Where's the love? Is everyone still too exhausted to post?
So, ye who attended, what did you think?
Did you enjoy yourself?
Would you come back again?
What did you play?
What was your favorite game/moment?
Least favorite?
my own answers:
I had a good time. It was nice not to be running demos/selling shit. I'll try to be there next year!
I played a little: Jungle Speed, Memoir 44, Sorcerer and two demos of my new project.
I have three favorite moments: 1) Hearing Keith shriek, "The purplah!" during Jungle Speed on Friday. 2) Ralph getting up from his chair and calmly shaking my hand with a big smile on his face after we playtested my new game. (Best. Feeling. Evar.). 3) Brainstorming with Keith and Thor about Keith's new project.
Least favorite: 1) Having Ron step on the throat of my kicker and say, essentially, "Nah, I don't think you're going to push that enough. We'll go in this direction." (Yes, this still nettle me.) 2) The ugly fact that you can still smoke in bars and restaurants in Illinois.
how about you?
-Luke
EDIT: Forgot that I played Greg Stolze's Dysfunctional Family Reunion. Spewing insults at Keith and telling Dro to pull up his pants was so natural that I forgot it was a game.
Yeah, baby! I gots teh love! I had a monstrous good time.
A combo of least favorite and most favorite moment was waking up with massive grinding headache on Saturday and then being rescued by Luke and ibuprophen (I think he made a circles test to find it).
It was way way awesome to see people that I don't get to see nearly enough. And also meeting new people.
Funniest moment was probably Andy K on Friday night at dinner re: adopting children from China. "It's like the new SUV."
Favorite gaming moment might have been when my character's so-called mates decided to trade him in exchange for the key in John H's Freebooters scenario. Paul Tevis! You're a scoundrel and a knave!
Played: new Dust Devils, which totally rocks; Stranger Things, which totally rocks; Luke's super-sekrit project, which totally rocks; Freebooters, which totally rocks; Galactic, which was teh b0rked but will totally rock eventually thanks to big help from Daniel, Sarah and John. They'll all get AP reports from me unless someone beats me to the punch.
Matt Snyder did some serious rock and roll putting this thing together. I can't wait for the next one.
I did enjoy myself. Even if I didn't play in any games I would have had a good time. I want this to be an every year thing. It's a chance to hang with folks you see maybe twice a year.
I played very little. Jungle Speed, Memoir 44, Luke's awesome new project (two different aspects of it)* and Greg Stolze's proto game.
Favorite Moments: Pulling Mayuran out of his chair in my bid to have the totem, brainstorming about my new project with Luke and Thor, bullshitting at the bar on Friday with lots of folks, and the firefight with Ralph, Matt, and Oscar was most excellent.
Least Favorite: My only issue was the location. If we are going on the cheap, which is good for out of towners, we should get a spot in Rosemont next time. Probably a little more money, but it is right by the blue line, which runs 24 hours and lets folks go into the city easily.
* Both very different experiences in the same game and both rawked making me hungry for the final project.
I really enjoyed meeting everyone and playing, playing, playing.
Favorite moments: - Realizing that the two hesitant guys with the paper and pencils in the lobby were NOT, in fact, Forgites, but civil service test-takers. ("In the test, they made us pretend to be Mormon cowboys...")
- The ending of My Life with Master with Ivan, Aaron, Cloud, and Jason. Smothered in the flesh of the Avenging Angel.
- Acts of Evil. I want to do it again and again.
- Matching names and faces.
Least favorite: - being banished from one of the gaming rooms.
See you all (and many more, hopefully!) next year!
Chris Moore
I had a blast! I can't wait to do it again. Matt S. you rawk! Also, Keith, you were a mensch for leaving work early to pick us up at the airport.
I played Jungle Speed, Memoir 44, playtested Greg's dysfunctional family reunion game, HeroQuest, and playtested Alexander's White Dragon.
