FIRST AND FOREMOST...
HELP A COUPLE FELLOW ARTISTS TODAY!!! ~
RogueRider and =
mookyvet are good dA friends of mine who have done some really amazing commissions for me and others, some of which can be seen below. Both of them are in bad need of some help and a little money to help out their financial straits, and both do some absolutely awesome artwork... so this should be a natural fit to anyone. I can vouch for their ability and their friendly attitudes, and tell you that your money will go to a damned good cause. So if you have a little extra spending money, go now. Commission them. Details can be found in their deve journals!
-
-
PREVIOUS DAYS
Thursday(Quick note, y'all! I'd really planned to have this churned out much faster than this, but 10 hour shifts and general post Gen-Con sleeplessness has made that a bit difficult... sorry about that!)
FRIDAY!9:00 AMish: I've noticed something about myself: the longer Gen Con goes on, the less likely I am to want to wake up godawful early. Today my alarm went off at 8:15 and I still hit the snooze twice. I made it a point this year not to pick up any 8 AM gaming timeslots like I did last year, because I was absolutely freaking useless when I was waking up at 6 am to go to them. This year, it's a nice trade-off: I get to stay up a little later, and still not wake up so ridiculous monkeyfuckin' early but that means I don't go to as many games as I otherwise would like. Still, I can take my time, get to the convention center about 10:45, and still have a little time to roam the Exhibition Halls before my first game. 10:35 AMish: I'm taking notes now. I didn't bring Tom today, and my parking space is the same one I've had the last couple years... namely, about a half to three-quarters of a mile away. However... it's $5 event parking, not so much by the hour or every two hours. Im happy about that, at least!11 AMish: Started in the Artists' Alley this time around while I was just browsing around, looking to shamelessly cadge some tips from the masters. Many of the masters, I find out, have a significant other that covers their booth while they go out and hobnob with bigger name publishers. Not that there's anything wrong with that. If I could draw a ridiculously desirable woman curled around a dragon whose scales look real enough to touch, I'd damned well be telling the big name publishers that they could have me for the right price and a small harem of devoted followers.11:15 AMish: Met Alina Pete, the creator and artist of the Weregeek web comic, which is a fun read (the first ep is a little on the hokey side, but after a couple weeks, it is laugh-out-loud funny!), and talked to her a bit about being at the cons. I always feel bad for the artists, game designers and volunteers who have to spend the four best gaming days ever cooped up behind tables, selling themselves and their products by being nice to everyone they meet, and missing out on half the fun of Gen Con when most of them are game enthusiasts themselves. She said, honestly, it didn't bother her nearly that much, and I believe her. Some of the people have such a full extended weekend that adding gaming to it would probably be slightly akin to committing seppuku with a barbecue fork, but I couldn't not enjoy gaming at Gen Con, even if was a business owner. I'd have to buy me some slaves to run the booth or something while I hit the Pathfinder Society or an SG-1 Play-in.
Also met and talked with Jason Banditt Adams, aka Rogue-Artist, whose work is somewhere along the lines of melted-caramel tasty. His prices are really reasonable, too, for the quality of his work, quite unlike many of the published artists here (I would not be able to afford to have Wayne Reynolds lodge a pen in my temple for his own enjoyment, for instance, unless me and the lottery suddenly found a mutual understanding. To say nothing about a real piece of art.) I'm likely gonna commission him a couple times, and maybe even see about getting him to do some b/w/tonal linework for a project I have on the somewhere-just-south-of-front-burner.11:47 AMish: Sweet Mother of Fuck, I'm late getting out of here for my noon game! Which direction is the Omni Severen hotel? And why in the name of any god you care to name do people in conventions hold standing (i.e., not moving) discussions in the middle of the aisles? It's like Ignorant Wal-Mart Talker Syndrome, where two people meet one another in Wal-Mart and decide to have a long conversation right in the middle of the f**king aisle that is only two persons wide to begin with! I don't mind getting stuck behind someone in a wheelchair or someone with a broken foot or a particularly slow gait at Gen Con... hell, I have some basic shreds of compassion (somewhere, I'm sure. They were here yesterday, dammit!) for my fellow gamer. But in an exhibition hall with 23,000+ people milling almost shoulder to shoulder in it, don't you think that you might decide "Hey, I should maybe find an area they're not all trying to walk before stopping and blocking traffic to discuss the particulars of my allergic reaction to tomato sauce"?11:58 AMish: FOUND it. The Omni Severen must be the furthest out of the so-called 'satellite hotels' around the Convention Center, being about a half-block away from the Maryland Street entrance. Made it to my mustering place for the Gamebase 7 group's "Dream Whisperings" D&D 3.5 game with less than five minutes to spare, only to find I was at table 13... and according to the room map, where table 13 