Hello everyone, I've been a member for a while but I forgot about this site until the thread on RPGNet about RPGPundit's interview for that Norwegian site. At any rate, I like what I see around here despite being a little intimidated, so I think I'll stick around.

In reading the interview, I was struck by the snippets of the Uruguayan lifestyle that the article contained- enough that I've been reading blogs and other information about Uruguay in hopes of visiting and scouting it out as a place to live with my family. To that end I have a few multi-part questions for RPGPundit and any other gamers in Uruguay who use these forums.

1: Gaming. What are some good game stores in Montevideo? Are they holes in the wall, or do they have a good selection? What's the gaming culture like? Sorry if it's been answered, but I can't find that info on your blog, RPGPundit.

2: Amenities. Regarding Internet, cable/satellite, and movie theaters, how would you rate the quality of each? Are movies and shows available in English? For example, at a movie theater, are the movies dubbed in Spanish or subtitled?

3. Poverty and Crime. I've read on at least one blog that theft is the big crime, everywhere in Montevideo. Is that true, or are there safer areas? What other crimes are common? I can handle a moderately dangerous city (I've lived in them), as long as I know the lay of the land.  

4. An odd one- roaches and vermin. Are they any more of an issue than anywhere else, particularly the Northern US and Canada?    

I guess that's all for now. Thanks, and I appreciate any answers you can give me.

Welcome Scott! I've had a name change, but it's Dan (or formally Tonto on RPGnet, if you prefer).

We must get around to talking about that mythic M&M superlink project we were talking about a while back.

Iv'e still got two projects on the go at the moment, but i should be free beginning of April. Perhaps we could chat more about it then?

Dan.

Hey Dan, how's it going? Good to see a familiar "face" as it were.

Incidentally, the few fans of my setting that exist have talked me into rewriting it as a more traditional d20 fantasy (i.e D&D) setting, rather than M&M. I've just started work on that, actually. So unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be able to do the M&M project unless it was significantly different from my Morningstar stuff. I'd just hate to have a conflict of interests. I'd certainly be willing to talk about it though.

No worries mate. I'm glad you've got some more interest in Morningstar.

Well, if you're still interested in collaborating on something later on down the line, give me a shout.

I must just say "Monster Manuel" is a fantastic handle for a South American gamer

Thanks. I use the same one on RPGNet. I like Spanish and Hispanic cultures. When someone posted something like "Where's Monster Manuel 2?" on RPGNet I signed up with the name.

My wife's from Puerto Rico, while I'm of Irish/various European descent. She's fluent in Spanish and knows a few dialects, and I know pidgin high school Spanish. I think we'd both like at least seeing Uruguay and maybe taking a trip to Buenos Aires or down the coast of Argentina to see the sea life. My son's big into that stuff.

If I'm babbling it's because I've been up all night. Sorry.

Quote from: One Horse TownNo worries mate. I'm glad you've got some more interest in Morningstar.

Well, if you're still interested in collaborating on something later on down the line, give me a shout.

Sure thing. We were on a similar wavelength for at least one idea, so I'm sure we'd find other common ground.

Hi, Manuel!

Quote from: Monster Manuel1: Gaming. What are some good game stores in Montevideo? Are they holes in the wall, or do they have a good selection? What's the gaming culture like? Sorry if it's been answered, but I can't find that info on your blog, RPGPundit.

The gaming culture is great here, there's a huge pool of gamers available to play campaigns. Some of them speak fluent english, but most campaigns tend to be in spanish of course, so you'd probably have to keep that in mind.
There is only one "game store" of a sort, called Grim Goblin, that mostly has CCGs and a few old sourcebooks for crappy games; they haven't had any new books in years; it was recently considered a major coup when they got a set of dice in.

Most gamers here buy pirated books (just about any RPG you can imagine is available in a pirated version here).  However, you can also order from Amazon or Lulu very very easily.