Favorite Moments: Hanging with friends I only get to see a few times a year, meeting some new ones, and pwning Jared at Jungle Speed. Suckah! Watching Ralph and Paul turn into Jungle Speed Junkies. Also, finally getting to gush about the new project to folks and to take some of what we've learned through it to brainstorm some very cool ideas for Keith's new project. Luke pantomiming fellating a shot gun while moaning "Nam! Nam!"
Least Favorite Moments: Missing the chance for a first look around Chicago. It's still on the to-do list.
I day-tripped there with my buddy Caz on Saturday and tried to get as much gaming action as I could. I was immediately pulled into a few rounds of Jungle Speed and proved, once and for all, that lions are not the kings of the jungle, went on to play VILLAINY with Paul Tevis and Jared Sorensen, Dust Devils with six other players and Matt Snyder, and ended the day with a game of The Mountain Witch run by Tim Kleinert.
I had a blast and would definitely attend again. As I've said elsewhere, it was the best money I'd spent at a convention in a long time.
I loved being at a convention where I wasn't an exhibitor, didn't have to shill or be tied to a booth, and knew a good percentage of the folks there. As I'm missing GenCon Indy this year, it was great to see folks I normally would've missed this year. As always, it was great meeting new folks. I've had a lot of convention meet-ups turn into great friendships, and that's one of the big reasons I like attending them.
I sincerely hope for ForgeCon 2 next year and will do what I can to help bring that about.
I had a great time. Thanks to everyone involved!
I would come back again.
Possible changes I would like:
- Make Sunday an all day event as well.
- Hotel closer to the city. I would be willing to pay more. Easily $40 more.
- A communal table of random board and card games anybody can use.
- A short question and answer seminar? State of the community kind of affair.
- Maybe add an East and West coast version?
Some people complained about bad hotel service. I personally don't care about that. We got what we paid for. I would even dare say our rooms were too nice! I could have easily dealt with lesser accommodations. It's a minor trade off.
High point: hanging out with Dav Harnish at a club then getting the abridged version of the "Holy shit...Chicago is fucking weird and cool!" driving tour of Chi-town at 3:30 in the morning. Despite the fact that I was sneezing black gunk (ah, New England anti-smoking laws...how I love thee). Seeing the Tribune building and the Sears Tower was hell of cool.
Quote from: Jared A. Sorensen on April 10, 2006, 12:37:14 PM
High point: hanging out with Dav Harnish at a club then getting the abridged version of the "Holy shit...Chicago is fucking weird and cool!" driving tour of Chi-town at 3:30 in the morning. Despite the fact that I was sneezing black gunk (ah, New England anti-smoking laws...how I love thee). Seeing the Tribune building and the Sears Tower was hell of cool.
Why did you come, again?
Quote from: abzu on April 10, 2006, 01:00:26 PM
Why did you come again?
To be PWNED in Jungle Speed. He likes the humiliation.
Quote from: abzu on April 10, 2006, 11:14:11 AMWhere's the love? Is everyone still too exhausted to post?
Being that I made it home at midnight last night and woke up about ten minutes ago...yeah. FM was GREAT. The weekend was incredibly awesome, and I hope we do another next year.
What did you play? I played, in order: It Was a Mutual Decision, Dogs in the Vineyard, Death's Door, Jungle Speed, The Mountain Witch, Universalis, and Orx. I will reflect on a few of those individually in Actual Play, unless others beat me to it. I had a blast with these.
What was your favorite game/moment? Yes, I played Orx, and that was my almost favorite moment because it does my heart good to see people having a blast with it. There were incredible moments in the play of other games that are going to be fondly recalled, too. But what really jazzed me about the weekend was the people. We had a great group there, and I am glad to have had the chance to meet (and catch up with) and play with people, because, honestly, the games could have rocked, but without the people, it wouldn't have been anything.
Least favorite? Nothing about the convention specifically, though I was surprised and embarassed/aggravated to find myself feeling socially awkward at various times throughout the weekend.