was supposed to be was a gaping lack of table. Another gamer (and his sons, who were also scheduled at table 13) vented to me every few seconds about it, demanding answers, and was stalking over to the table next to 13's empty space and growling that they stole the table and they weren't leaving. He seemed surprised that I didn't seem heavily concerned about it. I've been to Gen Con a couple years now. These things tend to work themselves out.12:05 PMish: They did. A Gamebase 7 GM came over and asked if we were there for Dream Whisperings or another game title whose name escaped me, and then explained that they had been moved to the four tables out in the hall. Pulsing Temple Vein Gamer and his sons were at the other table, and I joined an already fairly full table, where the GM (Scott) gave me the choice of a half-elf bard pregen or a half-elf bard pregen. I was surprised and pleased, because I'd spent the last few free hours before Thursday throwing together a 3.5 character I didn't much care for, and then printing copies of him advancing at 1st, 5th, and 10th level, just to be on the safe side. I like bards, though. They have personality. And I was bound and determined to make mine an obssessively arrogant and showily-dressed fop and flirt. 4:15 PMish: Okay, my group officially rocks. That was absolutely the most fun I've ever had outside of a Pathfinder Society RPG scenario. I played with a table with a wide range of ages and styles, all of whom were mature players, and we had an utter blast. Scott, our GM, saw how much fun we were having, and like a good GM often does, he adapted the game on the fly from the base written scenario. We never ended up finishing our pre-written 'quest', but everyone had a blast, and that was the point. I was sad to have to leave, and one of the gamers at the table said he picked up tickets for all three sessions at that table, but wouldn't be able to make the last one, which started at 9. Scott asked if I'd be interested in the spot, maybe even playing the bard again. I didn't hesitate, and said that I'd stop by after my PFS interactive game, which ended about 10, and join in with generic tickets, if he thought he'd have an opening, but I wasn't sure I'd make the 9 pm start. He was fine with it. Suddenly, I have a three-game night! Oh, HELLZ yes.5:20 PMish: I keep having these little niggles of temptation about various rules systems, since I'm a terrible rules system whore: things like, "You waaaaaant the Anima RPG ," or "Hackmaster might be niiiiiiice to try," or "Take piiiiictures of the half-naked Rikku cosplayer. Oh, no wait. Hold on, do that, but also buyyyyyyy Runequest." (And as a side note, yes, the costumes are in force today. No, I did not shoot pics of them. I brought my camera all four days and got something like 6 photos.) I'm worried that sooner or later, those little voices in my head are going to cause me to have a momentary aneurism, and the next thing I know I'll be spasmodically putting my credit card in the hands of a dealer and picking up something like The Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG or some shit and then spending the next year wondering what the hell I smoked when I was thinking that was a good idea.6:00 PMish: GAME ON, BABY! I'm slated for tonight's Pathfinder Society Event, Betrayal in Absalom. I know this is going to be different than my usual PFS games, simply because A) this is labeled in the guide as an "event" (as opposed, I guess, to a "session" or a "thang", and B) because there were twice as many ticket slots for this than any other PFS game before the preorders started (and of course, because of that, it sold out twice as fast. BOOYEAH, PREORDERING TICKETS!!! *FISTPUMP*) I really don't know what to expect, but the program lists it as "an interactive event for all levels of Pathfinder Society ... that turns Indianapolis into an interactive City at the Center of the World for players to run an RP and combat-laden scavenger hunt. Prizes will be awarded to the winning teams each night." Oh, hellz yes. RP, Pathfinder, AND prizes? I'm sold. Kierdan's ready to kick some Taldoran ass. Or Qadiran ass. Or...well, pretty much anyone. 9:45 PMish: Well, I had fun, anyway. I will admit, I've never taken part in an interactive event before, and this was pretty damned cool, even if I was a bit confused. I got invited to a table with a threesome of players, and we soon added a fifth. Out of my group, two, IIRC, had played very little outside of MMO's, and the latecomer was role playing a snake-oil salesman with a chicken familiar, which was hilarious. The other guy had some PFS experience, but once the event got started, he almost got belligerent when we didn't have a GM. Which was part of the point, actually, but we didn't know that. As a result, we didn't come close to winning, and in fact, had no idea how to even find our first GM... and for a long time, there was a general surprise from a lot of the people at tables (ours included) that we weren't just supposed to sit there and game. The problem was that A) this was Paizo's first real interactive, and while they had a great idea, it was telling that a few of their GM's dragged their feet on the scenarios; B) a lot of people didn't read the program, ticket description, or anything describing it and therefore didn't realize it was an interactive event, C) many of us who knew it was interactive had never before been in an interactive and weren't sure what was expected of us, and D) All of the Above.
