to purchase an IntelliSTAR 2 from someone.
As for least hobbies, there's one that I have in mind that I participate in. I know one other person that uses this forum regularly who also shares this hobby and that I have seen at conventions carrying around an Interstate shield...
Quote from: freebrickproductions on December 18, 2024, 03:40:43 AMI kinda am a furry, admittedly. More in the brony community/MLP fandom though.
Just noticed your reply. I've seen you at least once at a convention. I even signed your shield. :-D
My mind was blown when I realized that it was you.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 18, 2024, 07:01:03 PMQuote from: formulanone on December 18, 2024, 05:13:54 PMThere's a certain skill in answering those kinds of questions without losing the ability to garner respect, friends, and/or ever getting laid again.
Learning when such things are not worth the trouble is also a skill. (For example, is it actually a good idea to lower one's standards to the point of sleeping with someone who thinks Monopoly is a good game?)
Monopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 08:51:52 AMMonopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Trades?
Quote from: hotdogPi on December 19, 2024, 09:25:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 08:51:52 AMMonopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Trades?
Most normal people who play the game don't even know you can do that.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 09:52:34 AMQuote from: hotdogPi on December 19, 2024, 09:25:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 08:51:52 AMMonopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Trades?
Most normal people who play the game don't even know you can do that.
The 2 most ignored rules are that there is no jackpot for landing on free parking, and that if you decide not to buy a property it goes up for an immediate auction.
Quote from: Big John on December 19, 2024, 10:06:03 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 09:52:34 AMQuote from: hotdogPi on December 19, 2024, 09:25:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 08:51:52 AMMonopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Trades?
Most normal people who play the game don't even know you can do that.
The 2 most ignored rules are that there is no jackpot for landing on free parking, and that if you decide not to buy a property it goes up for an immediate auction.
And why I say that there's no actual meaningful choices, if you CAN afford a property, it's always in your interest to do so. There's never a time where you should say "nah" and let someone else have it.
^^^
You can always win it in an auction. Most regular people I play with won't pay face value for stuff like yellow or orange properties.
Quote from: Big John on December 19, 2024, 10:06:03 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 09:52:34 AMQuote from: hotdogPi on December 19, 2024, 09:25:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 08:51:52 AMMonopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Trades?
Most normal people who play the game don't even know you can do that.
The 2 most ignored rules are that there is no jackpot for landing on free parking, and that if you decide not to buy a property it goes up for an immediate auction.
The game is infinitely better when the rules are adhered to. My wife's family is big on playing Monopoly during the holiday season. They played with no auctions, no trades and the free parking jackpot. I refused to play unless they followed the actual rules.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 10:08:20 AM^^^
You can always win it in an auction. Most regular people I play with won't pay face value for stuff like yellow or orange properties.
Quote from: Big John on December 19, 2024, 10:06:03 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 09:52:34 AMQuote from: hotdogPi on December 19, 2024, 09:25:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 08:51:52 AMMonopoly isn't a game, it's an activity. There are no meaningful choices to be made which affect your chances to win.
Trades?
Most normal people who play the game don't even know you can do that.
The 2 most ignored rules are that there is no jackpot for landing on free parking, and that if you decide not to buy a property it goes up for an immediate auction.
The game is infinitely better when the rules are adhered to. My wife's family is big on playing Monopoly during the holiday season. They played with no auctions, no trades and the free parking jackpot. I refused to play unless they followed the actual rules.
Zero times infinity is still zero. :)
Statistically, the orange and pink properties are desirable to own and are worth buying at face value because opponents are likely to land on them more often. The reason: being sent to jail. When you get out of jail, you're highly likely to land on one of the properties on that side of the board. (True, you can't land on St. Charles Place when you get out of jail because you can't move only one space at a time, but owning that one plus the other two properties in that color group makes the group more valuable. I'm discounting the value of the Chance card that tells you to advance to St. Charles Place, and the card that tells you to advance to Reading Railroad, because someone drawing those cards are relatively infrequent in the overall scheme of the game. The latter card puts the opponent in position to hit the purple or orange properties on the next turn.)
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:14:07 AMStatistically, the orange and pink properties are desirable to own and are worth buying at face value because opponents are likely to land on them more often. The reason: being sent to jail. When you get out of jail, you're highly likely to land on one of the properties on that side of the board. (True, you can't land on St. Charles Place when you get out of jail because you can't move only one space at a time, but owning that one plus the other two properties in that color group makes the group more valuable. I'm discounting the value of the Chance card that tells you to advance to St. Charles Place, and the card that tells you to advance to Reading Railroad, because someone drawing those cards are relatively infrequent in the overall scheme of the game. The latter card puts the opponent in position to hit the purple or orange properties on the next turn.)
Correct. But, at the same time, you shouldn't "try" to go for those properties because you can't. You're completely at the whim of the dice.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 10:21:20 AMQuote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:14:07 AMStatistically, the orange and pink properties are desirable to own and are worth buying at face value because opponents are likely to land on them more often. The reason: being sent to jail. When you get out of jail, you're highly likely to land on one of the properties on that side of the board. (True, you can't land on St. Charles Place when you get out of jail because you can't move only one space at a time, but owning that one plus the other two properties in that color group makes the group more valuable. I'm discounting the value of the Chance card that tells you to advance to St. Charles Place, and the card that tells you to advance to Reading Railroad, because someone drawing those cards are relatively infrequent in the overall scheme of the game. The latter card puts the opponent in position to hit the purple or orange properties on the next turn.)