I had much more fun than I anticipated. I would definately come back. I played three games I've never played. Dust Devils, Acts of Evil, and Heroquest. I'd play any of them again. I'd especially like to get a chance to play Acts of Evil over multiple sessions. My character totally got beat up by the system, which drove him in a different direction than I intended, but was still totally awesome. My favorite moment was in Acts of Evil, failing to pull out a drunks heart in prison to show my dedication to gaining power before my teacher, and failing. The drunk beat me into unconciousness with the toliet lid. That was a great scene. The TPK in Heroquest was pretty cool too.
I think if there's a next time I will shoot for getting a room on Saturday so I can game well past Midnight, sleep a few hours and start up again on Sunday. Madison is about a 2 hour drive and no one wanted to make the trip back to do it again for the short schelduled time of Sunday. Since drive time would exceed game time.
Most certainly did I enjoy myself. We have got to do this again. (I like Keith's idea to change the venue to Rosemont, but I don't know how that might affect cost.)
Let's see, I played Paul's new game the title of which I cannot recall (not Acts of Evil, the other one), Greg's Dysfunctional Family Reunion, Dust Devils, Alexander's White Dragon, and The Shab-al-Hiri Roach. I played a couple non-rpg's: Beowulf and Jungle Speed. I also watched a large chunk of Death's Door play, and lurked about while Paul Tevis conducted a couple interviews.
Favorite moments were many, here's a few:
Playing opposite Alexander's portrayal of a bratty 9-year old daughter of the President (Paul's new game);
Playing opposite Ralph's pemberton agent in Dust Devils;
Working out a way to fix the drinking mechanic in White Dragon (I love that stuff, really, I do);
Hanging out with folks I don't see very often and meeting new people.
Least favorite, not much to speak of:
Exhausting my ability to come up with horrible things to say in Dysfunctional Family Reunion;
Lack of sleep.
Julie
some pics from the NY point of view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61684657@N00/?saved=1
last pic from the con is on page 5. They stop before the napkin.
-L
For whatever it's worth, this is my ten-thousandth post to The Forge. I rigged it that way, today, as a way of commemorating the fun I think we all had this weekend. I was only able to be there on Saturday, but it was just as great as I'd always imagined it would be.
Thanks to Matt Snyder for finally making it happen. And thanks to all of you for being such a great bunch of friends.
Raven, I completely understand what you're saying about Orx. That is, my favorite games were the HQ sessions I ran, not because they were the best games ever, but because they were successful, and I had created the scenario. Basically because I contributed to those sessions more than any others, and they turned out well. Nothing more self-actualizing than realizing that your creative efforts are appreciated. Yes, being a player in a game and contributing, that's good stuff too. But validating ones design sweat is the best.
And, hey, any session in which your scenario prompts the players to create a Total Party Kill - that's right, I didn't even have to kill them myself, they all killed themselves and each other - well that warms the heart. Might be a first in the annals of Hero Quest. You guys rock!
What it all comes down to is this. If this little con doesn't happen again next year (or sooner), I'll make somebody pay!
:-)
Mike
Man, that was magnificent. I would totally do it again. It was like Gencon without the soul-crushing exhaustion, crowds of strangers and time demands.
I ran me some Dogs, guided a round of Death's Door, and killed the Mountain Witch. I learned the crack which is Jungle Speed, and spent many many hours just yakking about games and gaming and other shit too.
Favorite gaming moments: Seeing Death's Door played for what may well be the first time "in the field" barring short demos, and having it work exactly like the playtests, except meaner. Man, we had us some soul-crushing antagonists. Well played by all. And in Dogs, saying to Raven "You read the Communist Manifesto, and basically it's totally against the faith" and having him back up and override me "No, I'm thinking this is a conflict." SWEET. The manifesto totally owned his ass. And the other players looked at each other and one said "I'm thinkin' we might need to put a bullet in Brother Seth."
Snapshots of beauty: Dogs: "No, this is something you have to do." Death's Door: "I walk with him." Mountain Witch: "Bring [his eyes] to me. I want you to put them in my hand."
