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Post by mook on Jan 7, 2013 11:38:49 GMT -8
I'm so happy I can listen to podcasts in the car now! Excellent con-prep advice in the latest podcast and in this thread. Personally, I disagree with leaving any time not gaming lol - out of the usual 9 slots of a gaming con (I generally don't play any of the post-midnight pre-9am slots), I prefer to be GMing or playing in 8 of them (and the 9th slot is only non-gaming now because I really enjoy the live HJ podcasts), pretty much guaranteeing a good time. For my first couple of Strategicons out here my prep (aside from the common stuff like packing, comfy shoes, etc.) was: 1) Scan the events for every GURPS game listed, pre-reg for the ones that sounded interesting. 2) Scan the events for any game that sounded interesting, regardless of system (I can't think of any systems I actually dislike enough to avoid if the story sounds fun). Since meeting so many kick-ass Happy Jackers and attending five or six Strategicons, I now have a step 1.5) Scan the events for any game run by Happy Jackers or other GMs from my personal white list (and put a giant red mental "X" through any games with GMs from my black list). Not only looking forward to February, but already looking forward to May! P.S. Y'all also made me miss my four giant white binders filled with Magic cards still in the garage in Tucson!
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Post by rickno7 on Jan 7, 2013 13:58:42 GMT -8
We played Magic in Highschool right around the time Ice Age and Mirage came out. I wish I still had a lot of those cards. Not because of any real value(i can buy the sets for like 50 bucks each), but the nostalgia. Magic got a ton of people interested in other nerd hobbies, and I was able to get some Rifts and D&D 2nd Ed going on during these times.
The second time I got into the game real bad was when Kamigawa, Ravnica and Time Spiral were on top. Time Spiral was PERFECT for me and all my highschool buddies. We got a lot of our old cards back, or at least nostalgic nods to them. This is when I realized how much of a money sink it is for non-highschoolers to play. When you're in highschool you kind of resign yourself to what you have... when you're not in highschool, you end up getting in the truck at 1am to see if the walmart in the other county stocks magic cards because all your friends have drained Magic from the local gaming stores.
Played for about a year and had to give it up. The main problem was that we had a group of about 8 players. We knew and got tired of playing the same decks quickly. That means we were always buying new cards. The expense was INSANE. We tried playing with the local game shop group, but holy crap did I ever realize how much I was not the stereotype I thought I was. I met the stereotype that day, a dozen of them. Most wanted to play Pokemon instead of magic, and our local shop(a Hobbytown USA that wishes it sold more toy trains than cards to basement dwellers) reflected that by barely stocking anything for Magic beyond trying to sell $1 dollar deck boxes for $10.
I tried pushing some RPG'ing at the time. "I have the dice, the pencils, the paper and the books, it will cost you nothing but gas money". Did not really take off then though.
Oh if I win the lottery though. The glorious days of Magic would return.
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Post by Stu Venable on Jan 7, 2013 14:02:04 GMT -8
Has anyone ever worn a t-shirt to a Magic tournament that reads:
"I'd Like to Tap that Terrain."
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Post by rickno7 on Jan 7, 2013 14:36:00 GMT -8
I've seen one where it said "I'd (the tap symbol they use on cards now) that"
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HyveMynd
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Post by HyveMynd on Jan 7, 2013 16:58:02 GMT -8
Has anyone ever worn a t-shirt to a Magic tournament that reads: "I'd Like to Tap that Terrain." No. But I've had Magic-playing fat-beards hold up a Serra Angel card during a game and say: "I'd [Tap Symbol] her!" then chortle into their neck folds as if we hadn't heard that a dozen times before. I mean, if she looks like that, then who wouldn't tap her, but it's not something you say in public. Unless you're an unsocialized gamer. Heh. I started with Magic back in grade school, then dropped out around the Ice Age expansion. I got back in during college with the Invasion block after discovering other nerds in my fraternity who played. That's when I got into it really heavily, drafting ever Friday night at the local shop, spending gobs of money to stay competitive by buying singles, going to tournaments, etc. That continued up until a few years ago. I found a card shop in Osaka that had Friday night drafts and tournaments and sold English language cards. (Interestingly enough, Japanese gamers see the English language cards as a bit of a status symbol.) I stopped buying cards regularly with the Lorwyn-Shadomoor block after they changed both the release schedule and the rules. I was just spending far too much for rectangular bits of cardstock. Magic is like crack. I knew that if I kept it in the house, eventually I'd be tempted to start playing again and start buying cards again. So when I moved in the summer of 2011, all my cards went out of the curb for the garbageman. Like ripping off a Band-Aid, I had to dump them all in one fell swoop. It sucked mega-balls, and I went through withdrawal like any other addiction, but I realize now it was for the best.