Correct. But, at the same time, you shouldn't "try" to go for those properties because you can't. You're completely at the whim of the dice.
True, although Max said this earlier and it was the primary impetus for my comment. I just didn't quote what he said at the time:
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 10:08:20 AM.... Most regular people I play with won't pay face value for stuff like yellow or orange properties. ....
My point was simply that there's a good reason to pay face value for the orange group.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:24:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 10:21:20 AMQuote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:14:07 AMStatistically, the orange and pink properties are desirable to own and are worth buying at face value because opponents are likely to land on them more often. The reason: being sent to jail. When you get out of jail, you're highly likely to land on one of the properties on that side of the board. (True, you can't land on St. Charles Place when you get out of jail because you can't move only one space at a time, but owning that one plus the other two properties in that color group makes the group more valuable. I'm discounting the value of the Chance card that tells you to advance to St. Charles Place, and the card that tells you to advance to Reading Railroad, because someone drawing those cards are relatively infrequent in the overall scheme of the game. The latter card puts the opponent in position to hit the purple or orange properties on the next turn.)
Correct. But, at the same time, you shouldn't "try" to go for those properties because you can't. You're completely at the whim of the dice.
True, although Max said this earlier and it was the primary impetus for my comment. I just didn't quote what he said at the time:
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 10:08:20 AM.... Most regular people I play with won't pay face value for stuff like yellow or orange properties. ....
My point was simply that there's a good reason to pay face value for the orange group.
and the orange is more valuable that the hot pink since rolling a 6, 8 or 9 is far more likely that rolling a 3 or a 4 from jail.
Quote from: Big John on December 19, 2024, 10:43:09 AMQuote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:24:19 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on December 19, 2024, 10:21:20 AMQuote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:14:07 AMStatistically, the orange and pink properties are desirable to own and are worth buying at face value because opponents are likely to land on them more often. The reason: being sent to jail. When you get out of jail, you're highly likely to land on one of the properties on that side of the board. (True, you can't land on St. Charles Place when you get out of jail because you can't move only one space at a time, but owning that one plus the other two properties in that color group makes the group more valuable. I'm discounting the value of the Chance card that tells you to advance to St. Charles Place, and the card that tells you to advance to Reading Railroad, because someone drawing those cards are relatively infrequent in the overall scheme of the game. The latter card puts the opponent in position to hit the purple or orange properties on the next turn.)
Correct. But, at the same time, you shouldn't "try" to go for those properties because you can't. You're completely at the whim of the dice.
True, although Max said this earlier and it was the primary impetus for my comment. I just didn't quote what he said at the time:
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 10:08:20 AM.... Most regular people I play with won't pay face value for stuff like yellow or orange properties. ....
My point was simply that there's a good reason to pay face value for the orange group.
and the orange is more valuable that the hot pink since rolling a 6, 8 or 9 is far more likely that rolling a 3 or a 4 from jail.
And the Orange are more valuable than Pink because the improvements costs the same, but you get more rent for the "further along" color on every side of the board.
So much for the Monopoly haters. The Monopoly strategists have taken over.
Quote from: Rothman on December 19, 2024, 11:26:50 AMSo much for the Monopoly haters. The Monopoly strategists have taken over.
I should have mentioned that I haven't played it in a long time. Primary reason is that it's not much fun with only two people in the house. We don't have all that many board games around, mainly due to lack of space to store them. I believe we have two Monopoly versions (one the "Mega Monopoly" version with a larger board, higher dollar amounts, and skyscrapers in addition to hotels), a game from the late 1970s called "Computer Rage," and a detective game called "Scotland Yard" that we can't play because it requires a minimum of three people.
Earlier this month I was looking through a box of old board games in my mother's basement to decide whether to take any of them. I found both Star Wars games, Game of the States, Risk, Castle Risk, the Mad Magazine Game, Careers, Payday, Easy Money, and Aggravation. Wound up not taking any of them. I thought about taking Aggravation and the Mad Magazine Game but decided we wouldn't likely play them (especially the latter), and I looked up how much the Star Wars games might be worth on eBay but decided there are so many of them for sale that it's not worth the hassle.
If anyone is at all interested, my board game collection can be seen here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/chrislwillers
To make it a touch more legible, click filter and then remove the expansions.
I know of at least one other vintage computer nerd around here, but I haven't seen many others.
We might have to split this out into its own Monopoly thread, but as a child, I owned a video game called
Monopoly Streets on consoles. One of the built-in rulesets was "Bull Market" where you essentially began the game by auctioning every single property in random order. While I wouldn't want to play this way all the time, I thought this made for a fun way to actually have strategy about what properties you try to get, as opposed to it being limited to dice rolling. I also enjoyed playing where a handful of properties would be auctioned at the start of the game, for similar reasons.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 10:08:20 AMThe game is infinitely better when the rules are adhered to. My wife's family is big on playing Monopoly during the holiday season. They played with no auctions, no trades and the free parking jackpot. I refused to play unless they followed the actual rules.
What's the point of playing Monopoly if you can't trade? If no one manages to get a set, how does the game end?
They all were bewildered by why their version of the game took so long.
Quote from: Rothman on December 19, 2024, 11:26:50 AMSo much for the Monopoly haters. The Monopoly strategists have taken over.
