Forge Midwest Love

[Mayuran]

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:

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!

[Kesher]

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

[Jared A. Sorensen]

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!

[Tim C Koppang]

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.

[Andy Kitkowski]

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

[Luke]

BASTARD!!

[Andy Kitkowski]

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

[GregStolze]

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.

[timfire]

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!
_______________

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.

[Dav]

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

[Nev the Deranged]

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.