Least favorite: the smoking in bars thing. What's up with that? Also that I was the first guy to leave on Sunday. Man, did I ever not want to go.
James
Quote from: Keith Senkowski on April 10, 2006, 01:13:35 PM
Quote from: abzu on April 10, 2006, 01:00:26 PM
Why did you come again?
To be PWNED in Jungle Speed. He likes the humiliation.
If I want to experience pain and humilation, it's either that or go to a dominatrix. Jungle Speed is cheaper.
I would go again...maybe...but I'd probably do more Chicago stuff and less hanging out at the hotel stuff. I'd also cock-punch Luke so hard that his eyepatch flies off his head.
Did you enjoy yourself? Hugely. Awesome fun, great people, great gaming, great hanging-out.
Would you come back again? In a heartbeat.
What did you play? Paul's newer new project (Extemporal I think?), then Donjon and The Mountain Witch with Tim who is a sweet kind of laid-back evil, HeroQuest with Mike Holmes, playtested my game White Dragon with some very generous victims. Also, Jungle Speed (3 out of 4 mighty victories with a 10-pint hangover, die bitches, die, die, die!), Memoir 44 and Bait the Fauxlack.
Highlights: being a snotty little blowhard bitch to Julie's Sierra Club granola-boy in Paul's game, having Jason put my eyes out in the Mountain Witch, breaking Victor's doomed little heart in Heroquest, playtesting WD at all, yapping with Luke, Thor, John and Paul about Paul's TROS game and gaming in general, tag-team snoring with Thor.
Lowlights: not getting to play <game> with <everyone>, teh stinXzor of cigarrette smoke. Not playing a game on Friday night (except Jungle Speed), not gaming more on Sunday... i.e.: more, please!
I enjoyed myself immensely. It was so good to meet everyone face to face and find out that yes, you really are wonderful people.
I will definitely be back.
I played
Dust Devils,
Nine Worlds,
Freebooters,
Stranger Things, and
Galactic. Each game rocked.
Highlights:
- Hangin' with Matt Wilson and The Deuce! I miss you guys.
- Lots of booze and good chatting with the Matts, Andy, Ron, and everyone else.
- No hangover on Saturday!
- Cock-punch adopted as a general term.
- Playing in three games with Paul Tevis (and his killer Jayne impersonation).
- Hearing, "Are you making that game with the city tiles? That looks cool," many times.
- Luke's new project, which is swanky
- Andy K. He was a walking highlight reel. With hazel eyes.
Lowlights:
- Fucking Schaumburg. But it was cheap.
- Smoking bars. Gah.
- Not enough time to play everything and chat with everyone. A full day on Sunday would have been awesome.
Big, big thanks to Matt Snyder for putting this together. I think it was a huge success.
Quote from: chris_moore on April 10, 2006, 11:41:51 AM
Favorite moments: - Realizing that the two hesitant guys with the paper and pencils in the lobby were NOT, in fact, Forgites, but civil service test-takers. ("In the test, they made us pretend to be Mormon cowboys...")
This sounds hilarious. I love seeing this sort of convention-group interaction. So did you actually interact with them?
Quote from: Larry Lade on April 10, 2006, 08:44:10 PMI love seeing this sort of convention-group interaction. So did you actually interact with them?
Related to that, there was a wedding party there the same time we were, and Juli was telling us that she talked to a couple of the women(?) who had passed by the rooms. They told her that "It looked like we were having lots of fun."
Did you enjoy yourself?
Yes.
Would you come back again?
The drive around Lake Michigan is certainly dreadful, longer than the commute to GenCon by 20%, and through worse traffic. But, yes.
What did you play?
I ran Extemporal (an experimental game that I need to be better about back-burnering in favor of writing Acts of Evil), and Acts of Evil. I played Dust Devils, Nine Worlds, and a couple of scenes of the The Shab-al-Hiri Roach.
What was your favorite game/moment?