I recall playing a bunch from the ages 10-11 and then not it playing again (short of visiting a McDonald's) until my kids were the same age. Luckily, their shortened attention spans meant nobody was interested in restarting the game after 2 hours of play, then going to bed, and forgetting all about it when they woke up. And sure enough, they haven't asked to play it in several years.
I guess like life, you're mostly just lucky or not to define a lot of your initial net worth, and can be easily tired of the rat race even if you're neither winning nor losing.
Monopoly doesn't have much skill but I like it as it's like the only board game that I actually know how to play.
My primary hobby is amateur radio.
Under the umbrella of amateur radio are many sub-interests.
Consider, for example, "county hunting" where one keeps track of which counties they have contacted on the air (or which counties they have operated from. In fact, I just received a nice little certificate for having documented working 2000 counties.
There are many sub-interests focused on collecting "things" -- "countries", parks, islands, mountaintops.....
Minor things that bother you: Those incessant Monopoly Go ads you see on your phone.
Quote from: hbelkins on December 19, 2024, 03:21:22 PMMinor things that bother you: Those incessant Monopoly Go ads you see on your phone.
Even worse is that it's totally Gacha Garbage from what I have heard.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 10:14:07 AMStatistically, the orange and pink properties are desirable to own and are worth buying at face value because opponents are likely to land on them more often. The reason: being sent to jail. When you get out of jail, you're highly likely to land on one of the properties on that side of the board. (True, you can't land on St. Charles Place when you get out of jail because you can't move only one space at a time, but owning that one plus the other two properties in that color group makes the group more valuable. I'm discounting the value of the Chance card that tells you to advance to St. Charles Place, and the card that tells you to advance to Reading Railroad, because someone drawing those cards are relatively infrequent in the overall scheme of the game. The latter card puts the opponent in position to hit the purple or orange properties on the next turn.)
A number of years ago I actually wrote a program to simulate Monopoly, taking into account Chance/Community Chest, going to Jail, etc. Ran it over - I forget - maybe a million moves to see which property was landed on the most. But in truth, there wasn't a whole lot of difference in probabilities.
I think I remember the answer being Illinois Ave(*) but I am not 100% sure. I should try to see if I still have the program somewhere.
(*) Wonder if this is something Lord Carhorn would brag about if he knew?
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 10:08:20 AMThe game is infinitely better when the rules are adhered to. My wife's family is big on playing Monopoly during the holiday season. They played with no auctions, no trades and the free parking jackpot. I refused to play unless they followed the actual rules.
Monotony by its actual rules is more dull to play (the whole reason why people bring in trades is to give some choice to the game rather than just following what's ordered by dice and cards), but at least it doesn't last too long. The game with the near-universal added rules lasts until someone gives up.
The Landlord Game (what Monotony is based off) is better as at least then you could choose which direction you travel in a dice-determined distance so there was something to do beyond moving your piece and paying the relevant money.
Even this game (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8964/funny-bunny) aimed at a younger audience (under 8s, rather than the over 8s of Monotony) has more skill than Monotony because you have more than one counter which you can move the luck-determined distance and so you have some choice.
---
If you want a game of similar complexity* (Catan's a bit more complex), for the same audience, but a lot better, then Ticket to Ride is a good game to play.
*That said, Monotony is an autopilot game, so really we're talking apparent complexity.
Two-person Ticket to Ride gets dull. Multiperson is a lot more unpredictable and fun.
Quote from: JoePCool14 on December 19, 2024, 08:33:24 AMQuote from: freebrickproductions on December 18, 2024, 03:40:43 AMI kinda am a furry, admittedly. More in the brony community/MLP fandom though.
Just noticed your reply. I've seen you at least once at a convention. I even signed your shield. :-D
My mind was blown when I realized that it was you.
I will admit I apologise for not recognizing you either at the moment, I suck at remembering folks I don't/haven't regularly interacted with.
That being said, for me, the road trips to/from the cons are just as much fun as the cons themselves for me, at least when you ain't dealin' with a bit of "pcd", lol.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 19, 2024, 11:47:30 AMQuote from: Rothman on December 19, 2024, 11:26:50 AMSo much for the Monopoly haters. The Monopoly strategists have taken over.
I should have mentioned that I haven't played it in a long time. Primary reason is that it's not much fun
You could have left it right there as far as I'm concerned .
Fun is subjective. A lot of the normals would look at this whole road hobby and think it is pretty lame.
I swear trades are allowed in Monopoly? The official video games have trades.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AM- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
Every time I've been on a vacation to anywhere, especially when I was young, I would turn on the TV in the hotel room and just watch the Weather Channel.
I don't do it much anymore, but those storm chasing shows were what I slept to on those nights.
For a while some years ago, it was a good bet that one of The Godfather movies would be running on AMC when I was in a hotel room. Hasn't happened in a decade, though.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 09:52:59 PMFun is subjective. A lot of the normals would look at this whole road hobby and think it is pretty lame.
Last year on my birthday, I went to check out the new Corridor Q (US 460) in Buchanan County, Va. The next day, my brother asked what I'd done for my birthday. I told him, and he said, "That doesn't sound like much fun."
Quote from: hbelkins on December 20, 2024, 02:21:01 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on December 19, 2024, 09:52:59 PMFun is subjective. A lot of the normals would look at this whole road hobby and think it is pretty lame.
