Balto the Meet: May 28 to June 5, 2013

[Mina]

It's too early for me to know if I can get the time off, but if DGB is already going that way and doesn't mind a stowaway, then /maybe.

[Mina]

Why am I still under "/maybe"?
I could probably walk to wherever you guys live.

At least you

are

a /maybe.

[Mina]

Let me rephrase that (since several people told me they misinterpreted the joke): at least you're

listed

under /maybe. Ether and I didn't even get that far.

[Mina]

you'd better fucking come, John

i baked you brownies

Please tone it down in this thread, UN.

Please.

[Mina]

It's up to you, but I almost feel like you guys should just set a fixed cap to the number of people who can come (or at least stay at your place) and have people reserve spots in advance, because otherwise, every single person who sees this thread will go, "Awesome, a meet! I'm coming to Baltimore, too." Thirty-four strangers is a

lot

for you to shelter/feed/clean up after (even if they pitch in).

Seriously, I am totally fine with not coming to this meet if you don't have space for everyone (this isn't me making an excuse to back out ). I'd be excited to meet quite a few of those who are or might be attending, but there are other meets this summer. Alternately, I may just do the motel/hotel thing and split a room with some people (so at least I'm not completely disconnected from the action). It's your house, so you're not obligated to accommodate

everyone

on the Internet who decides to show up on your doorstep; if you were planning for this just to be a small get-together, it's completely acceptable for you to set limits.

[Mina]

I'm probably 80% likely to come to this (my plans for work and school are all over the place). Since it's close to March 20th and there's a ton of room on the list, I signed up for floor space every night. But I'm willing to split a motel room for a couple of nights if this changes.

Should I bring anything special? For once, I'm not constrained by the amount of baggage I can check (just the space in DGB's trunk). I can definitely bring a sleeping bag and pillow for myself.

[Mina]

I'd definitely be interested in going, even if not many other people are. I've always wanted to go to DC.

[Mina]

DGB, did you draw/write those yourself? Those are really cute.

[Mina]

It seems like there's a lot more to do in DC than can fit into one day.

Hmm. Would it be feasible to spend a night there? I'd imagine accommodations are crazy expensive, though. And it would only work either if everyone wanted to come or if one of Matt and Trollie really

didn't

want to come for some reason.

[Mina]

That's dumb

DGB, I like you a lot, I would love to meet you, this is a meet run by me. Fuck anyone that disagrees, it's not their meet and they can find somewhere else to go if they have an issue..

<3

Since I have selfish reasons for wanting you to come, I don't want to pressure you into it if you really can't or wouldn't enjoy it...but I hope it has nothing to do with the attendees, because literally everyone (except for one person who isn't even confirmed to be coming and who joined long after you did) would be nothing less than thrilled if you came.

I also think the lack of anonymity will bring out kindness in people. When it's a faceless name from the internet it's easier to hate.

Also this. Literally everyone I've met on the Internet has been more pleasant/tolerable/likeable than their forum personality.

[Mina]

Also, I just talked to DGB thru ESP just now, and

yes

, she is coming.
Any reasons she had for not coming before, are now resolved entirely.

Damn you, UN. I was so excited until I saw the "ESP" part.

[Mina]

DGB! <3

I'm really looking forward to this. You can change me to Attending, since the only reason I wouldn't come at this point is if something major happens.

The Always On Mafia game sounds like a good idea...except under no circumstances whatsoever will I play. (The absolute best case scenario is that I'm scum and just get quicklynched. The worst is that it will ruin the entire meet for me.) I can help mod, although I'm not sure what's involved in running a game like that. How long should deadlines be?

[Mina]

VOTE: Mina

Before I out my scumbuddies!

I understand and agree with most of the objections, and definitely wouldn't enjoy playing in one myself. But if enough

masochistic

people are interested, I don't mind running one for their sake.

An option is to use something like six-hour day phases (and calling off the timer during nights or times we're going out) and no nights, but that feels a bit pointless when people will probably already be playing face to face Mafia that day (also, it might be hard for the Mafia to sneak off and plan with shorter deadlines).

Real life power roles are a fun idea, though.

[Mina]

I'm really looking forward to this. You can change me to Attending, since the only reason I wouldn't come at this point is if something major happens.

I'm 5-4 step ahead of you

Oh, please. Like I'd need to actually

read

the opening post before assuming I was still a maybe.

Oh, by the way, since you mentioned bedding before, I can definitely bring enough for myself as long as DGB has room in the trunk. I can bring a pillow and blanket and buy a sleeping bag or air mattress from somewhere.

[Mina]

So I'm probably going to buy a boardgame today or tomorrow, both to bring to the meet and to play with the Montreal posse. Off the top of my head, the store has Arkham Horror, Carcassonne, the BSG game, Game of Thrones, Dominion, Settlers of Catan, Agricola, Puerto Rico, Quarriors, Ticket to Ride, and 7 Wonders.