Nine Worlds was really fun (a surprising order of magnitude more fun than Dust Devils, when I'd been expecting the two games to deliver roughly equivalent fun) but I have to go with running Acts of Evil on Saturday for Chris Moore, Clyde L. Rhoer, Tom Fitch, and Kelli (whose last name I never got). I've been running a local playtest, and making incremental mechanical adjustments between sessions, but this was my first time for my revised chargen scheme, rethought scene framing, and the incremental mechanical adjustments as a complete package. And the players were great and everything hung together so well that it's clear I'm totally over the hump system-wise. Not many things can top that particular feeling.
Least favorite?
How nervous I was while Paul Tevis was interviewing me on Sunday afternoon. I should not have asked him beforehand how many listeners he has.
Paul
Quote from: Paul Czege on April 11, 2006, 01:12:46 AM
How nervous I was while Paul Tevis was interviewing me on Sunday afternoon. I should not have asked him beforehand how many listeners he has.
Um...how many?
I had a fantastic time, though my voice still hasn't completely recovered yet (combination of cigarette smoke in the air, and talking more and louder than I normally do). I'd definately come back again, even if it were in a different location. There were many things I hear about and watched in play that I didn't get a chance to play myself.
I played It Was a Mutual Decision on Friday night, which was a rather humorous and fun way to meet a whole lot of people. It really was a good time. On Saturday, I started out with Dogs in the Vinyard, which was the game I most wanted to play last weekend. Thoroughly enjoyed that one, too, and the Seth versus The Communist Manifesto conflict was quite amusing. Shannon's character (I can't remember the name...stared with a D I think) going up against the town constable was also a highlight. I found out I really, really suck at Martian Chess and I should trim my fingernails before playing Jungle Speed. Also played a quick game of Paths in there. Then it was Heroquest, which was interesting. After that, I just watched games (mostly Mountain Witch) and talked to people. Sunday was Orx, which was also really cool, and I can see how it could evolve into all sorts of games ranging from amusing to total bloodbaths. And then Universalis, which I really liked. I don't know that I was all that good at thinking of creative things by that point in the weekend...but it was a lot of fun anyway.
I think that was everything...
I also really enjoyed the opportunity to meet a whole bunch of really cool people. I think the people were actually the best part of the whole weekend. Intelligent, funny, interesting, creative. Most awesome.
Amusing yet non-gaming moments: Being asked by someone first thing Saturday morning what career track I was hoping for, as he thought I was there to take the civil service exam and explaining I was there to play games not to be tested. Being asked in the hallway by a lady attending a wedding there what our group published and trying to explain it. Then she wished me luck with whatever game I was working on. Which I'm not...I fall under the catagory of 'guinea pig' not 'mad scientist.'
I really can't think of any bad points to the weekend, outside of almost losing my voice which isn't anyone's fault but my own, really. The hotel was really disorganzed, but it didn't have a huge imact on things. Just some minor dents here and there. And there were games I wanted to try (My Life With Master comes to mind) but didn't get the chance to. There will be other opportunities on that front, I am sure.
- Juli
Um...how many?
Over 800. How does Sons of Kryos compare?
Paul
Quote from: Paul Czege on April 11, 2006, 10:33:58 AM
Um...how many?
Over 800. How does Sons of Kryos compare?
Paul
Huh, we haven't checked in ages. I'll ask Jeff.
Did you enjoy yourself? Yeah, absolutely. As the evening went on I was wishing I'd decided to stick around for one more game, since I didn't get to sample a few I'd really been interested in (Polaris, Mountain Witch, and Nine Worlds. And on a personal level, met a lot of folks who were both great gamers and people, which is always a nice bit o' duality.
Would you come back again? Oh yes, in a heartbeat. So long as we had sufficient warning I'm totally in – it would've been worth it even at a higher price.
What did you play? Death's Door and My Life With Master, both of which were great experiences. Kesher's an excellent Master, and I hope his hand heals quickly ; ) James' Death's Door system has had me thinking for quite a long time since playing.
What was your favorite game/moment? Buh. I think for me it was locking the village weaver in another minion's secret garden, knowing it would destroy the garden and infuriate the master; and watching helplessly as she was dragged away to spark the endgame.