Last year on my birthday, I went to check out the new Corridor Q (US 460) in Buchanan County, Va. The next day, my brother asked what I'd done for my birthday. I told him, and he said, "That doesn't sound like much fun."
A couple of my wife's friends look upon road stuff and other things I do alone (like hiking) as odd, boring or dangerous. One actually expressed concern to my wife after she saw a one lane road photo I posted on my Facebook. I recall it being something along the lines of "why is he out doing dangerous things alone?"
In general I don't really bring up the topic of roads really ever in day to day situations. Occasionally I run into a driving enthusiast that I can chat with like one of the older managers I knew in Monterey. He was actually a page follower on Facebook and didn't realize I was one of the admins.
I think the sign geek stuff would be weird to nonroadgeeks, but the liking to travel to every state by road invokes romantic images to many Americans and would be cool even to non roadgeeks.
The modern MUTCD stuff is generally something I find to be a bore.
I think I've mostly determined that my interest in roads is due more to tracking my travels and being a completionist more than any of the "technical aspects" of roads.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 20, 2024, 03:08:42 PMThe modern MUTCD stuff is generally something I find to be a bore.
Coming from the era when button copy was everywhere nationally, the "Oh no, a California overhead sign is 500 years old!" types of comments I see on some roadgeek Facebook pages get very tiresome.
Quote from: TheStranger on December 20, 2024, 03:39:25 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on December 20, 2024, 03:08:42 PMThe modern MUTCD stuff is generally something I find to be a bore.
Coming from the era when button copy was everywhere nationally, the "Oh no, a California overhead sign is 500 years old!" types of comments I see on some roadgeek Facebook pages get very tiresome.
The standard argument against older signage here usually includes some sort of "safety" element. While I'm not completely dismissing the safety element but it is usually blown way out of proportion to the scenario being complained over.
In general I'm not a fan of invoking "safety" or "danger" in hobby groups when it comes to modern limited access or partial access controlled highway corridors. Usually someone makes such a claim in the Facebook road world it is groan inducing levels of bad. I wish that I could say that most of the usual suspects are being hyperbolic, but I know better than that.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on December 20, 2024, 03:10:08 PMI think I've mostly determined that my interest in roads is due more to tracking my travels and being a completionist more than any of the "technical aspects" of roads.
Same, my interest in roads is more about the travel part of roads, though I am interested in speed limits and control cities but I don't really care about the sign standards. I'm also more into state/county clinching than road clinching though I do keep an eye out on my road clinches.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 20, 2024, 03:49:01 PMI wish that I could say that most of the usual suspects are being hyperbolic, but I know better than that.
What I think of when this gets brought up:
1. If a button copy sign has lighting, then it automatically is NOT "impossible to see." I know the difference - the 1970s South Airport Boulevard sign off northbound US 101 in San Bruno was finally removed a year ago for a retroreflective one and THAT was hard to see due to the lack of sign lighting. That doesn't apply in all scenarios and locations at all.
2. Retroreflective is not inherently better due to its lack of durability (which does not always lead to quicker replacement cycles, even though those are necessary to make that type of signage the most functional)
3. If the sign is visible and hasn't faded out, regardless of being button copy or retroreflective, then it's useful.
This isn't me just wanting 1960s green-on-white 99 and 50 signs to pop up on older Interstates, it's more "if the sign is doing its job, why replace it for aesthetic reasons alone."
I always thought "aesthetic" was an odd argument when it comes to getting rid of button copy gantries. The modern vinyl stuff is so fucking ugly that it is bizarre to me how anyone can find anything aesthetically pleasing about it. My thought is that these typically more a plea by those complaining for MUTCD uniformity rather than anything shorn aesthetic.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on December 20, 2024, 04:04:53 PMI always thought "aesthetic" was an odd argument when it comes to getting rid of button copy gantries. The modern vinyl stuff is so fucking ugly that it is bizarre to me how anyone can find anything aesthetically pleasing about it. My thought is that these typically more a plea by those complaining for MUTCD uniformity rather than anything shorn aesthetic.
I feel there's supposed to be a little variation between how states do things; but suppose there's people who find comfort in absolute uniformity which makes travel a bit more pointless. The whole point of travel is to get something different out of what you'd normally see, even if it's trivially different signage practice or traffic light mast arm that's canted 5 degrees differently.
Then again, much of that sort of complaining comes from desk-chair roadgeeks who get obsessively tweaked about exit tab positioning, that a numeral that looked at them funny, found a faded shopping mall sign which needs reporting to authorities because it was in Arial, and have to go into exacting detail about how one of the restaurants on a blue sign made them sick.
At that point, I wonder why *this* was the hobby you chose to follow. But hey, it's a fairly open-ended hobby.
Small overlap between Roadgeeks and HAM Radio. At least three including me have call signs.
Quote from: formulanone on December 20, 2024, 08:31:41 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on December 20, 2024, 04:04:53 PMI always thought "aesthetic" was an odd argument when it comes to getting rid of button copy gantries. The modern vinyl stuff is so fucking ugly that it is bizarre to me how anyone can find anything aesthetically pleasing about it. My thought is that these typically more a plea by those complaining for MUTCD uniformity rather than anything shorn aesthetic.
I feel there's supposed to be a little variation between how states do things; but suppose there's people who find comfort in absolute uniformity which makes travel a bit more pointless. The whole point of travel is to get something different out of what you'd normally see, even if it's trivially different signage practice or traffic light mast arm that's canted 5 degrees differently.
