Five Nights at Fluffy's (July 14-19, 2017)

[Equinox]

LlamaFluff and I are hosting a meet this summer in California!

When:

July 14-19, 2017

Where:

Pleasanton, California

Ground Rules

1. Do not give the meet address to anyone (yes,
   anyone
   ) who contacts you asking for it. Please refer them to either Equinox or LlamaFluff. We reserve the right to boot anyone who is not supposed to be at the meet.
2. No smoking. Per the owners, please go outside if you want to smoke.
3. No loud noise. Some drinking and music is okay as long as everyone is mindful of the Airbnb being in a residential area.
4. Parking is limited to four vehicles. Let us know if you will be driving to the meet so we can plan accordingly.

Everyone should have received the address and other information.

Location

We will be staying at an Airbnb close to the Alameda County Fairgrounds. For current capacity and cost estimates, refer to this spreadsheet. Payment is being accepted via Venmo in advance or in person. Contact LlamaFluff for more information.

The closest airports are:

• Oakland International Airport (OAK, 22.9 mi)
• Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC, 27.2 mi)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO, 42.3 mi)
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF, 97.1 mi)

Those flying into Sacramento on Friday may be able to get a carpool to the Airbnb location. Otherwise, the Airbnb is accessible via public transportation (one to two hours) from any of the other three airports. If you want to provide or request a carpool, then make a note in the thread and I will add you to the lists in this post.

For those arriving by bus or train, the Airbnb is within walking distance of Pleasanton Station. The easiest way to get there is by going to San Jose Diridon Station and then taking ACE Rail for $9.50.

Activities

A tentative itinerary can be found here.

Some people are bringing board and video games. A list of available games is below. If there is a game listed that you are interested in playing, then please request it from the person named to ensure that it will be at the meet.

Spoiler: Board Games

7 Wonders

(ActionDan)

7 Wonders Duel (with Pantheon)

(implosion)

Antidote

(LlamaFluff)

Argent: The Consortium

(Vi)

Betrayal

(ActionDan, Iecerint)

Captain Sonar

(implosion)

Boss Monsters (standalone expansion only)

(Iecerint)

Carcassonne

(zoraster)

Codenames

(ActionDan, implosion)

Concordia

(implosion)

Cosmic Encounters

(Iecerint)

Dead of Winter: The Long Night

(ActionDan)

Dominion

(zoraster)

Eggs and Empires

(LlamaFluff)

Ethnos

(implosion)

Evolution

(implosion)

Five Tribes

(Vi)

Fuse

(implosion)

A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King

(Gammagooey)

Hanabi (with dominoes)

(Iecerint)

Love Letter

(ActionDan)

Mafia de Cuba

(implosion)

Masquerade

(Gammagooey)

Munchkin

(ActionDan, zoraster)

Mysterium

(Iecerint)

One Night Ultimate Alien

(implosion)

Pandemic

(Iecerint)

Pandemic: Rise of Cthulhu

(zoraster)

Pull

(LlamaFluff)

Ra

(implosion)

Resistance

(ActionDan)

Rex

(Gammagooey)

Roll for the Galaxy

(implosion)

San Guo Sha

(Iecerint)

Sentinels of the Multiverse

(Vi)

Shadow Hunters

(ActionDan, Iecerint)

Skulls and Roses

(Gammagooey)

Snake Oil

(zoraster)

Tash Kalar

(implosion)

Telestrations

(ActionDan)

Ticket to Ride

(zoraster)

Spoiler: Video Games

Jack Box Party Pack for Xbox One

(LlamaFluff)

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

(LlamaFluff)

Other potential activities:

• Arcade
  - There's either a mysterious arcade somewhere in Pleasanton or one at the Lost Worlds Adventures in Livermore ~15 miles away, which also has laser tag and mini golf.
• Board games
  - Some people are bringing board games. If you want something specific, then PM the person who is bringing it to ensure it comes to the meet, too.
• Escape room
  - Limitless Escape Games in Livermore is $30 per person, $216 for a private room of eight, or $270 for a private room of 10. If there's large enough interest, then we'll arrange a larger booking with the group beforehand.
• Hiking
  - Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area has some trails here, as well as some other activities, including boating and kayaking rentals, fishing, and swimming.
• Laser tag
  - Five miles away from the Airbnb. $5 on Monday and Wednesday. Otherwise, $4 for laser maze and $10 for laser tag. Alternatively, see "arcade".
• Mafia
  - Friends don't let friends play Mafia. That said, someone needs to bring the mafiascum.net deck if they don't want to play with a
  weird
  deck.
• Movies
  - Because what better activity to do than to watch and snark about movies with people you met on the Internet?
  
