Umbral Echoes Blog

For those interested, here are the components of the system I’m about to build. It’s not top-of-the-line, but I’m pretty happy with the price/performance balance.  🙂  Parts should all be here by early next week.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 (AMD, SATA 6Gb/s,USB 3, supports dual video cards)
There were cheaper options, and I’m only getting 1 video card and not 2, but I wanted SATA 6, USB 3, and the possibility for 2 cards, for future upgrades.

Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Quad-Core
Nothing too fancy here.  It’s reasonably fast, but I didn’t want to go crazy.  Processor speed is actually less important to overall system speed than most people think.

Video Card: XFX Radeon 5850 1 GB
Here I splurged a bit.  DirectX 11 card, again looking to the future.  I could have gotten two lesser cards for slightly cheaper, and just as good of performance, but that would be noisier, take more power, and not leave room for future upgrades without replacing both cards. This way if I want more power, I add another 8580 (which by that time will have gone down in price significantly).

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
This is fast RAM.  Not as fast as the motherboard is capable of, but any faster starts quickly driving the price vs. performance into exponential (i.e. bad) territory. The computer I’m on now actually has 5 GB of RAM, so… well, in a few months it’s possible I’ll double this to 8, since I will be using this system as a work computer as well, and that means having lots of memory-intensive applications open.

Hard Drive (system): OCZ Agility 60 GB SSD

This baby is probably the biggest factor in this build affecting normal system performance.  It has a small amount of storage space (as most SSDs do), but solid state disks offer amazing performance. Here is an article from Microsoft about Windows 7’s performance on SSDs, and some of the benefits of SSDs in general. My housemate Cary has one in his Alienware system, and he says he definitely notices the difference. Coworker Sparr had a netbook that ran from an SSD and he also said it performed notably better than a standard hard drive — faster boot-up and overall operation, lower power consumption, no noise. Having your operating system run from one of these will nearly halve your boot-up time. Putting WoW on it will cut your load times similarly.

Hard Drive (storage): Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
This is where media and programs (that don’t need to load up really fast) will go. Nothing too special, though it is the higher-end Western Digital line, with a 32 MB cache. And they say once you go (Western Digital) Black…

Case:  Raidmax Smilodon ATX-612WBP
Honestly I don’t love this case — don’t have it, I just don’t love it.  However, it was on special, and the case is going to sit out of my sight for 99% of the time I’m using the computer anyway, so I mostly just needed something that will hold the rest of the stuff. And it’s not particularly ugly, just not particularly pretty (in my opinion) either.  If I was buying today instead of a few days ago, I’d probably get this case, which they’re running a special on for $50 and free shipping (coupon code TTCPN-N0012USU-FEB10).

There are also some odds and ends, like Scythe Slipstream case fans (better fans, and quieter), a 780W power supply, etc.  This build was mostly based on this article, with upgrades where I felt would be good, and some components switched out where I could find a better deal, or a better product for the same or lesser price. Ironically, since that build was written, some prices have actually gone up (I assume due to the weakening of the dollar, and the fact that most components are made overseas).

I did forget to order a 2.5″ to 3.5″ adapter for the SSD, but that’s livable — I can get one of those for less than $10 somewhere local.

Yes, it seems that I’ve decided to go on a tangent about my thoughts on roleplaying.

GM, DM, ST, whatever you call the person running the game, they are the ones that set the mood, lay out the plot, and in general keep the game running. We’ve* all experienced good game masters and bad game masters. I’ve been trying to think of some traits that separate the good from the bad.

There’s no formula to being a good storyteller.  But in my experience, good storytellers have some things in common.  A lot of these things have synergy, and sometimes they’re hard to nail down exactly, but I’ll give it a go, based on my personal experience (both as a game master and as a player).