Quote2: Amenities. Regarding Internet, cable/satellite, and movie theaters, how would you rate the quality of each? Are movies and shows available in English? For example, at a movie theater, are the movies dubbed in Spanish or subtitled?

They've recently upgraded the ADSL, and I'd say at this point, unless you're doing something that requires MASSIVE speed and bandwith, you won't notice the difference between ADSL here vs. North America (except that its slightly more expensive here).
There's a good cable selection. You get HBO, Sony, Warner, Fox, CNN en español, The BBC in the Queen's English, A&E, History, Discovery, Discovery Kids, Nikleodeon, the Cartoon Network, Retro, Moviechannel, Cinemax, iSat, Europa, DW, various sports channels (including ESPN), and local channels.  All that is in the basic cable package.
Virtually all TV shows (except kids' shows and cartoons) are in their original language (english, or whichever) with Spanish Subtitles. Movies are available in theatres in their original language with subs, or in dubbed version.
Cable is relatively affordable, a little cheaper than what I was paying for it in North America, actually, for about the same number of channels.

The movie scene is great, they have all the big hits from hollywood, but there's also "Cinemateca", which is a network of theatres that show independent and art films. The best part is the price: a premiere costs you about $4US. Compared to what they're charging over in the 1st world these days, that's a steal.

Quote3. Poverty and Crime. I've read on at least one blog that theft is the big crime, everywhere in Montevideo. Is that true, or are there safer areas? What other crimes are common? I can handle a moderately dangerous city (I've lived in them), as long as I know the lay of the land.  

Montevideo is ranked as number 2 on the list of the safest world capitals, second only to Singapore. I would say it is easily far safer than New York, London, Paris, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, New Orleans or L.A., from personal experiences.  Its easily and by far the safest big city in South America, nothing at all like Buenos Aires (which is also fairly safe), never mind Rio or Sao Paolo (which are NOT safe).

Of course, there are richer and poorer neighbourhoods, and places where it is safer or less safe to go around at night. Let me say that in the 4 years I've been here, I have NOT ONCE experienced a crime.  I have witnessed precisely ONE crime (a friend of mine got his motorcycle robbed).  In 4 years, that's not a bad track record at all.

Montevideo is probably the safest place I've ever lived.  Don't worry at all about it; the kind of precautions you'd take in any normal big city are more than enough to keep you safe.

Quote4. An odd one- roaches and vermin. Are they any more of an issue than anywhere else, particularly the Northern US and Canada?    

Uruguay has its share of vermin, and if you live in a house, there's a good likelihood that in the summer you might get a roach or two. But assuming you keep a clean environment, there's no reason why it should be a prolem.
In the city itself, I rarely see cockroaches, though I have, once or twice, in bathrooms or in lobbies of buildings. In my own apartment, I've never seen a cockroach; if you have someone in your family who's pest-phobic, that would be the answer: live in an apartment.

I can't recommend Uruguay enough. Its wonderful here. I hope this all helps you make your decision.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Monster ManuelMy wife's from Puerto Rico, while I'm of Irish/various European descent. She's fluent in Spanish and knows a few dialects, and I know pidgin high school Spanish. I think we'd both like at least seeing Uruguay and maybe taking a trip to Buenos Aires or down the coast of Argentina to see the sea life. My son's big into that stuff.

Buenos Aires is wonderful too, but its a MUCH bigger city, with all that involves.  Montevideo's pop is about 1.5 million, while Buenos Aires' is 14 million.  Its positively huge, and has slightly more problems with crime, and its a bit more expensive. On the other hand, its got a better nightlife and more access to stuff.

But personally, I like Montevideo for living in, and Buenos Aires for visiting. Living in Montevideo, its just a $50 ferry ride away to visit Buenos Aires for a weekend. Really easy.

BTW, Uruguay's coastline is probably better to travel down.  We're like 60% coastline, you know; and have some of the best beaches in the world, and some really cool marine life.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Mr. AnalyticalI must just say "Monster Manuel" is a fantastic handle for a South American gamer

Same could be said of "Manuel Dexterity" and my favorite, "Pablo Charisma".