Least favorite Moment? Probably the pre-event "hang around and pretend you know each other" bit, but I'm to blame there for showing up so damn early. Bad habit on my part.
Quote from: Paul Czege on April 11, 2006, 01:12:46 AM
Least favorite?
How nervous I was while Paul Tevis was interviewing me on Sunday afternoon. I should not have asked him beforehand how many listeners he has.
You did fine. You were a little nervous at the beginning (which I was able to fix in the edit) but once you got rolling, it was nice and smooth. I screwed up by not asking leading enough questions (and by messing up something on technical side so that my microphone essentially wasn't on) but I'm reasonably happy with the way it turned out. Thanks for sitting down with me; it should go out today.
--Paul
Did you enjoy yourself?
How could I not?
Would you come back again?
Perhaps. It was awesome, but it required a lot of time on a plane relative to the amount of time I got to spend with folks. If there was more happening on Friday or Sunday, that'd sway my opinion.
What did you play?
Jungle Speed (obviously)
Villainy with Jason and Jared
The "Seven Deadly Sins"/"The Wild Bunch" Dust Devils game
John Harper's TSOY pirate game
Nine Worlds
Other people have talked about these, so I don't too much of a need to unless prodded.
What was your favorite game/moment?
Luke, Thor, and Alexander showing me what exactly I was unhappy with about my ongoing Riddle of Steel game and how to fix it.
Least favorite?
Screwing up the technical side of the interviews I did, resulting in usable content but less than pleasant sound quality. You live, you learn.
--Paul
Where to begin? Easy. This was an amazingly fun weekend. Just superb.
So, obviously I enjoyed myself, and I can't wait to come back for next year.
My favorite moment of the weekend was getting to hang out with friends old and new. My isolated soul needed that more than you can know.
My leasrt favorite moment of the weekend was realizing that I spent way too little time talking with friends as I fluttered about being your friendly cruise director. Sorry guys. You know who you are.
My favorite game moment (and there were many) was playing Dust Devils again and again (and again) and falling in love all over again with the game. I see Wilson's already got at least one actual play post. There were some awesome Western moments. (Favorite Moments Runners-Up: Playing out the propoganda war on Mercury in the Sunday Nine Worlds game. Having my cut-throat Freebooters character fall in love with the witch ... that he just murdered. Watching everyone die in a literal Mexican stand-off in the Unmagnificient Seven Saturday Dust Devils game.)
My least favorite game moment was ... probably peering over the shoulders of an awesome looking game and not getting in on the thing. I played (rather than GM'd) only one game all weekend.
So, ye who attended, what did you think? pretty good. y'all are a strange lot.
Did you enjoy yourself? it was pretty fun. a bit more structure would have been nice - maybe the afternoon coffee thing as a meet and greet as opposed to a "eat half a brownie and rush to a game". it was great to meet Daniel and Madison crew, and talk a bit about nerdnyc and how to build a gaming community, and what it means to play with people you like vs. people who game.
Would you come back again? sure. the price was fantastic, but money wise i think we'd save on food and transport if we were a bit closer to Chicago next time. also Jared can get his Perrier and we can get adequete vegetarian food (Thanks to Danielle and Paul for driving our hungry souls around on Saturday night), far away from strip mall hell.
What did you play? the only RPG i played was
Dust Devils with john h., john s., paul, caz, jared, blair, and snyder as GM. too many people in that one for us to develop the tension. we were making up some new mechanics at the table. i also played Alexander's
White Dragon (with thor, dro, chris, and julie) which, like british automobilies, television, and empire, was borken. it was funny though, and likewise we came up with some changes at the table.
on the non-RPG front, i played Jungle Speed (aka cobra vs. mongoose), Memoir 44 (new favourite board game), and Beowulf.
what was your favorite game/moment: Quote from: Keith Senkowski on April 10, 2006, 11:31:47 AM
Favorite Moments: Pulling Mayuran out of his chair in my bid to have the totem
proving to keith that, despite his oafish belarusan ways, he is still a loser. this was basically our re-enactment of the Best of the Best II ending (he was the german dude with the scar, i was the oily asian guy).
least favorite? cussing at the waitress in the pizza place - totally making the scumbags sitting next to me look all the more classy. Beowulf boardgame was like 60 minutes of cock punching. hated it!