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SirGuido
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Posts: 2,127
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Post by SirGuido on Jan 7, 2013 18:28:35 GMT -8
*clip* Packing in a lunch is the fastest and if you eat it in the Auction Hall a good way to multi-task. *clip* Actually, last year when I was taking a break outside of the auction hall they were adamant about no food/drinks inside.
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Post by uselesstriviaman on Jan 7, 2013 19:17:02 GMT -8
In reference to Gen Con event schedules, there is so much going on there that there are events starting every hour. The program book is thicker than your average Maxim or Cosmo magazine, and it's stuffed with events. Ain't no way you'll see or play everything you wanna play, even if you go non-stop for all four days.
Gen Con events that shouldn't be missed:
Tracy Hickman's Killer Breakfast and the True Dungeon. Both are absolutely epic, but for very different reasons. And if you're into role-playing fun, check out the NASCRAG tournament. Me 'n veremond can supply testimonials if necessary.
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Post by fray on Jan 7, 2013 19:29:16 GMT -8
Wow... Magic talk. I had a bunch of Alpha and Beta cards back in the day, over 3000. I sold all my moxes and other rare cards for about $40-45 each. Lived off of that for 6-7 months in college. Granted if I had known they would go higher I would have tried to keep ahold of them and sell them later on. Now I have a bunch of Common-only decks that I play with... they're fun. :]
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Post by ericfromnj on Jan 7, 2013 21:18:19 GMT -8
Some other interesting things to do at Gen Con (or at least things I need to suggest to people):
1. Go to Slugfest Games and ask Cliff why True Dungeon insists it is not a LARP. Tell him Arnold Nido sent you.
2. Hump Monte Cook's leg. Tell him Arnold Nido told you to do it. Remind him Mike Mearls got his leg humped.
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Post by Kainguru on Jan 8, 2013 3:08:37 GMT -8
Conventions and the troubles with: you arse bastards!!! I'd give my left nut to have a convention to go to. Typical UK everything is in the south and the big one only goes for one day (dragonmeet) - it pains me it really does. I found one convention worth the trip in Amsterdam but the fat beards that run it specifically exclude the benefits of that august location (really having a convention in coffee shop in Amsterdam that seems to be the only coffee shop that isn't a coffee shop if you catch my drift). I'm seethingly jealous of all you lucky Americans . . . Gen Con 'too hot and muggy' pfft Aaron
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Post by ericfromnj on Jan 8, 2013 4:46:23 GMT -8
Conventions and the troubles with: you arse bastards!!! I'd give my left nut to have a convention to go to. Typical UK everything is in the south and the big one only goes for one day (dragonmeet) - it pains me it really does. I found one convention worth the trip in Amsterdam but the fat beards that run it specifically exclude the benefits of that august location (really having a convention in coffee shop in Amsterdam that seems to be the only coffee shop that isn't a coffee shop if you catch my drift). I'm seethingly jealous of all you lucky Americans . . . Gen Con 'too hot and muggy' pfft Aaron Aaron, you are in the wrong country anyway so move closer to home and get to the USA. We have awesome firearms to play with a shooting ranges and governors that like getting into arguments with their constituents or a regular basis (well, mine does anyway... ) Oh yeah, BSG is completely amazing because it's like playing the videogame Robotron. You are 3 seconds away from death at any moment and it keeps that tension all game.
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Post by kwickpick on Jan 8, 2013 8:58:26 GMT -8
The advice you guys gave regarding a trip to Gen Con is all very sound. However, you forgot the best thing about your first trip to Gen Con, and that is CHAOS!! I remember my first pilgrimage to the Geek Mecca very fondly. During that trip, I had no idea what to expect or plan for. The only concrete plan I went in with was to be early for the opening ceremonies, and I mean EARLY three or four hours early. After that, it was a beautiful swirl of chaos. I went wherever my whims took me. Did I see everything? No. Did I play in every game? No. But, as far as I was concerned, there was no schedule, like time ceased to exist. Those four days are just a colorful, swirling blur of fond memories, kind of like that time in Vegas with the blow and hookers... Shit, I forgot what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. My subsequent trips to Gen Con have been more planned out and scheduled, so I have been able to try new systems and attend seminars, etc but none have been as fun as the pure Nerd Nirvana chaos of my first trip. I will agree with everyone else with the advice to carry a water bottle. That trip, I lived on Steak and Shake and Monster energy drinks. Monster is great when you decide to stay up all night going to the Star Trek 2 & 3 double feature, followed by hours of playing in the Tower of Gygax adventures, but severely dehydrates you. One last piece of advice, when you feel the urge to drop to your knees, and you will, giving thanks to the gaming pantheon for your arrival at Gen Con, resist it, for you will be trampled.