Then again, much of that sort of complaining comes from desk-chair roadgeeks who get obsessively tweaked about exit tab positioning, that a numeral that looked at them funny, found a faded shopping mall sign which needs reporting to authorities because it was in Arial, and have to go into exacting detail about how one of the restaurants on a blue sign made them sick.
At that point, I wonder why *this* was the hobby you chose to follow. But hey, it's a fairly open-ended hobby.
I've found that most of those folks congregate on the "there is NO way that MUTCD compliant" Facebook groups. Said group is plagued by safety nerds, NUMTOT and people obsessed with standardized compliance. I don't get how they have 100k in membership, hated every minute of my brief time there.
Quote from: freebrickproductions on December 19, 2024, 09:22:23 PMQuote from: JoePCool14 on December 19, 2024, 08:33:24 AMQuote from: freebrickproductions on December 18, 2024, 03:40:43 AMI kinda am a furry, admittedly. More in the brony community/MLP fandom though.
Just noticed your reply. I've seen you at least once at a convention. I even signed your shield. :-D
My mind was blown when I realized that it was you.
I will admit I apologise for not recognizing you either at the moment, I suck at remembering folks I don't/haven't regularly interacted with.
That being said, for me, the road trips to/from the cons are just as much fun as the cons themselves for me, at least when you ain't dealin' with a bit of "pcd", lol.
It's alright. I'm with you on that for the last part. Got to visit two new states just because we drove instead of flying and got to clinch lots of new mileage. FWIW, I'll be at HC again.
Quote from: JoePCool14 on December 20, 2024, 09:53:53 PMQuote from: freebrickproductions on December 19, 2024, 09:22:23 PMQuote from: JoePCool14 on December 19, 2024, 08:33:24 AMQuote from: freebrickproductions on December 18, 2024, 03:40:43 AMI kinda am a furry, admittedly. More in the brony community/MLP fandom though.
Just noticed your reply. I've seen you at least once at a convention. I even signed your shield. :-D
My mind was blown when I realized that it was you.
I will admit I apologise for not recognizing you either at the moment, I suck at remembering folks I don't/haven't regularly interacted with.
That being said, for me, the road trips to/from the cons are just as much fun as the cons themselves for me, at least when you ain't dealin' with a bit of "pcd", lol.
It's alright. I'm with you on that for the last part. Got to visit two new states just because we drove instead of flying and got to clinch lots of new mileage. FWIW, I'll be at HC again.
Unfortunately I won't be making it to HarmonyCon 2025, sadly, mainly due to college. In fact, I don't think I'll be making it to any cons next year.
I suspect that my hobbies are not shared by many others in the road geek community. My main two interests are playing musical instruments (mostly piano and bass) and discussing/debating apologetics and Christian theology. Other than those two things, I dabble in a lot of interests (weather, cars, working out, and sports, among other things), but I don't obsess to the point of making them hobbies.
Quote from: CoreySamson on December 21, 2024, 12:07:06 AMI suspect that my hobbies are not shared by many others in the road geek community. My main two interests are playing musical instruments (mostly piano and bass) and discussing/debating apologetics and Christian theology. Other than those two things, I dabble in a lot of interests (weather, cars, working out, and sports, among other things), but I don't obsess to the point of making them hobbies.
Oh I can totally vibe with the Christian apologetics and theology stuff. Religious content isn't allowed on the forum so it wouldn't show, but I have interest in that stuff. Best to leave religious debates off of this forum though.
Quote from: Rothman on December 19, 2024, 08:58:42 PMTwo-person Ticket to Ride gets dull. Multiperson is a lot more unpredictable and fun.
Ticket to Ride Europe is objectively the better game because building the 8 car long tunnel is a blast.
I'm a bit late to the board game discussion, but I recall spending 5 hours on a Friday night playing a LOTR board game with random people. Quintessential college experience, would absolutely do again.
Party games like Codenames and Secret Hitler are always fun. Board game purists, I said it. You can have fun without needing to spend 5 hours debating the rules.
Quote from: CoreySamson on December 21, 2024, 12:07:06 AMI suspect that my hobbies are not shared by many others in the road geek community. My main two interests are playing musical instruments (mostly piano and bass) and discussing/debating apologetics and Christian theology. Other than those two things, I dabble in a lot of interests (weather, cars, working out, and sports, among other things), but I don't obsess to the point of making them hobbies.
I'm also a multi-instrumentalist. I play the harp and euphonium primarily, and also sing. One of the reasons why I had a hard time finding a good career path was because my interests vary so much.
Quote from: freebrickproductions on December 20, 2024, 10:58:04 PMUnfortunately I won't be making it to HarmonyCon 2025, sadly, mainly due to college. In fact, I don't think I'll be making it to any cons next year.
Ah. Sounds like I oughta bring a sign with me this time to make up for it then.
Not much of a kidder. SpongeBob and Garfield are two things that overlap with roadgeek
Quote from: noelbotevera on December 21, 2024, 01:31:35 AMQuote from: Rothman on December 19, 2024, 08:58:42 PMTwo-person Ticket to Ride gets dull. Multiperson is a lot more unpredictable and fun.
Ticket to Ride Europe is objectively the better game because building the 8 car long tunnel is a blast.
I'm a bit late to the board game discussion, but I recall spending 5 hours on a Friday night playing a LOTR board game with random people. Quintessential college experience, would absolutely do again.