1. Make sure both you and the players are having fun.
   That’s what this is all about, right?  It’s your duty to make sure that the players are having fun, but be sure that you’re having fun running the game, too.  It shouldn’t be a chore!  On that note, know what type of game your players like, and try to give all your players what they’re looking for.  Does Al really love combat and number-crunching, but Bill loves plot and intrigue?  Find a way to mix things up so that everyone gets to do what they enjoy.
2. Make sure the player characters are the stars.
   Pretty much all players have the most fun when their characters are doing cool things.  So let the player characters have the spotlight, and do cool things. One of the mortal sins of game mastering (which I’ve committed myself, sadly) is tossing in powerful NPCs on the players’ side, and making the players themselves into side-characters.
3. Give everyone their time in the spotlight.
   Related to the item above, make sure each player has their time to shine. Some players like to hog the spotlight, so you do have to be careful of that. On a related note, if the group splits up (as player parties have a tendency to do), make sure that you’re giving each sub-group an appropriate amount of time and attention. This also means that you should switch your attention between the groups on a regular basis; no one should sit around and twiddle their thumbs for an hour.
4. Be flexible.
   The players will absolutely fuck up your plot and take it in directions that you didn’t necessarily want it to go, or didn’t foresee. When given clues that seem as obvious as a sledgehammer to the face, they will overlook them. When given ultra-subtle clues, they will connect the dots way earlier than you expected them to. If you just want to tell a linear story, then write a book. Roleplaying is an interactive experience of telling a story, and though you as the game master might have more sway over things than players,  avoid railroading your players at all costs. I personally find that it’s better to give players challenges without having set solutions in mind, to promote this sort of flexibility and to allow the players to really flex their creativity. More often than not, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what they come up with, and players’ creativity should be rewarded.
5. Be creative.
   No one’s saying you have to be the Picasso of the game mastering world. But do try to explore some different themes in your games. Mix up your NPCs — maybe the antagonist one storyline is an evil plotter, and in another it’s a relentless thug, and in another it’s someone with good intentions but an “ends justifies the means” mentality. Use different voices and mannerisms when speaking as different NPCs. Tricks like including physical handouts or representations of in-game artifacts (an old photograph, half-burned note, etc.) and using some non-invasive background music are good ways to help immerse the players and set the mood.
6. Control the game session.
   Don’t bring a whip to crack at anyone who ventures off-topic or out of character (unless that’s your bag), but do remember that you’re there to play a game. Don’t let a rules discussion go on for 20 minutes — just say, “This is what I’m ruling, we can talk about it after the game.” If you’re running a one-shot at a convention, feel free to say, “Okay, I’m making it a rule that the party has to stay together. We don’t have enough time to deal with splitting up.” This is also related to #3, above.

What do you think? Are there any important traits that I left out?

* By “we” I mean people who have done a fair amount of roleplaying, so probably most of the people reading this. 🙂

As time goes on, the debate over gay marriage makes less and less sense to me. Why is it even a question? There is no moral, legal, or even religious argument for why gay marriage should not be allowed within the law.

Here are some reasons why people argue against gay marriage, followed by why those reasons are not valid concerns.

• Gay marriage is against the Bible
  Well that’s fine. No one is trying to force your church to hold a marriage ceremony for two people that it doesn’t agree with. If your argument is that gay marriage should be illegal because the Christian church (mostly) disagrees with it, I point you toward one of the founding principles of our country: the separation of church and state.
• Gay marriage is wrong because it can’t produce offspring
  If a woman is incapable of bearing children, should she be disallowed from getting married? I doubt you’d agree to that. Oh, but the barren woman could adopt, you say? Well then why not a gay couple? The argument for/against gay people being allowed to adopt is, I feel, a separate issue. However, undoubtedly you’ll say…
• Gay people shouldn’t have kids because there is no father/mother figure
  Then if a child’s father dies, and the mother doesn’t immediately re-marry, you absolutely must be in favor of taking the child away from the mother into protective services. What, you’re not in favor of that? That’s not the same? Yes it is. In fact, it’s an even worse situation for the child, if anything — at least with a gay couple, it is not a single-parent situation.
• If we allow gay marriage, then what’s to stop us from allowing a man and his dog to get married?
  Really? Does anyone seriously think that this argument holds water? They must, because I’ve seen it in so many places. Marriage is a legal contract between two people of age. Two people. If you can’t enter into a contract with something (which you can’t, with an animal), then you can’t marry it. Why is that so hard to understand?