• Museums
  - Museum on Main has free admission.
  
• Video games
  - LlamaFluff plans on bringing Xbox One and Wii U. caledfwitch and a few other meet attendees have the Jackbox Party Packs for PC.
• Wine tasting
  - Cellar Door is within walking distance. Wineries are within driving distance.

Attendance

1. ActionDan
2. Alisae
3. AngryPidgeon
4. BBmolla
5. caledfwitch
6. Charles510
7. Equinox
8. Errantparabola
9. Firebringer
10. Gammagooey
11. Iecerint
12. implosion
13. LlamaFluff
14. Mastermind of Sin
15. MathBlade
16. Narna
17. petroleumjelly
18. Titus
19. Vi
20. zoraster

[Equinox]

):

You're coming, right? We're going to move New York City westward until you no longer have an excuse.

[Equinox]

The halfway point between Los Angeles and San Francisco isn't too exciting unless you're into wine tasting.

[Equinox]

If you're thinking about attending, please help us out by answering a short survey:

https://goo.gl/forms/6e1cMXIo3WU418In2

Thank you for your time!

[Equinox]

I did the form! How long is the road trip? I wouldn't be opposed to flying to SoCal and then road tripping up with people!

It's a six-hour road trip unless you do the highly recommended Pacific Coast Highway route, which will add a few hours but you'll see one of the most beautiful coastlines in the country.

[Equinox]

Hello, everyone!

We will be booking an Airbnb with a check-in date of July 14 and check-out date of July 24. We've found some possible locations between Monterey and Santa Cruz, but we need some more information to narrow down the list. Please take the following survey to help us figure out how big of a place and any price limitations that we need to keep in mind.

>>> Click here! <<<

To give an example of something for which we're looking: If there are 14 people who will average six nights, our attendance will never be more than 12 per night, and we can spend $50 a night, then we need to find a 12-room location for $4200 or less.

Thanks!

[Equinox]

im extremely unlikely 2 make ne of those dates hope yall have a nice time up there : )

Oh these dates make me out. I'm actually upstate during this time.

:(

[Equinox]

I work on value based analytics for healthcare orgs, so it mostly depends whether the new administration totally destroys our healthcare system and sends us back to pure fee for service or not

Tell them you'd like to scout California in case we secede from the union!

[Equinox]

Is it worth doing the survey if you have absolutely no idea whatsoever what days you can come and aren't reliable to attend? My answers might just be white noise.

Yes, please. In hindsight, I should have asked for people's likeliness to attend again in the second survey. Anyway, I'm linking the data from the previous interest survey and this Airbnb one, so please fill that first one out here if you haven't done so yet. If there's something that we can do that would make you more likely to come, then please mention it.

Otherwise, zoraster is correct that we need to know what people are thinking, even if they don't know yet if they can come. If people cannot make the entire week, then that's crucial information because we then look at holding a shorter meet, which significantly lowers costs across the board. If the location is bad for a lot of people, then we can consider moving it. We'll ask again to refine details as time gets closer to the actual meet. This is so we can confirm dates and location for people to make travel plans.

[Equinox]

Based on the responses, we have about ten people planning to stay in the Airbnb. I will keep the survey open in case people have a better idea of where they will be in the summer, but we may end up planning for a smaller meet and then deciding later what to do with overflow.

[Equinox]

Congratulations, Iecerint!

[Equinox]

Sorry for the extended silence.

The problem right now is affordability. We are currently looking at about $418 per person for the full nine-night stay at minimum, and that is with ten attendees at most for any given night. That particular space can house 13, but that should give you an idea of the price level. For some people, that's well within their budget, but asking for close to $500, not counting airfare for out-of-town attendees, is too much. Unfortunately, that was one of the cheapest ones where we could book the entire location. There were a couple of shared Airbnbs where we would be staying with the host for half of the cost, but we haven't talked about how desirable that'd be for what we are planning to do.