Quote from: RPGPunditVirtually all TV shows (except kids' shows and cartoons) are in their original language (english, or whichever) with Spanish Subtitles.

Really!  Huh!  That's interesting.  In Mexico, in the 80's, all the US TV shows were dubbed.

If you've gone your entire life without seeing "Punky Brewster" in Spanish, you cannot truly call what you've experienced "life".

Thank you for the in-depth responses, RPGPundit! I guess I didn't consider how demanding my questions were. Thanks for your patience. I think your information has helped a lot- my wife hasn't been 100% on board with my Uruguay kick until I told here some of the things in your posts, along with what I discovered about the diverse marine life in your part of the world (She's all about the kid). We're about to sit down and have a long talk about how to budget the scouting trip. Thanks again.

As for getting RPGs, I guess if I get that far, I could try a US-based remailing service like Miami Box and just order from Amazon.com. I tend to plan what I buy carefully, so that wouldn't get too expensive.

And thanks to everyone else as well. I definitely feel welcome. Now if I can just keep from wearing my ass for a hat, I'll be ok.

Hello Manuel!

Quote from: Monster Manuel1: Gaming. What are some good game stores in Montevideo? Are they holes in the wall, or do they have a good selection? What's the gaming culture like?

There are plenty of gamers to play with, though it's a safe bet to say that most of them play in Spanish. :haw:

There's only one gaming store, but its focus are CCGs. If you have a credit card, though, it's extremely easy to buy online nowadays (plus, books don't pay import taxes).

Quote from: Monster Manuel2: Amenities. Regarding Internet, cable/satellite, and movie theaters, how would you rate the quality of each? Are movies and shows available in English? For example, at a movie theater, are the movies dubbed in Spanish or subtitled?

Most movies have subtitles. Only children films get dubbed, and even some of them have subtitled version for adults at night (Cars, for example).

Other than that, what Pundit said.

Quote from: Monster Manuel3. Poverty and Crime. I've read on at least one blog that theft is the big crime, everywhere in Montevideo. Is that true, or are there safer areas? What other crimes are common? I can handle a moderately dangerous city (I've lived in them), as long as I know the lay of the land.  

Montevideo is quite peaceful, and common sense should be more than enough to keep you safe. For my part, I've never been the victim of a crime, and I've lived in this city all of my life.

The US Department of State says that "those planning to live in Montevideo should note that burglaries and attempted burglaries seem to be on the rise in upscale neighborhoods. The perpetrators are mostly non-confrontational but determined teenagers. A combination of preventive measures including rigorous use of locks and alarms, strong grillwork on all windows, guard dogs, keeping a residence occupied as much as possible, and using a security service is highly recommended."

Just in case, I'm tossing in some statistics comparing Uruguay and the US:

Assaults per 1,000: UY 1.3; US 7.6
Burglaries per 1,000: UY 1.6; US 7.1
Car thefts per 1,000: UY 1.2; US 3.9
Year abolished death penalty: UY 1907; US n/a
Fraud per 1,000: UY 0.33; US 1.26
Murder by firearm per 1,000: UY 0.025; US 0.028
Prisoners per 100,000: UY 209; US 715 (highest of all nations in the world)
Rapes per 1,000: UY 0.05; US 0.3
Robberies per 10,000: UY 1.57; US 1.38
Total crimes per 1,000: UY 21.70; US 80.06

Quote from: Monster Manuel4. An odd one- roaches and vermin. Are they any more of an issue than anywhere else, particularly the Northern US and Canada?    

Odd question indeed.

There are roaches and vermin, obviously, but they are not an issue.

Quote from: Monster ManuelAs for getting RPGs, I guess if I get that far, I could try a US-based remailing service like Miami Box and just order from Amazon.com. I tend to plan what I buy carefully, so that wouldn't get too expensive.

You also have Netbox. We've used it with very good results.

Here's a blog about expat mail services in Uruguay.