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Post by mook on Jan 8, 2013 11:56:37 GMT -8
Good gravy! I don't know what edition that pic is from, but I've never seen that card. My favorite Serra deck was built around 4x Serra Angels and 4x Sengir Vampires. Don't remember what edition they were from - the Angels were more of a profile though. Haven't played in ages, but I made sure I kept enough cards that I could build enough decks to fuel my own circle of players at a future date. Lessee -- Looks like cards from Alliances, Exodus, Fallen Empires, Homelands, Tempest, Weatherlight (though I think only like 6 cards someone gave me - don't recall buying any), Chronicles, Ice Age, The Dark, 8th Edition, Urza's Series, 3rd Edition through 6th Edition. Which, knowing that that's only a fraction of the expansions they're up to, puts me in awe of the amount of cards they've churned out! I have really got to get back to Tucson some time and get the rest of my shit out here - especially my (non-GURPS 4th) RPG books. I miss rolling around naked in a pile of them from time to time.
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Post by Kainguru on Jan 8, 2013 13:41:42 GMT -8
Conventions and the troubles with: you arse bastards!!! I'd give my left nut to have a convention to go to. Typical UK everything is in the south and the big one only goes for one day (dragonmeet) - it pains me it really does. I found one convention worth the trip in Amsterdam but the fat beards that run it specifically exclude the benefits of that august location (really having a convention in coffee shop in Amsterdam that seems to be the only coffee shop that isn't a coffee shop if you catch my drift). I'm seethingly jealous of all you lucky Americans . . . Gen Con 'too hot and muggy' pfft Aaron Aaron, you are in the wrong country anyway so move closer to home and get to the USA. We have awesome firearms to play with a shooting ranges and governors that like getting into arguments with their constituents or a regular basis (well, mine does anyway... ) Oh yeah, BSG is completely amazing because it's like playing the videogame Robotron. You are 3 seconds away from death at any moment and it keeps that tension all game. Funny when we were kids in Oz we all wanted to live in Lake Geneva . . . but NJ sounds great: guns and grumpy governors, what's not to love? But the Amsterdam Con was such a let down . . . I thought I'd the vice hat trick when I found it (hat trick = cricketing vernacular common in the remnants of the Commonwealth meaning three 'good results', ie: to bowl out a batsman, in a row. Traditionally the bowler concerned was entitled to pass his cap around amongst the spectators for financial rewards or tips . . thus 'a hat trick'). The three vices? gaming, wimmen and mind altering consumables (and a plethora of choice for all three: consumables includes beer and I can attest to the brain hammering consequences of trying to do a heinekin only bar crawl . . . must have been to at least 5 bars before we left the first canal strip, some of them teeny tiny with only enough room for 5 people people to sit but with a full choice of the alcohols - Amsterdam isn't ALL professional laydez and the marry-ju-ana's). So anyways I excitedly read the webpage thinking gaming, cosplay, beer . . . cosplay whores (I mean it's obvious isn't it and they are legitimate business women and they'd never pass up on opportunity to increase trade) and full immersion gaming (chemically aided) and cheap Begium beers (and there's a fuck ton of them in the 'Dam) and gaming in a city that seriously with it's canals looks like it comes straight from the pages of GreyHawk. Then I scroll down and the fatbeards frown on nearly every aspect of Amsterdam's advantages . . . and the group arranging it isn't even based in Amsterdam!!! - Why fucking bother why not just have their convention at home??? Maybe I'm morally corrupt but I'd embrace the vice's of the City of Vice to turn a healthy profit and generate interest in the convention. Certainly it'd be the most unique gaming convention in the world - 'Real Dungeon?' hah 'Real Fantasy/Sci Fi/Noir Tavern/Bar/Strip Club' more like . . . (I'm a bad person I think) Aaron
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2013 13:58:21 GMT -8
Conventions and the troubles with: you arse bastards!!! I'd give my left nut to have a convention to go to. Typical UK everything is in the south and the big one only goes for one day (dragonmeet) - it pains me it really does. I found one convention worth the trip in Amsterdam but the fat beards that run it specifically exclude the benefits of that august location (really having a convention in coffee shop in Amsterdam that seems to be the only coffee shop that isn't a coffee shop if you catch my drift). I'm seethingly jealous of all you lucky Americans . . . Gen Con 'too hot and muggy' pfft Aaron Don't know how far North you are but Conpulsion in Edinburgh is fairly good and lasts the entire weekend.
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