The exact same arguments being made against gay marriage today were made against interracial marriage many years ago — it’s against the Bible, it’s immoral, it’s not good for the kids, most people are against it. Decades from now when gay marriage is allowed (I firmly believe it’s inevitable that it will be), the people who are giving those arguments against gay marriage will be looked upon the same way that we now look upon the people who gave those arguments against interracial marriage.

Honestly, I think the term “marriage” should be removed altogether from the law, in favor of civil unions for everyone. If John and Jane want to get married, that’s fine — the law recognizes it as a civil union, the same as if John and Dick want to do the same thing. Again, let’s remember that one of the concepts that this nation was founded on is the separation of church and state. Christianity should be treated no differently, where the government is concerned, than any other religion.

Last time, I outlined a few ways that I’ve seen people go about creating characters. So this time, I’ll go over how I do it.

Sadly (or perhaps it’s a good thing), there’s no one formula I use. Sometimes I will think, “Wow, that’s a neat power/ability! I think I’ll design a character around that.”  Sometimes I’ll be intrigued by a character in a movie or book, see a synergy in them with another character from some different series (or half-formed concept already lurking in my brain), and combine the two (or more) into something new.  Sometimes I hear a particularly awesome song and it just gives me a concept.  That last was how I made my character Sammael; here’s the song (not sure if this will work in Facebook, so if not, the file is here):

[display_podcast]

The child-like-yet-creepy tune gave me the image of a kid in a cathedral with dead bodies all around him.  I let the scene play out in my head, and created a character from the result.  What caused the scene?  What happened before?  What would it do to a child, and what would they end up like after?  Just a small jump from one step to the next, and by the time it’s done, you have a character.

But more often than not, inspiration strikes randomly. I’m not sure what path those neural impulses take, but one minute I’ll be all, “Mmmm, steak,” and the next it’s, “Wouldn’t it be neat if there were a modern-day cop who worshiped Aztec gods and made human sacrifices out of really evil people that got let go due to legal loopholes?”

So if I had to nail down a formula, here would be the steps (though sometimes the order shifts drastically):

1. Figure out the character concept — the core of who the character is, what they do, and why.  This part is actually pretty easy for me.
2. Flesh out the personality.  Give the character some quirks.  If the character concept follows a stereotype, find some ways to break the mold.
3. Write a background story.  This part is also pretty easy, but requires a bit more discipline.
4. Fill out the character sheet.  Also easy, once the above are complete.
5. Come up with a name for the character.  Hardest part, almost without fail.

I’ve found that once I’ve done 1-3, the character sheet comes almost without thought.  By that point, I know the character.  I know what they’re good at, what they like, what they would have practiced and studied.  So filling out the skills, powers, and the rest of the character sheet is easy.

Step 5, ironically, probably takes me longer than any of the other steps.  I don’t like just giving a character any name; I like to give them a name that “feels” right for them, that evokes the right emotions, and that often takes a while.

Overall, I find that I enjoy characters as much as playing them, on average.  Sometimes I have more fun making the character than playing it, or vice-versa, but in the end it’s about even.  If there’s one thing I like about being the storyteller/gamemaster/what-have-you, it’s that I get to create and play a bunch of different characters.

It seems like companies with good customer service are the exception and not the rule these days. So when I come into contact with one, I like to give a shout-out.

This time, it’s my pet insurance company, PetsBest.com. First, a bit of background information.