Did you enjoy yerself?
Without qualification. It was, in many ways, more fun than GenCon. ('course, I had pinkeye at GenCon...)
Would you come back again?
Yup. Whether in Chicago or (ahem) Minneapolis, absolutely.
What did you play?
In order:
My Life with Master (as the Master, unexpectedly)
Donjon (Mountain Witch style)
[i[Heroquest[/i]
and finally, Cosmic Wimpout (a dice game, but 'twas fun)
I have to agree with Chris and Ivan about MLwM; the epilogues were nice, too. Though the Mountain Witch getting messed up by the dwarf character dousing her in beer from his Ever Full Dwarven Mug, which he'd looted from the corpse of his undead dwarven mother in a swamp on the slopes of Mt. Fuji, that was pretty good too...
Talking espionage with Ron for an hour and a half was intense and excellent as well.
Least Favorite?
I also had forgotten how much I hate smoky bars/restaurants, whatever. The wedding party using the men's room as their personal smoking lounge pretty much sucked, too.
Thanks again to Matt!
Aaron
Quote from: Kesher on April 11, 2006, 03:04:52 PM
Least Favorite?
I also had forgotten how much I hate smoky bars/restaurants, whatever. The wedding party using the men's room as their personal smoking lounge pretty much sucked, too.
That's okay. We used their punch bowl as a urinal. FOR THE WIN!
Did you enjoy yerself?
But of course.
Would you come back again?
But of course. See above.
What did you play?
Jungle Speed (read bloodsport)
Hero's Banner (my new game that's I'm ramping up for release; thanks for playing, Danielle, Seth, Scott, and Jesse)
Death's Door
HeroQuest
Dust Devils
Memoir '44
The Roach
Favorite Moment?
The people. There was so much creativity in such a small space that I felt at times we'd all explode in a poof of dice. Everyone seemed willing to try anything, and everyone was excited to be there.
That said, I have to say that my favorite moment of play was with Death's Door. I continue to be surprised by the level or rewarding play we generated using such a seemingly simply system. And I'm still wondering how I managed to transform my character into a zen gardener by the end of the first round.
Least Favorite?
Emerging from a game of Jungle Speed to learn that the snack table had already been ravished.
Did you enjoy yerself?
Holy fuck yes.
Would you come back again?
We'll see. I'd love to, but now I'm thinking loosely of making Forge East (or rolling it into Dreamation).
What did you play?
Jungle Speed, for the first but not last time.
Memoir '44 (Close game of Russia vs Germany)
Stranger Things
TSOY/Voodoo Pirates
Shab Al-Hiri Roach
Favorite Moment?
Can't place it. The entire event was energy and people and fun. Actually, I think meeting the New York Crew was definitely a high point (John & Mayuran for the first time, and of course Luke, Dro, Thor). It was like seeing "This is what we can become in NC if we work at it a little harder".
I also liked working out some kinks with my game with Luke and James. Luke, as your reward:
One night in Shaumburg and the world's your oyster
The bars are smoky but the gaming's free
You'll find a god in every hand of J-Speed
And if you're lucky then your hands won't bleed
I can feel Indie folks sliding up to me
Least Favorite?
The fact that it ended. That I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone as much as I wanted. I didn't have my game enough together to run the demo.
-Andy
BASTARD!!
Oh, and I'm sorry to post this here, but it's the last I'll speak of the subject:
There's an expansion to Jungle Speed. It's not available in the US (just in France). If anyone here is interested in getting a copy, post me here:
http://zigguratbuilder.livejournal.com/27315.html
I'm ordering my copy in about a week.
Thanks!