The gist of the interactive was that we were supposed to use clues to figure out our next destination, where we would meet a GM and RP a quick scenario and battle, the result of which would lead us to our next destination, and so on down the line until we reached the denouement. Great fun, right? Well, it is, unless you're clueless about what's going on, defensive because you don't know what's happening, or out of breath because in your mind RPG's mean 'Not getting off your ass until the game's over.' I think next year, this event will be the best thing since sliced bread, especially if the attendees realize what they're supposed to do... but this year, it suffered from birthing pains. (AFTER THE FACT NOTE: I talked to one of the organizers at the Paizo booth Sunday, and he said much the same thing. Friday night there were a lot of communication snarls, and the PFS GM's didn't all know exactly what was expected of them for this... nor did the gamers. He also said that everything was ironed out for the Saturday night event, which turned out to be really, really great. That led to a Big D'oh Forehead Slapping Moment: due to me fouling up the dates I read on my tickets, I went to the Friday Event, when in actuality, I was supposed to go to the PFS event on Saturday. That'll teach me to learn to check the date on my watch.9:55 PMish: Random Thought While On My Way to the Gamebase 7 session: There are a tragically large amount of RPers who think that getting up from their seats and actually moving in a somewhat rapid speed somehow lessens the fun. Of course, there are a tragically large amount of RPers who don't realize that the best RPGs happen off a computer screen, too, because AI will never be able to supplant good ol' human imagination. Life is just filled with tragedy, dammit.1:30 AMish: I got to play the bard again! It's funny how so many 3.5E players treat the bard class like it has weeping lesions because it's not a "power" class (which I understand-- the bard fights semi-well, casts semi-well, buffs semi-well and slinks around semi-well, but pales in each to the fighter/ranger, wizard/sorcerer, cleric/druid and thief, respectively). Yeah, tactically, they think the bard's a bit of a wuss... but they totally ignore just how much fun a bard is to play when you have a good roleplaying group! I might have hit twice while the combats were going on, and it never stopped me from having a blast (and making sure that my perfectly kempt clothing was kept utterly dazzling while I wowed the party females with my daring repartee and dashing elan. The elfwoman in the party rolled her eyes at me because of my mixed blood, but I know she secretly wanted the bard to accompany her everywhere. 
)
Maybe that's part of the reason I have such a problem with 4E and some 3.5E games... everything seems to be pointed at combat, placing your mini on a board, moving X squares, and getting the best tactical advantage. Srsly. Tell me a 4E power that's got anything to do with helping a character outside of enemy encounters. And BTW, that's the only gripe I can see about the Pathfinder RPG, too-- quite a few of the new feats are obviously pointed at combat-- but at least there are some new feats and traits in PFRPG that give bonuses to non-combat skills and situational modifiers outside of encounters. Maybe it's just me... I've just always enjoyed games where combat filled the void between RP encounters, rather than RP being the string to connect combats. 1:40 AMish: F**k me running, can you believe Gen Con's already half-over? Where the hell does the time go? Tomorrow I have another PFS scenario, and another Gamebase 7 game... and I might look to hit the Marketplace whilst I wait between them! Or I might just buy a slice of pizza and a coke at the local restaurants. (Christ. Is $10 for a fast food lunch that barely qualifies as a snack even legal?) Well, either path will break me, surely. NEXT:
SATURDAY... hopefully before NEXT Gen-Con!"Ah, perhaps your mouth says no, my dear lady, but your eyes..... well, okay, your eyes sort of say no, too. And that sword you're pointing at me is looking pretty negative, as well."
- Around the table again at Gen Con.
GEN CON KINDA SORTA DAY 2!! 
Content
Devious Comments
You say tragedy - I think travesty. Which fits with how I feel about calling MMORPGs rpgs to begin with. This also makes me think about what's said about kids who play too many video games or just sit in front of the television all day. Complete lack of imagination. This is the future. It sucks. We'll just have to collect all the modules, books, loose leaf pieces of paper, pencils and energy drinks we can get our little grubby fingers on and barricade ourselves away post apocalyptic style. Cuz they'll never take me alive! Alright, I'm not entirely certain wth I'm talking about anymore. Moving on.
--
"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."
Previous PageNext Page