A few years back, my dog Kayla started limping on her right leg.  Some days it was better, some days it was worse.  I feared that she was developing a problem with her hip, so I took her to the vet.  After some x-rays, it became apparent that it was actually her knee — she had a cruciate ligament tear (the dog equivalent of an ACL injury).  I was referred to a surgeon, who verified the tear, and gave two options for treatment.  Option 1 was essentially a tough rubber-band-like-thing to replace the missing ligament.  This was cheaper, but would only last a few years, and wouldn’t give her full mobility back.  Option 2 was a tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO), wherein they basically cut the leg bone and reorient how the knee works, so that ligament isn’t needed any more.  I went for option 2, even though it was pricey.

The surgeon also informed me that there was about a 90% likelihood that she’d need it in the other leg at some point.  So, I immediately got some insurance for her.  After looking around, I went with Pets Best — seemed pretty affordable and they had a few different service levels.

Fast forward a little less than a year.  Kayla was starting to limp on her left leg.  I held out for a while, but things got progressively worse and I went ahead and booked her for the second surgery.  Before that, I called Pets Best to double-check what the policy was.  They said since it was more than a year since I started the policy, it should be covered (assuming no actual rupture had occurred in that first year).  There were signs that it would rupture within that first year, but no actual rupture.  Regardless, knowing how insurance companies are, I was a little concerned.

Well, I didn’t need to be.  They paid for every bit that they had promised — the maximum that the policy would cover for that sort of surgery.  A typical insurance company would have looked for loopholes (it was not a cheap surgery by any means, and they’re not likely to ever get that much back from me in policy premiums).  But they didn’t.  I also found out that their policy was one of the best in the industry as far as cruciate tears; other companies have a minimum 18+ month period between the start of the policy and when they will cover that surgery.

Every time I’ve called in, I’ve gotten on the phone with a real human being within 30 seconds. Their associates have always been incredibly courteous and helpful, while not over-promising — no bait and switch, just honest and up-front.  Dealing with them feels like dealing with real people, not corporate ass-hats.

This is talking about character designs in roleplaying games, and here I mean actual games where you take on and play a role, so not games like World of Warcraft.  An experience/level system does not a roleplaying game make.

Creating a character is one of the defining parts of roleplaying games, and as a player it’s the first thing that you do after acquainting yourself with the rules (or sometimes even before that!).  Your character is the extension of yourself in the game world, the one and only tool you have to interact with the story.

I think there are as many different ways of creating a character as there are players who create them, if not more.  But there are some general themes people tend to follow.  There is no best way, except the way that is best for you personally.  As for me, I tend to use many different methods, depending on how inspiration strikes.

Some people just play themselves in a game.  The character’s personality is the player’s personality.  The primary benefit is that you don’t even have to pause to think what your character would say or do in any given situation; your character reacts as you would.  There is no qualm of, “Would my character be upset by this?  Would s/he like this person?”  Especially for many people new to roleplaying, this is the easiest way to get into it.  You’re playing the role of… yourself.  On the downside, the line between in-character and 0ut-of-character is easy to blur.  Someone insults your character, it’s easy to take it as an insult to yourself.  Your character fails, it feels more like you’ve failed.  So while I might recommend this for people new to roleplaying, I’d always recommend it stressing those warnings.

Some players take inspiration from other sources when creating a character.  “I think Spike is really awesome, so I’m going to create an Exalted version of him.”  This is very common, and has a similar benefit as the “playing yourself” method of character design.  You’re already familiar with the character, so you have a better idea of how they should react when presented with any given situation.  Personally, I like melding different sources and adding a twist, to create something my own.

Some players create something entirely from scratch, or from different inspiration altogether — maybe a song, or a line from a poem.  This is probably the most challenging method of character creation.  You write the background, and you try to get inside the character’s head, but really until you’re playing the character, it’s hard to get a handle on it.  But eventually, this is where characters can take on a life of their own — where, in thinking as the character might, a thought or line comes into your head that never would have, otherwise.  Of course, sometimes people who successfully pull this off end up playing the same character over and over again, because they like their creation so much.  When you create something awesome, it’s easy to get attached to it, which runs many of the same risks as playing yourself does.

