Who's Who in the V:TES Community

Vital Statistics:

Name:
Year of Birth:
Occupation:
Other Games Played:

Number of Cards owned:
Number of Decks ready to play:
Play in:

R. David Zopf AKA Atom Weaver
1973
Polymer Chemist
VOR: The Maelstrom, Shadowfist, various Cheapass Games, Vinci, History of the World, Twilight Imperium, Plague and Pestilence, Munchkin, and more.
approx. 40 to 50,000
approx. 15
Charlotte, North Carolina, US of A.

Q1: How (and when) did you begin your career as a VTES-player? Who introduced you to the game? Where did you play originally?
The day Jyhad was released at my local store, our Magic: the Gathering group bought into Jyhad quite a lot. Although not an avid player myself, others in the group were frequent players of Vampire: the Masquerade. We tried to play that night, but the (poorly written) rulebook confounded us. One player, John Peterson, took a rulebook, blew it up on a photocopier, and stayed up until 4AM that night studying it. The following day, he emerged, bleary-eyed, and taught the rest of us how to play. We originally played at Comicopia, a comic book/gaming store near Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. Later, the group moved to Your Move Games, in (bitchin') Somerville, Mass., a town adjacent to Cambridge.

Q2: Which of the Sets and Expansions to VTES is your favorite, and why is it your top choice?
My favorite base set is, oddly enough, the Camarilla Edition, mostly for the interestign new selection of vampires. My favorite expansion is Final Nights. It did such an excellent job of raising the capabilities of the independent clans, without going overboard in terms of sheer power. What an excellent addition to the game!

Q3: What is your favorite deck to play, and why?
Right now, I'm partial to a small to mid cap Ravnos deck, with a balance of bleed, intercept, combat, and a bit of pool gain. The efficiency of the Ravnos in doing so many varied things makes them really compelling to me.

Q4: If you could add something to the game, what would it be?
A fast playing, 2 player rules variant. Something that would overcome the time constraint of the full-blown game. I think that would go a long ways towards helping the game grow its player base. I started working on this, but haven't had the time to give it the attention it deserves.

Q5: What do you do to help promote the game / why are you in this list of people?
Promotional Efforts
Helped establish VEKN. Founded the Boston, MA VEKN playgroup (now the largest group on the eastern seaboard, thanks to Ben Peal's excellent work upon my departure). Founded the Charlotte, NC playgroup. I've happily demoed to 198 people, and have learned how to teach VTES basics to new players in 30 minutes or less (or your money back :) Created the Z-TES 2 player rules variant.
Why am I on this list?
I suppose its because I frequented the Usenet Newsgroup from late 1995 on through VTES's difficult years, and participated in a lot of rules debates. I've been a long time advocate of No Card Limits, and participated exhaustively in those debates, as well. I've been occasionally considered something of a serious threat in game play, although I've never understood why ;-)

Q6: What is your favorite deck style for casual play / tournament play?
For casual play, I've been toying with bolting on Harbingers Selective Library Burn (knowing your prey's library, and using that knowledge to deny specific cards) to various other strategies, to see what it does to bolster their tactics.
In tournament play, the Ravnos mentioned above are my current favorites, although I like Euro-Brujah decks, as well.

Q7: Is there a difference between your casual play and tournament play?
Very much so. In casual play, our group encourages exploring oddball strategies, so that they may bring a bit of unpredicatbility and uniqueness to tournaments. What's more, less intense play affords a player to gauge whether a novel strategy is worth pursuing in tournament-stlye play.
In tournaments, in addition to bringing a stronger game to the table, I expect people to understand and play by the rules. I tend to be a little lax with play in casual environments, and free with advice to other players. Not so with tournaments...

Back to the index of Who's Who in V:TES.

Q1: How (and when) did you begin your career as a VTES-player? Who introduced you to the game? Where did you play originally? The day Jyhad was released at my local store, our Magic: the Gathering group bought into Jyhad quite a lot. Although not an avid player myself, others in the group were frequent players of Vampire: the Masquerade. We tried to play that night, but the (poorly written) rulebook confounded us. One player, John Peterson, took a rulebook, blew it up on a photocopier, and stayed up until 4AM that night studying it. The following day, he emerged, bleary-eyed, and taught the rest of us how to play. We originally played at Comicopia, a comic book/gaming store near Fenway Park in Boston, Mass. Later, the group moved to Your Move Games, in (bitchin') Somerville, Mass., a town adjacent to Cambridge.	Q2: Which of the Sets and Expansions to VTES is your favorite, and why is it your top choice? My favorite base set is, oddly enough, the Camarilla Edition, mostly for the interestign new selection of vampires. My favorite expansion is Final Nights. It did such an excellent job of raising the capabilities of the independent clans, without going overboard in terms of sheer power. What an excellent addition to the game!
Q3: What is your favorite deck to play, and why? Right now, I'm partial to a small to mid cap Ravnos deck, with a balance of bleed, intercept, combat, and a bit of pool gain. The efficiency of the Ravnos in doing so many varied things makes them really compelling to me.	Q4: If you could add something to the game, what would it be? A fast playing, 2 player rules variant. Something that would overcome the time constraint of the full-blown game. I think that would go a long ways towards helping the game grow its player base. I started working on this, but haven't had the time to give it the attention it deserves.
Q5: What do you do to help promote the game / why are you in this list of people? Promotional Efforts Helped establish VEKN. Founded the Boston, MA VEKN playgroup (now the largest group on the eastern seaboard, thanks to Ben Peal's excellent work upon my departure). Founded the Charlotte, NC playgroup. I've happily demoed to 198 people, and have learned how to teach VTES basics to new players in 30 minutes or less (or your money back :) Created the Z-TES 2 player rules variant. Why am I on this list? I suppose its because I frequented the Usenet Newsgroup from late 1995 on through VTES's difficult years, and participated in a lot of rules debates. I've been a long time advocate of No Card Limits, and participated exhaustively in those debates, as well. I've been occasionally considered something of a serious threat in game play, although I've never understood why ;-)	Q6: What is your favorite deck style for casual play / tournament play? For casual play, I've been toying with bolting on Harbingers Selective Library Burn (knowing your prey's library, and using that knowledge to deny specific cards) to various other strategies, to see what it does to bolster their tactics. In tournament play, the Ravnos mentioned above are my current favorites, although I like Euro-Brujah decks, as well.
Q7: Is there a difference between your casual play and tournament play? Very much so. In casual play, our group encourages exploring oddball strategies, so that they may bring a bit of unpredicatbility and uniqueness to tournaments. What's more, less intense play affords a player to gauge whether a novel strategy is worth pursuing in tournament-stlye play. In tournaments, in addition to bringing a stronger game to the table, I expect people to understand and play by the rules. I tend to be a little lax with play in casual environments, and free with advice to other players. Not so with tournaments...