Party games like Codenames and Secret Hitler are always fun. Board game purists, I said it. You can have fun without needing to spend 5 hours debating the rules.
I'm probably what you are calling a board game purist and I really like Secret Hitler and Codenames. My favorite game in this genre is Decrypto. That said, I like the meatier ones even better.
Quote from: JoePCool14 on December 21, 2024, 10:48:19 AMQuote from: freebrickproductions on December 20, 2024, 10:58:04 PMUnfortunately I won't be making it to HarmonyCon 2025, sadly, mainly due to college. In fact, I don't think I'll be making it to any cons next year.
Ah. Sounds like I oughta bring a sign with me this time to make up for it then.
Honestly, I've thought about buying shields from Rice Signs of highways closest to the con(s) I'm planning on going to that year, getting them signed by folks at those cons, and putting them in the charity auction.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AM- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
I have no idea what a WeatherStar 4000 is without looking it up, but I
am a degreed meteorologist...
Even if it displays weather, that kind of thing is really more of a communications/TV type interest than weather itself as far as I'm concerned.
Quote from: US 89 on December 21, 2024, 05:11:47 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AM- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
I have no idea what a WeatherStar 4000 is without looking it up, but I am a degreed meteorologist...
Even if it displays weather, that kind of thing is really more of a communications/TV type interest than weather itself as far as I'm concerned.
It's a device that sits at a cable headend, pulls data from NOAA, and renders it onto the screen. The 4000 was the early-mid-90s version of it, back when the Weather Channel was actually about weather.
(https://i.imgur.com/JKpcEBS.png)
While that's maybe not hardcore meteorology, it has inspired an interest in such for a non-zero number of people.
(Also, it kind of ties into general geography interest as well, since the 4000 in particular was unfailingly honest about where the AWOSes were, leading to the Limonization of a bunch of random small towns that happened to have an AWOS. Raise your hand if you've ever heard of Daggett, California.)
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on December 21, 2024, 12:25:54 AMQuote from: CoreySamson on December 21, 2024, 12:07:06 AMI suspect that my hobbies are not shared by many others in the road geek community. My main two interests are playing musical instruments (mostly piano and bass) and discussing/debating apologetics and Christian theology. Other than those two things, I dabble in a lot of interests (weather, cars, working out, and sports, among other things), but I don't obsess to the point of making them hobbies.
Oh I can totally vibe with the Christian apologetics and theology stuff. Religious content isn't allowed on the forum so it wouldn't show, but I have interest in that stuff. Best to leave religious debates off of this forum though.
I minored in religious studies as an undergrad. Would have made it a double major except I didn't want to do that much work. I find theology and such extremely interesting, but I avoid it on the forum for the reasons you've noted.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 21, 2024, 06:07:18 PMQuote from: US 89 on December 21, 2024, 05:11:47 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on December 17, 2024, 07:03:17 AM- Weather, specifically The Weather Channel. I think our rules set is based on one from a Weather Channel forum. Most roadgeeks seem to know what the WeatherStar 4000 is.
I have no idea what a WeatherStar 4000 is without looking it up, but I am a degreed meteorologist...
Even if it displays weather, that kind of thing is really more of a communications/TV type interest than weather itself as far as I'm concerned.
It's a device that sits at a cable headend, pulls data from NOAA, and renders it onto the screen. The 4000 was the early-mid-90s version of it, back when the Weather Channel was actually about weather.
(https://i.imgur.com/JKpcEBS.png)
While that's maybe not hardcore meteorology, it has inspired an interest in such for a non-zero number of people.
(Also, it kind of ties into general geography interest as well, since the 4000 in particular was unfailingly honest about where the AWOSes were, leading to the Limonization of a bunch of random small towns that happened to have an AWOS. Raise your hand if you've ever heard of Daggett, California.)
I'm not a weather nerd, and until this post I didn't realize the WeatherStar 4000 was an actual thing instead of just the name of the website that simulates the 90s Weather Channel look with current weather reports.
Quote from: TheCatalyst31 on December 21, 2024, 11:57:37 PMI'm not a weather nerd, and until this post I didn't realize the WeatherStar 4000 was an actual thing instead of just the name of the website that simulates the 90s Weather Channel look with current weather reports.
Yep, it's an actual physical computer. The 4000 is one of a number of different models that have been in use throughout the years, and are responsible for the differing graphics on the Weather Channel over the years—the graphics don't update unless the WeatherStar unit at the cable headend gets updated. (This means that every once in a while, usually in a small town served by a small cable company, you'll get some massively out-of-date unit still in service, which is much like stumbling across button copy in the wild.)
It is possible, but difficult, to get ahold of a genuine Weatherstar unit and get it up and running, and there are at least two instances of people doing this on YouTube (the most well-documented is a guy in Franklin TN who has some videos showing how the actual hardware works, in addition to filming its output as he goes through the process of repairing it).
However, there are two different simulation programs out there. The screenshot above is from the one at taiganet.com. That one actually renders a near-pixel-perfect rendition of the WeatherStar 4000 to an OpenGL window on the desktop. It also offers extensive configuration options so you can choose the exact set of cities you want, where to place them on the maps, and what music you want playing. (The dev even managed to get Dan Chandler, the actual TWC announcer at the time, to provide clean voiceovers for it, which ended up being his last credit before he died.) There is also a web-based version called Weatherstar 4000+ (https://battaglia.ddns.net/twc/) which does a lot of the configuration for you, but it isn't terribly accurate to the original machine.