I personally tend to use a mesh of the previous two paragraphs.  I’d be interested to hear other people’s takes on how they go about it.  In my next post I’ll go into a bit more detail on some of my own methods.

From Slashdot:

Yesterday marked the announcement of the Apple iPad device, and with it came a new version of the SDK. In this new version, Apple has lifted the VoIP over 3G restrictions that limited VoIP traffic to wifi only. This morning, Fring announced that it’s iPhone app is 3G-capable starting immediately. No update is needed as apparently the app had 3G capability all along, but a server-side block prevented its use. Furthermore, apparently a 3G-capable version of Skype has been ready for some time now, and has been waiting for this restriction to be lifted.

This is an interesting shift, and if what this says is true — that the restriction was server-side and not in the SDK itself — then that actually means AT&T has decided to allow VoIP over 3G, not Apple.  Maybe now that Apple’s contract is nearly ended with AT&T, they’re starting to play nicer because (joy of joys) people will actually have a choice.

This year for Christmas, my girlfriend got me a BlueAnt Q1 bluetooth headset.  Yes, I know… all girlfriends should be that awesome.  I’ve owned the BlueAnt Z9 in the past, and I liked its performance a lot, though I wasn’t too fond of its look.  Well, that same military grade noise-cancellation technology (or “voice isolation” technology as BlueAnt calls it) is present in this model, plus the voice-activated commands of their V1 headset, except in an attractive package.  Actually, it looks a lot like the Jawbone, which I’ve also owned.  I like this a lot better though.

I’ve only had it for a couple of days, but so far I give it an 9/10.  The only bad things I’ve noticed about it are minor annoyances, and some might even be fixed in the latest firmware (which I can’t upgrade to; see The Bad).  In a nutshell:

The Good

• Good audio quality, both outgoing and incoming.
• Comfortable fit.
• Noise cancellation works rather well (though I need to do some more testing). Update (Jan 1st, 2010): After further testing (windy conditions, radio blaring), same conclusion — works very well, though not perfectly of course.
• Comes (semi-)pre-charged, so that you can plug it in and go immediately upon opening the box.
• Voice commands work well (haven’t tested trying them in windy/noisy environments yet though).  Update (Jan 1st, 2010): Tried the voice commands with loud background noise going on, still works fine.
• The firmware is upgradeable, so as they fix things and come out with new features, you can get those.
• There is caller ID, or as good as it can get on a headset — it tells you which number is calling.

The Bad

• The firmware updating software isn’t yet compatible with 64-bit flavors of Windows.
• After going out of Bluetooth range for more than a few seconds, it won’t automatically re-connect when you’re back in range (you have to restart the phone).
• Whenever any audio stream cuts off, it says “call disconnected.”  This also happens when, for instance, you’re listening to a voice mail, and the voice mail ends.
• Setting up speed-dial numbers requires that you receive a call from the number you want to add.
• Charges via proprietary connector, instead of mini-USB.

These are only the things that stand out.  Its battery life is about average.  It paired up with my iPhone 3G with no problem (actually it didn’t even require the “0000” password like older Bluetooth units do). Its weight feels about the same as a Jawbone, packaging was similar to that of a Jawbone.  Basically, it seems like they took the Jawbone, tweaked it a bit, and used their own noise cancelling technology.  Which is fine by me.

Voice Isolation Technology

This is really one of the two headliners for this unit.  The BlueAnt headsets boast background noise cancellation technology as good as that of the Jawbone.  It actually works better for me.  The Jawbone uses an induction technology — basically, it has a little nub that sits on your cheek and senses the vibrations.  However, it doesn’t have a good fit and I have a somewhat thin face, so it never rested on my cheek… which meant that unless I used one hand to hold it there, it wouldn’t pick up my voice and I was effectively on mute.

