Dreamation 2009
Okay, so this is a long post about my first impressions of Dreamation... I kinda come off like a schoolgirl with a crush who's not sure the guy she likes is into her... So, be warned!
Dreamation was a blast! Like a little slice of heaven, but with bad carpets. I managed to geek out like a crazy man, meet a metric ton of cool people, see a lot of the “big names” from the indie industry (which made me feel like a very strange fan-boy… reading someone’s posts on the internet but not having met them face to face, despite knowing what they look like from their LJ pics… weird), and play some great games!
Played:
Do - very narrative, free form and fun game. Simple mechanics, but ones that force you to make interesting choices. I loved the web of troubles that inevitably occurred by solving one problem, only to create more! I’d love a chance to play this again!
Duty & Honor - A very good recreation of the Sharpe’s Rifles genre, an rpg that does what it does very well. Brennan is right in that it needs more GM guidance, but other than that, it works very well and with a few sessions of play, I think you’d really start to get into a cool groove with it!
Carry - Wow. A very intense experience. Also a great recreation, but of a much less uplifting genre; Vietnam War movies. Every other person in that game brought some serious game-on to the table, and it was a friggin’ great experience. We had to all go get a drink afterwards to decompress… and Adam tells me this was only a moderately intense game of carry…
SHU - I didn’t need to play this again to know it’s a great game! But I did, and it is! We played a very quick session of it, and the civilian scenes are the heart of the game, with the investigation scenes providing a step back and a breather to do some plot and some game. I still want a wrap up of the killer with a bringing together of all the clues to provide a coherent profile, but no-one else seems to care that much about that part of it, so I guess that’s a me quirk. This would be a great party game and an excellent intro to other narrative rpgs. It’s very, very playable!!!
Overall impressions of my very first convention:
Everyone was very nice, but a lot of people came off as distracted, tired or they had their own set of friends they mostly hung out with… No more than expected, after all, everyone there was trying to have fun, relax, and get some good gaming in. It was kinda like high school, except this time the popular kids were geeks too! I was really nervous, both not wanting to come off as a drooling idiot and make a good impression, as well as telling myself that trying too hard was just as bad as not trying at all! I think the key is to be yourself and just keep going to stuff like this until people get used to you and are able to find stuff to talk about and share experiences…
A few people really stood out for me, so here’s a shout out to them!
Brennan Taylor - Very friendly, very open, and cool! You really felt like he was fully engaged when you were talking to him. I missed out on the HWCTLH game, but I’m up for another one anytime!
Shane - Shane was in my Do game, and since that was my first con game, I owe him and everyone else at the table thanks for making it a fun and comfortable game! Afterwards, Shane introduced me to some people (including Jason Morningstar - who does not, in fact, carry around a morningstar or holy water sprinkler) and recommended I try out Camp Nerdly.
Adam - As always, it was a pleasure to game with Adam, a true renaissance indie man! We had a very cool/intense game of carry, which Daniel Levine was in (there’s one intense guy!). Thank you also for the intros and the gaming!
Judd - I briefly met Judd when he sat down at our table at the party and talked to Bill, and I asked him a little about 1st Quest. He was friendly, totally willing to fire off a playtest when he had one more together, but kept on moving. I think he had a lot of people he wanted to meet/greet, but he was gracious and engaging.
Jeff Lower - Jeff was accosted by one of my friends, Jason (I say accosted with love Jason, I swear!), and asked about his game Giants. He was in the middle of talking with Luke Crane, and I felt kinda weird intruding… but the next day, as he was sitting waiting for a game (Freemarket, I think), we started chatting about Giants and he was laid back and very interesting to talk to. I’d definitely like to shoot the breeze with him again!
Daniel Solis - Daniel Solis was just plain-old really nice! I mean, seriously a nice guy. His game Do is fun, flexible and narrative gold! He was really interested in hearing comments about the playtest, wasn’t defensive at all, and my goodness the art for Do was beautiful!
Daniel Levine - Okay, Dan was Ram in the carry game, and if I hadn’t been feeling my character Jewel quite so much, I probably would have peed my pants a little when he came over the table at me!!! It was awesome! That was one intense game, and hanging out with Dan and the guys afterwards was one of the highpoints of the convention for me! Thanks Dan!
Ralph Mazza - Ralph was quiet, but seemed to have a quirky sense of humor. He seemed like one of those guys who doesn’t say much, until suddenly, wham, out of the blue he’ll drop the pithiest comment ever! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to let Nick forget that he was talking about Universalis right in front of Ralph… heh.
Jason Morningstar - He encouraged me to go to Camp Nerdly as well, and then promptly put me, Ralph, Nick and everyone else on the spot for “One cool thing…” I’m afraid I came off as a bit of a dork, but what the hell, right?! It was cool to be part of it!
Bill White - Bill was right there when I first got in, doing Verge with Adam. If I hadn’t seen him and Adam, I think I would have been totally lost at the con. They were my anchor points. Bill, you don’t know how much I love Ganakagok! I talk it up every opportunity I get, and not just ‘cause I know you and Mel, but because it’s an awesome game. It was good to see you again!
Fred and Chad- Okay, so these two were kinda the people I really wanted to meet at the convention. They’re local, they’re indie designers and they seem very cool online. Unfortunately, Fred was very tired and, I think, just really wanted hang out with his friends for a change, rather than deal with fanboys… sigh. That’s cool. I think I was investing too much in wanting to meet him… I really like what he does (IPR w/ Brennan, Evil Hat, DRYH, SotC, and just being an intelligent and reasonable human being), so hopefully I’ll get a chance to game with him at some point, or just to talk game design theory… I’m such a geek! Chad I didn’t meet until Saturday night, and he was hanging with a bunch of other people… I really didn’t want to intrude. He was interested in doing some poker, since we were locals and he’s been itching to get some practice in before he hits a pro tournament. I’d love to play some Texas Hold ‘Em with Chad Underkoffler! ‘course just ‘cause I like his games and respect his game design doesn’t mean I won’t take him for every dollar he has in some penny-ante poker!!!
I know I’m forgetting people, so let it be said that a lot of the people there were a blast to game and hang with! I felt like these were my people. I felt like I was coming home. Thanks to everyone at Dreamation! It rocked!