Basically, our options boil down to:

(1) Changing locations. LlamaFluff was thinking of moving toward central California, where it is cheaper; however, transportation costs skyrocket, especially for anyone flying. Alternatively, I've seen Airbnbs closer to Los Angeles that are half the price of those in the Bay Area, but that's fairly down south, and most of you are in the north. It wouldn't make sense to make everyone drive south for the couple of us down here. If that's something you guys would be willing to do, then we can discuss this further.

(2) Shortening the meet. Everyone who responded to the Airbnb survey can make the first weekend. A couple of people cannot make the second. If we shorten it to a long weekend, then it would be much more affordable, and we'd maximize everyone's availability. Therefore, it's likely that we will have the meet start on July 14; what's sort of not certain right now is whether it should end on July 23 as previously planned. I've been waiting for LlamaFluff's input, but I'll also leave it to you all and see what you think.

[Equinox]

Sorry for being ridiculously slow on this. I am going to give y'all a solid answer regarding date and location by the end of this week (famous last words); however, given the positive feedback, I am going to shorten the meet so it ends on Wednesday, July 19.

California is the easiest place to drive in the country

Tell that to someone driving on I-10 near the downtown Los Angeles area for the first time.

[Equinox]

Sorry for the slow updates, everyone. Things should move faster now.

Dates are confirmed to be Friday, July 14, through Wednesday, July 19.

That will be five nights. Since neither LlamaFluff nor I have a strong preference for location, we'd like to leave it to the wisdom of the crowds. Please let us know if you can attend a meet in the Bay Area, Los Angeles area, both, or neither:

>>> Click here! <<<

The survey will close at 11:59 PM PDT on Thursday, May 18.

Airbnb costs are about $220-250 per person for a five-night stay in the Bay Area, ranging from Pleasanton to Santa Cruz. Any location we choose should be accessible by BART or carpooling.

Airbnb costs are about $135-220 per person for a five-night stay in the Los Angeles area. Even if we will not be in downtown proper, we will be in the metropolitan area accessible by carpooling or public transportation.

We will go with whichever location is more popular. Please keep in mind that these prices depend on ten guests maximum in the Airbnb, so there might be slight changes if we are expecting more people.

[Equinox]

Something went wrong when sending that mass PM, so I apologize if you received a duplicate or were skipped. Everyone should have gotten at least one, though.

[Equinox]

This is a reminder that the survey closes at the end of Thursday, which is in (expired on 2017-05-18 23:59:59). Please make sure to respond if you are likely to come so we can get as accurate of a head count as possible. Thanks!

[Equinox]

Given that there were more votes for Bay Area than Los Angeles, the meet will be held in Pleasanton, California, on the dates indicated. Payment information will be coming shortly, but please expect to put a deposit down soon, as LlamaFluff plans on booking within the next week if not tomorrow. There is a daily maximum of

ten guests

per night, and that is what we will be booking at the Airbnb.

If you indicated in the survey that you were not sure, then please let us know as soon as possible whether or not you are coming so we can accommodate you. Everyone who indicated that they would place a deposit will be receiving a PM requesting dates.

People flying into Sacramento International Airport (SMF) will likely have a carpool. If you're a local and willing to offer transportation, or if you're in need of transportation, then please let either of us know so I can put you on a carpool list.

[Equinox]

There is no issue with lodging capacity currently, since a fair number of people are still not sure if they can make it.

[Equinox]

Please indicate expected cost per head.

Approximately $217 per person staying for all five nights.

[Equinox]

Sorry, /out for the whole meet. >:

Hopefully another year.

:(

[Equinox]

Hey can someone give me a ride from Los Angeles?

In case you cannot get a carpool: Taking the Greyhound to San Jose and then Megabus back is $38.50 total, and the train to and from Pleasanton is $9.50 each way.

[Equinox]

why wouldn't you just take megabus both ways? And it's not 15 hours for that. it's about 6-8 hours.

Both advertised similar travel times of six hours (plus thirty minutes for Greyhound), but Megabus's trip to San Jose was $10 more.

[Equinox]

A list of the games that people plan on bringing has been added to the opening post.

All I have are small games, but I'm probably bringing:

Coup
Rook
Sushi Go!
The Oregon Trail Card Game
The World Council (if it gets here)
... and some of the Button Shy wallet games.