The Q1 uses a different strategy.  It has 2 microphones, one facing your mouth and the other facing outward.  I’m not 100% sure of the details, but my engineering mind imagines it works thusly.  First, it boosts noises that are significantly louder on the primary microphone (that faces your mouth) than the outward-facing one.  Second, it filters out frequencies that are outside of the human vocal range.  Third, it precisely times the difference between when a sound reaches the two microphones.  Using this time difference, it can tell the general direction of where the sound came from, and can therefore filter out sounds that don’t come from the direction of your mouth.

With a previous BlueAnt (the Z9), I was once in O’Hare airport talking to a friend, trying to coordinate transportation.  She said that she couldn’t hear me because of the background noise, and I realize I’d forgotten to turn on the voice isolation.  So I turned it on, and her response was, “Wow.  It sounds like you just walked into a quiet room.”  I’ve also tested while walking by a construction worker using a loud saw, in traffic, etc.  This technology does what it says.

Below is a test I ran by calling my own voicemail.  With the voice isolation on max, I did still notice a bit of background noise from the music vocals, probably from the speaker that was right in front of my face, but the unit still did a very admirable job.

[display_podcast]

Yes, I am playing the Numa Numa song in that test.

Voice Recognition

This is the main shtick of this headset. When you first turn it on, it walks you through some instructions telling you how to pair it up, and how to use it.  You really never do need to even look at the instruction book.  When someone calls you, you can say “answer” to answer it, or “ignore” to ignore it.  (You can also do this via the headset’s buttons as a failsafe.)

Before giving any voice command, press the multifunction button once and it will prompt you for a command.  If you want to go into pairing mode, say “pairing mode.”  If you want to dial the 4th number in your phone’s speed-dial, say “speed dial 4.” If you want to check the battery,  say “check battery” and it’ll tell you the status (high/medium/low) of the headset, and of the phone.  And whenever you give an instruction, it confirms which instruction you gave it, which is nice.

And if you’re not sure what you can say, just ask, “What can I say?” and it will tell you.

All of the voice commands have worked spectacularly for me, with a few caveats.  First, I haven’t tried them in noisy or windy environments.  Second, you do have to remember the voice commands, or it will misinterpret you.  If you say “battery status” instead of “check battery,” no telling which command it’ll do.  Actually, for me that makes it activate the phone’s in-built voice commands (of which the iPhone 3G has none).

Other Stuff

The overall design of this unit is nice.  The multi-function button depresses easily but with a nice click letting you know you’ve pressed it.  The volume buttons are easy to feel by touch and press, and you get auditory feedback as to which way you’ve turned the volume.  It comes with a variety of ear buds and an optional ear hook, so you can customize your fit.  You can pair it with multiple phones simultaneously, so if you have one work phone and one personal phone you can answer calls from either on it.

Conclusion

I recommend this headset for anyone who needs good background noise cancellation, and anyone who doesn’t like having to remember what pressing a button for 3 seconds vs. 6 seconds does.  If you just need a basic headset though, I recommend getting something cheaper — I’ve always had good luck with the Plantronics Voyager series, myself.

First off, let me say that I’ve only been in one Google Wave gaming session so far, and have seen a few other sessions.  So I haven’t done very in-depth or broad testing of this stuff.  Also, Google Wave itself is evolving — it’s still in beta, so I’m not going to talk about bugs, or technical issues that I’m sure will be hammered out.

My friend and former coworker Justin Achilli is running a 3.5 D&D game via Google Wave, as an experiment in its viability for online roleplay.  He’s shared his own thoughts, and I’d like to share a few of mine from a player’s perspective.