-Andy
I had a ball, just wish I could have (1) arrived earlier, (2) stayed longer and (3) been less fried.
I playtested Dysfunctional Family Reunion, got good feedback, and got to munch scenery with lines like "You don't need to find monsters in the forest, boy. You carry 'em in there with you. The monsters of th' human heart." Luke getting so in character that he busted his leg was an unfortunate moment, but his line along the lines of "I'm going to the kitchen! I can't stand the sight of you sorry bastards." (pause) "You want anything?"
I have only now realized that I was going to sit for an interview with someone and didn't get to. Dammit! I plead friedness.
I also got a taste of Shab-al-Hiri and am recommending it to one of my gamers, the Abominable Dr. Kiel.
-G.
Did I enjoy myself, and would I come back?
Of course. It's always great to see people you only get to see once or twice a year.
What did I play?
Villiany
Stranger Things
Donjon... Mountain-Witch Style
The Mountain Witch
and Orx
Favorite moment
Probably getting to run tMW, I love playing my game, but I actually don't get to do it too often. I must say, though, playing Orx with Raven was a very very close second.
Least favorite moment
Driving all the way home on Sunday (45 minutes) and realizing I was holding Ron Edwards' car keys---Doh!
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If I may make a suggestion, I know everyone likes the "let's do whatever we feel like at the moment" vibe, but next year we should seriously think about a more concrete schedule. The thing with starting games whenever you wanted was that if your timing got off from everyone else, you wouldn't be able to catch the games you wanted to. A couple of times, I ended a game and went looking for a new one, only to find the game I wanted to play was started like 30-45 minutes earlier.
Also, it would have been nice if on Friday, somebody had said, 'Let's all meet at X time at Y place." I know there was a bit of confusion with people coming and leaving the hotel bar because no one was there. This was compounded by the fact that the people who were there earlier all decided to leave the hotel and go off to dinner, without telling anyone.
Overall these were minor annoyances, but it's something to think about for next time.
I enjoyed the Jungle Speed immensely, but not as immensely as hauling Jared about Chicago to drag shows and clubs and then to a brief "everything is closed and the Loop is a tomb, let's go see the sights" tour.
Seriously, ForgeCon 2 requires a personally-guided tour of Chitown as seen through the eyes of COOL, baby!
I played no roleplaying games, but I had a really fun chat with Jared and Greg over coffee and scotch.
Lacuna is a fucking trip and a half to read and enjoy... Effing brilliant!
And, as always, it was fun to see Holmes and Blair, and watch Blair lament the responsibilities of adult life.
Next year, kids... block an evening and we can go dance and party until the sun impedes out much-drunken asses.
Dav
Where's the love? Is everyone still too exhausted to post?
* Too exhausted at first, and too busy after. But the love is right here, baby.
So, ye who attended, what did you think?
* It frickin' rocked. I second the motion that if this does not become an annual event, someone must die.
Did you enjoy yourself?
* Is that a trick question?
Would you come back again?
* If you build it, I will come.
What did you play?
* It Was a Mutual Decision, Dogs in the Vineyard, Jungle Speed, Martian Chess, Path, The Mountain Witch, Universalis, Cosmic Wimpout, um.. and more Universalis. And maybe something else I forgot, my brain is still fried.
What was your favorite game/moment?
* All of them had good moments, but I think my half-demon samurai exorcist's death on the blade of his father, O Yanma, was my favorite. Best character death I've ever had in a game. Cuz, y'know, getting whacked by some kobold torch bearer because you were down to 1hp and failed a spot check is teh suck.
Least favorite?
* Hmm... having to go home? Or maybe not having a 5th Dimensional Stasis Pod so I could sleep a full 8 hours a night in between days. Trying to game for 12 hours on 4 hours of sleep does not do a body good.
It was great to see people I knew, and meet people I didn't, and get to play more in 3 days than I have since last GenCon. And out of the 30 or so people I invited, 4 actually showed up, which was way more than I expected.
Forge Midwest was the shiznit, bizzay biznatch!
D.