[Equinox]

so i'm unclear on if ill be able to go

is that okay? I likely won't know until really close to the date

The caveat is that you may have to find your own lodging if the Airbnb fills before you can confirm your attendance. It's likely that there will be room for most dates of the meet, but, with ActionDan's confirmation, the night of Sunday, July 16 is full. LlamaFluff is keeping track of capacity in this Google spreadsheet.

[Equinox]

If anyone has plans confirmed enough to know about what time and on what days they would need to be picked up/dropped off at BART stations or something similar please let me know so I can start trying to plan things out transportation wise so we always have someone available to pick people up. If you are staying and plan to drive, also let me know so I can keep a car count. It sounds like we need to stay at four or less if at all possible.

Arriving at San Jose Diridon Station on Friday at 1:35 PM. Departing from Pleasanton Station on Tuesday at 5:33 AM (or San Jose at 7:10 AM).

[Equinox]

Lists for people offering and requesting carpools have been added to the opening post. If you're interested in carpooling and haven't already arranged one, then please say so and I'll add you!

[Equinox]

How much is it relatively per night again? I live relatively close regardless, so not a huge deal, but depending on my schedule, I may be able to stay for a few nights.

The Google spreadsheet with capacity and cost estimates can be found here. Currently, it is $53 per night, and Sunday night is full.

[Equinox]

Are you sick of surveys yet? This is the last one to decide on activities and food for the meet! Your input would be greatly appreciated.

>>> Click here! <<<

Here's some potential activities that are listed in the survey:

• Arcade
  - There's either a mysterious arcade somewhere in Pleasanton or one at the Lost Worlds Adventures in Livermore ~15 miles away, which also has laser tag and mini golf.
• Board games
  - Some people are bringing board games. If you want something specific, then PM the person who is bringing it to ensure it comes to the meet, too.
• Escape room
  - Limitless Escape Games in Livermore is $30 per person, $216 for a private room of eight, or $270 for a private room of 10. If there's large enough interest, then we'll arrange a larger booking with the group beforehand.
• Hiking
  - Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area has some trails here, as well as some other activities, including boating and kayaking rentals, fishing, and swimming.
• Laser tag
  - Five miles away from the Airbnb. $5 on Monday and Wednesday. Otherwise, $4 for laser maze and $10 for laser tag. Alternatively, see "arcade".
• Mafia
  - Friends don't let friends play Mafia. That said, someone needs to bring the mafiascum.net deck if they don't want to play with a
  weird
  deck.
• Movies
  - Because what better activity to do than to watch and snark about movies with people you met on the Internet?
  
• Museums
  - Museum on Main has free admission.
  
• Video games
  - LlamaFluff plans on bringing Xbox One and Wii U. caledfwitch and a few other meet attendees have the Jackbox Party Packs for PC.
• Wine tasting
  - Cellar Door is within walking distance. Wineries are within driving distance.

Unfortunately, a quick Google search revealed no karaoke spots near the Airbnb. If you have other ideas, then please suggest them!

There's also the California State Fair happening in Sacramento during the meet. This isn't in the survey, but we can rent a car or something and drive the 100 miles north for a day trip if there's enough people who want to go.

[Equinox]

amador karaoke and heartbeat ktv are like 10-15 mins away, theyre in dublin. obviously theyre always kinda fishy - im pretty sure amador karaoke used to be a bar/strip club but those are options to consider

Thanks, caledfwitch! Karaoke is now an option in the survey. Amador Karaoke is $7 per person Sundays through Thursdays, and there are various rates depending occupancy for Heartbeat KTV here.

[Equinox]

With apologies, I'm going to bow out of staying on the night of Monday, July 17, as I'll be taking the bus out of San Jose at midnight on Tuesday.

[Equinox]

How far is the BART station destination to where we're staying in Pleasanton? I was planning on just taking a lyft/uber from there to the airbnb but if it's $30+ from there still I might reconsider

It's about four miles away.

[Equinox]

This is the tentative itinerary based on people's responses to the activities survey. Given half of the attendees voted, anything with less than half of the votes were nixed (karaoke, movies, wine tasting). The three people who voted for wine tasting are staying for all six days, so it should be possible to organize that among yourselves!