I'm dying to get Arkham Horror (because I've heard rave reviews, eldritch horrors are cool, and it can be played alone--I don't know enough non-Internet people who would find that kind of thing fun, so a single-player mode means I'm getting more value for it), but at least one person told me not to because of how complicated and unfriendly to casual gamers it is. Also, it's expensive.

Are people going to bring any of these to the meet? (I know people mentioned GoT, Dominion, and 7 Wonders.) Is there a game you'd really like to see? CES recommended St. Petersburg (although I'm not sure the game store has it). This also goes for DGB, dramonic, Bert, etc., who may get to play whatever I pick in Montreal.

I also have Quelf, but I find it gets old quickly, so I won't bring that unless someone is really looking forward to playing it.

[Mina]

Oh, also, is the Washington trip still happening? If it's before/after we're there, I might go only one way with DGB and take a train or bus the other way.

[Mina]

Arkham Horror is complicated as fuck, and it really can drag on - we played it at the UK Meet, and reckoned we'd be finished in a turn or two - nearly two hours later we were done.

It's fun, but really not good for non-board gamers

Define "non-board gamers." People who don't have a tolerance for geeky/complicated stuff or any kind of strategy game, or people who rarely play tabletop board games? (We're probably the latter.)

[Mina]

I've heard many, many good things about Carcassone but have never had an opportunity to play. Thus, I selfishly vote for that. <.<

Sorry, I ended up going with Arkham Horror. The guy at the game store gave it a glowing review and recommended it over Carcassonne

(probably because the former is much more expensive)

. Last chance for someone to tell me they're bringing it to the meet or it's unplayable to someone of Faraday's intelligence level before I open it!

Also, I'll try to get my hands on a sleeping bag within the next few days.

[Mina]

Are there enough mattresses or sleeping bags right now without me bringing my own, or was the "twenty spots" factoring me bringing one? I can bring, but I'd have to run out and buy it before the meet starts. Otherwise, I'll just bring blankets and pillows.

[Mina]

Okay, Chamber and I are here.

By "here" I mean the Internet. That's where you're supposed to be when you're at a meet, right?

You guys should sing karaoke to pass the time!

I have it on good authority that chamber would really enjoy that right now.

[Mina]

Huge fiery train accident in baltimore county

might affect people arriving by train if there are any

DOES THAT MEAN YOU'RE COMING????

No i wouldnt have needed a train just thirty bucks worth of gas and a day off

If they're not willing to give you a day off you probably need a new job.

I don't think it's even legal in Canada to force you to work seven days straight.

Pity, I was looking forward to meet you and Amrun.

[Mina]

Update: I continue not to play well with the other children. (To be fair, mafia hasn't started yet today, at least in this apartment room.)

My heart goes out to those of you who couldn't be here but who actually like mafia.

I can be your face-to-face Mafia-hating buddy when I get there!

[Mina]

singer, don't forget to bring my sweater!

[Mina]

I'm sorry we had to rush out this morning without saying goodbye to everyone. You were all awesome. It was nice seeing both new and familiar faces, and I wish I could have spent more time with everyone (so many people divided among four levels and here for different windows of time meant I didn't get to know some people as well as I'd have liked). I don't have the stamina to write something about everyone who attended, but just assume that if I didn't explicitly say otherwise, I really enjoyed your company. Many, many thanks to Matt and Trollie for being wonderful hosts and tolerating so many invaders in their apartments. Before coming, I'd barely interacted with either of you on the forums. But even though I'd heard nothing but positive things about you in previous meet threads, you were both much cooler and nicer than I was expecting (which was already pretty cool and nice).

Additional thanks to DGB and Bert for shuttling Faraday and me to Baltimore, to CDB/Reck/quadz08 for running such a complicated uPick, and to all the people who cooked or bought delicious food for us and who I won't name because I'll almost certainly forget someone if I do.

[Mina]

Also, I'm not sure whether I got consistently crushed at

7 Wonders

because I was terrible at it or because there was such a high concentration of brilliant people at the meet.

On a semi-related note,

Shadow Hunters

has become my new favourite game.

[Mina]

I got my black sweater back. Unfortunately, I traded it for my grey winter coat, my earrings, and some other stuff I'll notice is missing within the next few days.

AT LEAST IT'S JUNE.

[Mina]

Does anyone object to me posting the pictures I have of the meet on facebook? I'll leave tags blank and you can tag them as you please, if I don't get any objects in 24ish hours.

There are already pictures of me on this site, so I don't mind, but please no one tag me. (The people on my friends list think I'm crazy enough as it is. ) Let me know when they're up so I can see them.