Showing my age, but I still expect TWC's graphics On The 8's to look somewhat like this (WeatherStar II or III):
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/WeatherStarIII-example.png)
You had to wait patiently until a meteorologist pointed a map (and maybe see an ad for wiper blades). Ah, the dulcet tones of elevator instrumental music, sometimes synthy, sometimes jazzy. I kind of fell off from my fanaticism with weather when automotive stuff suddenly took over, but I still catch a glimpse before traveling, if I can.
Quote from: Scott5114 on December 22, 2024, 08:31:33 AMThe screenshot above is from the one at taiganet.com (https://taiganet.com/). That one actually renders a near-pixel-perfect rendition of the WeatherStar 4000 to an OpenGL window on the desktop.
Sadly it doesn't look like the Mac version is updated much - it crashes on my Sequoia M1 MacBook Air, even after you jump through all the signing hoops.
I'd love to try it on Linux, but my Linux desktop is POWER9, and I can't find source code to build from scratch.
Getting the old TWC hardware running again is a nice crossover with us vintage computer geeks. :)
Quote from: cl94 on December 17, 2024, 01:44:18 AMRailfanning also has a LOT of overlap, even among forum users. Not a total overlap, no, but there is enough that they are correlated. The new rail side of Travel Mapping has a decent amount of crossover users. Some people into both have made it a habit to combine the two in their material. I certainly will not turn down a chance to get a great combined road/rail photo.
I do have to wonder how much overlap there is with certain railfan niches crossingfans or defect detector enthusiasts.
There's also a decent overlap between traffic signal enthusiasts and roadgeeks, though IDK how much overlap there is between specifically traffic signal
collectors and roadgeeks.
Quote from: formulanone on December 22, 2024, 10:31:50 AMShowing my age, but I still expect TWC's graphics On The 8's to look somewhat like this (WeatherStar II or III):
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/WeatherStarIII-example.png)
You had to wait patiently until a meteorologist pointed a map (and maybe see an ad for wiper blades). Ah, the dulcet tones of elevator instrumental music, sometimes synthy, sometimes jazzy. I kind of fell off from my fanaticism with weather when automotive stuff suddenly took over, but I still catch a glimpse before traveling, if I can.
I loved the traditional Weather Channel! I could have watched for hours.
Quote from: JoePCool14 on December 19, 2024, 03:25:02 PMQuote from: hbelkins on December 19, 2024, 03:21:22 PMMinor things that bother you: Those incessant Monopoly Go ads you see on your phone.
Even worse is that it's totally Gacha Garbage from what I have heard.
A VPN takes care of most of that.
Quote from: 1995hoo on December 21, 2024, 10:08:14 PMQuote from: Roadgeekteen on December 21, 2024, 12:25:54 AMQuote from: CoreySamson on December 21, 2024, 12:07:06 AMI suspect that my hobbies are not shared by many others in the road geek community. My main two interests are playing musical instruments (mostly piano and bass) and discussing/debating apologetics and Christian theology. Other than those two things, I dabble in a lot of interests (weather, cars, working out, and sports, among other things), but I don't obsess to the point of making them hobbies.
Oh I can totally vibe with the Christian apologetics and theology stuff. Religious content isn't allowed on the forum so it wouldn't show, but I have interest in that stuff. Best to leave religious debates off of this forum though.
I minored in religious studies as an undergrad. Would have made it a double major except I didn't want to do that much work. I find theology and such extremely interesting, but I avoid it on the forum for the reasons you've noted.
I'm a big theology/religious studies nerd. I'm a member of a local Unitarian Universalist Church and have had the opportunity to create and preach a service each of the last two summers. I grew up Roman Catholic and had experience in a Methodist church as well as the evangelical Christian world as a teen and young adult. Lately I've been digging into the Divine Feminine as well as Buddhism. I absolutely love visiting houses of worship when I travel.
My related interests to roads include (in no particular order) urban planning, bridges, signs, map collecting, mapmaking, transit geeking, county clinching, license plates. I love international travel and visiting cities and staying in them for a while. If I had a sabbatical from work, I'd love to go somewhere like London and stay for a month, trying to explore as much of it as I can.
Some of my other special interests that seem to overlap with a lot of other roadgeeks include Billboard Top 40, hiking, retail history. I also love all kinds of board games but don't really have the time to play much these days. I like the more complex ones but also adore Monopoly.
Additional special interests of mine are music (especially singing - I used to sing in a community choir!), writing (particularly poetry), and crocheting.
Something I've personally seen overlap in is game shows, broadcasting, stadium clinching, amateur radio, weather. As we all know my husband Mike is a roadgeek as well as a Ham - his call sign is N3KEV.
So far, my daughter loves road trips and has been to many meets. My nephew is a sign geek and obsessed with FreewayJim. My SIL has joked that she somehow gave birth to our other kid, lol.
As a kid, I was a power line/power pole geek as well as a roadgeek.
Quote from: Laura on December 31, 2024, 10:28:04 AMQuote from: 1995hoo on December 21, 2024, 10:08:14 PMQuote from: Roadgeekteen on December 21, 2024, 12:25:54 AMQuote from: CoreySamson on December 21, 2024, 12:07:06 AMI suspect that my hobbies are not shared by many others in the road geek community. My main two interests are playing musical instruments (mostly piano and bass) and discussing/debating apologetics and Christian theology. Other than those two things, I dabble in a lot of interests (weather, cars, working out, and sports, among other things), but I don't obsess to the point of making them hobbies.