So, from my perspective, so far I’m getting exactly what I expected.   It’s somewhat of a mix of playing via live chat (of which I have several years experience on White Wolf’s now-defunct moderated chats) and play-by-post, with most of the advantages and disadvantages therein.   I’ll list some below, and again, I’m going to refrain from putting any disadvantages down that I expect to be addressed (e.g. it’s still fairly slow and has the occasional glitch).

Advantages (compared to tabletop)

• It’s easier to schedule.  No transit time to/from; just log in and bam, you’re in game.
• When a player misses a session, the playback feature makes it easy for them to get caught up.
• It’s possible to narrate aspects of your character’s actions in more stylish detail.
• It’s easier to have secret side-conversations where necessary (no passing of notes or leaning over and whispering).
• There’s a complete record of each session, which game masters or payers can look back on (or search) if they’ve forgotten something.
• It’s possible for several people to type simultaneously without the “talking over one another” effect you get in real life.
• It allows you to multitask without being distracting to others.

Disadvantages

• Hell of a lot slower-going than tabletop for character interaction.
• Even slower than that for combat — and the more crunchy the combat, the slower it is.
• More impersonal.
• Can’t use things like mood music/lighting to set the mood (though it would be easy to use a third-party app to stream a playlist).

Overall I prefer tabletop, but I do like online mediums (including Wave) as an option if tabletop isn’t.   I think Wave offers some advantages over both chat-based and PbM/PbP play as well — it’s the best of both worlds when talking about those two options.  I also think Wave is better for more story-centric games/systems than crunchy games, but I’m sure that there will be a number of plugins (or “robots” as Wave calls them) for that sort of thing.  There are already some robots for things like dice rolling, maps, and other such things.  I’m excited to see what can and will be done.

I didn’t go to a single damn panel this year. There was lots of partying, drinking, and… well, that sort of thing.

We stayed in the Hyatt this year, and I have to say that having a balcony is very awesome. It was good for socializing so that everyone wasn’t in one loud heap, and also let the smokers go out to smoke without having to leave the room. I have heard good things about the Westin though, and from a brief stint there trying to find a room party (and failing), it looked to be quite a nice hotel. So perhaps I’ll have to have a look at their rooms and prices for next year. Would also be nice not having to deal with the convention elevators. This year the Hyatt updated their elevators I think though, because when we had a full load it went straight to the bottom floor instead of stopping on every single floor as in years past. Made the elevator wait time more like 15 minutes instead of 30-45 minutes.

Sean doing body shots off of Cary

I didn’t really expect my room to be a party room, but these things happen. I could not have predicted some of the things that happened, as seen to the right, but everyone had fun. 🙂 I was very glad to see my GenCon friends Daniel (aka Frodo) and Lia there, as well as Stephanie and Shawn, and Kirstie and Shaun, and Corinne and Sean and… holy crap, I know too damn many of those Sean guys, and every damn one of them spells it differently! Sean Fannon was holding the Court of Bedlam, in which I was bequeathed the Count of Carousing, and also assistant barkeep. I mixed some drinks, and they were… well, let’s just say stronger than I intended. However, that was perfect for the Court. These are not amateur drinkers. They like their vodka crans to taste like vodka with a hint of cranberry.

I think the most memorable night was MC Chris’s birthday party on Sunday night. I had just the right amount of booze for a good buzz, the atmosphere was very high-energy, I saw an old friend from Colorado, hung out with Loryn and other good friends, and afterwards my friend DJ Catt Ninetails spun some 80’s music, and there was impromptu dancing by attractive women on stage. I’m a sucker for cute dancers, especially if they’re in thongs.

I won’t bore you with the mundane details, but some other random highlights include my (well technically, Loryn’s) luggage breaking due to being overloaded with booze, condom balloons, and finding that there is a leather clothing maker about 1/2 mile from where I live.  Also, chicks kissing.  Can you dig it?  I said, “CAN YOU DIG IT?!”  10 movie geek points if you get the reference without doing a web search.