As an envoy of Chaos, I went forth to Trashfest to sow chaos and sleep with as many eurochicks as possible.
At least I was partially successful.
I also rediscovered that is completely possible to live completely on beer and Doritos (well maybe with a bit of cheap rum to add variety.) Seriously, in four days I had the buffet breakfast once and a salad from Chilis. If you count Kingputs' Zatarans rice dish, then make it 3 meals. Fortunately I have enough extra bodyfat to live through a nuclear winter and beer is pretty filling if you're drunk enough.
I won't detail the games I played because I can't remember most of it but I will pull out some highlights. One of the craziest things was a weird déjà vu' that I experienced throughout the Fest as people paralleled much of the gaming personalities in ATL. Bobby tweaks is a rough hewn version of Rob Martin and Alex Brown (iguanaDitty) has the exact mannerisms and expressions as Barnes. Ironically, IguanaDitty has an obscenely high security clearance and I think Barnes is wanted by the authorities under a different identity.
There were also parallels with other parts of the gaming community: the confused older gamer, the announcement junkie, and really serious guy. (I nearly gave serious guy a heart attack when he thought I was tampering with the silent auction- which I was sort of - I placed my sexual services up for bid. In retrospect that was a *really* bad idea since the Fest is predominately guys.)
Another observation was that the Fest was a lot more organized. I'm used to drifting in, BSing a bit and hitting the open gaming. Payment and prize table is on the honor system. You usually bring a stack of games to throw in the corner and you post your name over it. If there is a game sale, then you're in charge of your own stuff.
Here the procedure and vibe was a lot different. A few people pulled the game library together ahead of time. If people brought their own games they must has parked them under a table or put them back in their rooms. The silent auction was run through the MD gameclub and required spreadsheets, a cashier, and signing paperwork. There was scheduled gaming for longer games. Mostly it just fueled my desire for mischief.
Fortunately the open gaming was a breath of fresh air. People were pulling out stuff that I *Beg* to get to the table. Frank will sometimes humor me but mostly people just look at me with pity and shake their head. When some people started playing Micromutants next me I dropped my jaw. When they followed it up with Thunder Road, I nearly wet my pants. In general people seemed less opinionated about games and willing to do just about anything.
I had the very unusual experience of not being attacked first. I am generally considered a plague that must be eliminated and if no clear choice is available, then attacking Steve Avery is a solid move. In Dragonlords (eat your heart out RobMartin) I was able to play the dwarves and left alone to shore up my defences.
A couple of other observations:
-My snoring is loud enough to be heard across the hall
-Dogmatix has mad tiddlywink skilz
-Kinput could easily be the quartermaster for a large army. How he managed to keep all those misfits (myself included) corralled is beyond me
-Ubarose has little tolerance for crosstalk. Gaming with my regular group would cause her a stroke.
-I turn into Napolean in minis tactics games. You should have thrown something at me- seriously.
-SuperAwesomeGuy can't be beat. Even when you nuke him the very first turn.
I had a great time! I met cool people, drank too much, played lots of games and got way too little sleep. I can't wait for more.
Steve"GirlyDrink"Avery
P.S. I owe a huge thanks to Kinput for picking me up and Dogmatix who dropped me off. Get down here to ATL so I can hook you up with some game action!