I think I'll imitate Plasma's report in structure at least.
*Setting*
Cyberjock's is a good-sized LAN party place on Hwy 183 in Austin. Because it's located in a strip mall I didn't expect it to have very much room. I was pleasantly surprised to see a large common area, snack bar and 4 smaller rooms. There were 72 systems available, however, due to some technical problems, about 12 of them couldn't run CO*. That meant that not everyone could actually play right at first. There was also a few small seating areas and an overhead projector that ran loops of Auto Assault, Co*, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa, and Lineage II trailers. No outside food or drinks were allowed, but NCSoft bought everyone pizza, a soda, and a Bawlz. There wasn't any coffee so I was running on about half speed all night.
*People*
Either not as many people showed up as signed up, or there was a pretty good flow in the room. Although 250 were on the list, once we got through the door and the name tag table, there really wasn't a crush of people. I still had to step outside to get a little non-used air once or twice during the night, but that's not unusual. I met several people I had read about on the forums and was throughly impressed with almost everyone. There is, somewhere, a photo of CuppaJo, Alyxa,Artic, Awry, Gilgamesh, Tsirin, Pann,Nomad, and several other RedNames posing en mass. There may or may not be a similar photo with my head
blocking half the shot. SORRY! Despite the sheer number of fanbois (and grrls) in the room, the Red Names remained calm, kind and totally nifty. They must be so wiped out at work today.
Virtue in particular had a good turn out and we wound up convincing people
from a few other servers to come and play with us. I base this change of server mostly on sheer personality, but I'm biased.This despite a certain catgirl trying to incite a "Kill Skuls" riot. Also, when some of us did get a chance to play COH, some of the mission bugs ooccurred. Cuppa was very gracious about ignoring the rowdy crowd in the corner hollering "BUG!" and
"Petition!" at the top of our lungs. I'll name no names.
*Radio*
I have to mention Split Infinity Radio as a whole separate section. DJ A( lost the rest of your name, sorry) drove 6 hours to bring us a killer show. She worked the crowd, worked her chats, and kept the Guild Wars Boys under control with a skill that was a joy to behold. The music was fun and she made sure to get all the shout-outs in that she could. Now if she could just learn to pronounce my name, life would be perfect. It's Moggie, not Moogie, Maggie, or Mouwgie. It's MOGG-EEEE!.
*Announcements*
Aside from the rumors about the next meet-up, there really wasn't anything new announced at this thing. Most of the information we were given is available on the regular forums. There was a good showing of the new card game, and I think many more people are interested in it then before. Also, with Auto Assault in beta and Tabula Rasa about to get moving there was more going on with them then CO*.
The next meet-up will undoubtedly be on a weekend and I heard from the oracle of Cuppa herself that there will be more announcments and more time beforehand.
Personally, I'm hoping it'll be in a place with either more systems or just
more places to sit down.
In total, I had a great time. Despite not being able to get to a computer until later, there were many people to talk with. It's fun to lean over other folks shoulders and try to remember if you've ever teamed with that backside.It's fun to chat with random people about your favorite builds, TF's and "No stuff, there I was..." stories.It's fun to hear somebody say " PST" at
you and then fall over laughing. More then anything, it's fun to finally meet the people you've spent so much of your life with. At the end of the night they almost had to throw us out physically.
To my new friends, good to meet you!
To my old friends, I'm so glad I got to see you!
TO NCSoft, thanks!
( Sorry this took so long to get up. Some of us still have to go to work the next day:P)