Oh I can totally vibe with the Christian apologetics and theology stuff. Religious content isn't allowed on the forum so it wouldn't show, but I have interest in that stuff. Best to leave religious debates off of this forum though.
I minored in religious studies as an undergrad. Would have made it a double major except I didn't want to do that much work. I find theology and such extremely interesting, but I avoid it on the forum for the reasons you've noted.
I'm a big theology/religious studies nerd. I'm a member of a local Unitarian Universalist Church and have had the opportunity to create and preach a service each of the last two summers. I grew up Roman Catholic and had experience in a Methodist church as well as the evangelical Christian world as a teen and young adult. Lately I've been digging into the Divine Feminine as well as Buddhism. I absolutely love visiting houses of worship when I travel.
My related interests to roads include (in no particular order) urban planning, bridges, signs, map collecting, mapmaking, transit geeking, county clinching, license plates. I love international travel and visiting cities and staying in them for a while. If I had a sabbatical from work, I'd love to go somewhere like London and stay for a month, trying to explore as much of it as I can.
Some of my other special interests that seem to overlap with a lot of other roadgeeks include Billboard Top 40, hiking, retail history. I also love all kinds of board games but don't really have the time to play much these days. I like the more complex ones but also adore Monopoly.
Additional special interests of mine are music (especially singing - I used to sing in a community choir!), writing (particularly poetry), and crocheting.
Something I've personally seen overlap in is game shows, broadcasting, stadium clinching, amateur radio, weather. As we all know my husband Mike is a roadgeek as well as a Ham - his call sign is N3KEV.
So far, my daughter loves road trips and has been to many meets. My nephew is a sign geek and obsessed with FreewayJim. My SIL has joked that she somehow gave birth to our other kid, lol.
BuceesJim? Might be high time to introduce the lad to some higher tier groups and pages (definitely not Roadgeekery or there is no way that is MUTCD complaint).
Every school I attended from middle school onward had at least one Billboard chart nerd that knew their way around music, as I discovered, and we became instant friends. (Sometimes, I was that nerd.) I papered one wall of my freshman college dorm with Hot 100 pullouts I spirited out of the college library.
Quote from: Road Hog on March 24, 2025, 06:09:00 PMEvery school I attended from middle school onward had at least one Billboard chart nerd that knew their way around music, as I discovered, and we became instant friends. (Sometimes, I was that nerd.) I papered one wall of my freshman college dorm with Hot 100 pullouts I spirited out of the college library.
Not sure there's much overlap with roadgeeks, but music chart nerds are alive and well. Though these days there's a lot of debate over whether Billboard is still the best pop music chart, since it overweights radio play and can be slow to catch up to where people listen to music.
Quote from: TheCatalyst31 on March 24, 2025, 07:56:55 PMQuote from: Road Hog on March 24, 2025, 06:09:00 PMEvery school I attended from middle school onward had at least one Billboard chart nerd that knew their way around music, as I discovered, and we became instant friends. (Sometimes, I was that nerd.) I papered one wall of my freshman college dorm with Hot 100 pullouts I spirited out of the college library.
Not sure there's much overlap with roadgeeks, but music chart nerds are alive and well. Though these days there's a lot of debate over whether Billboard is still the best pop music chart, since it overweights radio play and can be slow to catch up to where people listen to music.
You just don't have a /single/ page to pull out of the magazine anymore, Billboard now prints their Hot 100 singles chart over multiple pages in their hard-sopy version. I just get it every week in a more convenient and easier to read format on line from their website.
Mike
Quote from: mgk920 on March 26, 2025, 10:54:29 AMQuote from: TheCatalyst31 on March 24, 2025, 07:56:55 PMQuote from: Road Hog on March 24, 2025, 06:09:00 PMEvery school I attended from middle school onward had at least one Billboard chart nerd that knew their way around music, as I discovered, and we became instant friends. (Sometimes, I was that nerd.) I papered one wall of my freshman college dorm with Hot 100 pullouts I spirited out of the college library.
Not sure there's much overlap with roadgeeks, but music chart nerds are alive and well. Though these days there's a lot of debate over whether Billboard is still the best pop music chart, since it overweights radio play and can be slow to catch up to where people listen to music.
You just don't have a /single/ page to pull out of the magazine anymore, Billboard now prints their Hot 100 singles chart over multiple pages in their hard-sopy version. I just get it every week in a more convenient and easier to read format on line from their website.
Mike
Billboard now very heavily weights on-line 'streams' in their chart, also having long ago dropped their requirement that a song be released as a 'single' to appear. That is why you sometimes now see an individual artist charting 15-20 titles in one week.
Mike
Hmm ... well, I have accounts at Board Game Geek and TV Tropes, and I check the Storm Prediction Center page every single day.
But I didn't see anyone mentioning cookbook collecting. I have over 500.
Quote from: Mav94 on March 31, 2025, 08:38:01 PMHmm ... well, I have accounts at Board Game Geek and TV Tropes, and I check the Storm Prediction Center page every single day.
But I didn't see anyone mentioning cookbook collecting. I have over 500.
I'm quite active on BGG and I probably have 30-ish cookbooks.