Friday

- As people are arriving throughout the afternoon and evening, there won't be any scheduled activities on this day. However, I'm going grocery shopping; if you want to eat something other than leafy green stuff all week, then I suggest joining the expedition or (if you're cooking) placing orders.

Saturday

- Per caledfwitch, there is a farmers' market starting at 9 AM on Main Street. If you do want bunny food, then this is the place to get it! Lost Worlds Adventures has an arcade, laser tag, and mini golf. They are open until 9 PM, so we can head there sometime after 6 PM when it's presumably cooler.

Sunday

- For anyone interested in hiking, we're going early in the morning around 8 AM before the heat hits. There were eight people who voted for escape room, so we can do the Pirate Adventure room in the afternoon (5:45 PM). If there are two more people interested in playing, then we can do either Bank Heist (6:00 PM) or Sherlock Holmes (5:30 PM). So far, capacity doesn't seem to be an issue, so booking isn't a pressing need right now.

Monday

- If you have any ideas, etc.

Tuesday

- Museum on Main is open from 10 AM to 4 PM, and the active exhibit is Delta Grandeur, which is about one of California's ecosystems. There's also displays about the history of Pleasanton. Five people were interested, so y'all figure this one out.

Wednesday

- As people are leaving throughout the day, there won't be anything scheduled here.

That should cover the outside activities that were listed in the survey. Ostensibly, board games, Mafia, and video games are going to occur naturally without the need to plan them. If you're planning on running plenary Mafia games, then please make sure everyone wants to play before making setups that cannot be changed on the fly.

Food will be sorted out later. Most likely, there will be communal meals when the likelihood of burnt milk is minimal, restaurant meals on Saturday and Sunday when we're outside, and everyone fending for themselves the rest of the time. Calling for pizza delivery might happen at least once.

Highs over the weekend will range from mid-80s to mid-90s, so plan accordingly. Saturday and Sunday are predicted to be the warmest.

[Equinox]

Surprise! The bus is delayed by one-and-a-half to two hours. RIP me.

[Equinox]

knowing buses, my surprise level is low. I'm concerned that if i don't take you that the last ACE train is at 6:40pm.

It's what I get for being a cheapskate. I'll figure it out if I miss you and the train.

[Equinox]

Our time table has changed. Assuming no more delays of Equinox's bus we'll leave the greyhound station around 6:15-6:30 which should get us in around 8. That's implosion, Equinox and me.

Somehow, I got to the station before the Ottermobile did.

[Equinox]

If anyone at the Airbnb wakes up, we are at Dean's Cafe on Main Street. We may go on the move again given sufficient time and delay in developing food coma.

[Equinox]

We went marching.

Woof count: 10
Freedom count: 1
Moon count: 1

[Equinox]

We successfully stole a precious diamond and then blew up the bank.

What time would be good to come over tomorrow?

We don't have anything planned for Monday except a possible game of Argent: The Consortium in the morning.

[Equinox]

Btw I'm assuming the house will be fairly warm around 3pm?

Yes. We have a fan in the sitting room, but otherwise it is going to be quite warm.

Around what time will you be leaving? If you're leaving fairly late and going to be passing through San Jose, would it be possible to ask you for a ride back to the transit center?

[Equinox]

I was planning on leaving around 9 but could be flexible. What time is your bus?

My bus is at 12:45 AM. Since I would be leaving for the Dublin/Pleasanton BART at around 9 PM anyway, it'd be more convenient to skip the intervening public transit transfers even if I am at the station early.

[Equinox]

Sure, then I'm more than happy to give a lift.

Thanks!

[Equinox]

I'm back in Los Angeles. Pro-tip: Don't schedule travel for the same day as work. It's a preventable bad life decision.

There are a couple of people (Errantparabola, LlamaFluff) to whom I owe money. If I forget to contact you tonight, then please remind me.

[Equinox]

Thank you to everyone for coming to the meet! I had a great time with you all. Special thanks to LlamaFluff for basically making the meet happen.

I have an album of photos that I'm going to share only with people who attended the meet. If you do not want an image of you disseminated, then please let me know as soon as possible so that the relevant photos can be removed.

[Equinox]

Here is a list of board games that I played at the meet. Errantparabola should be coming along with a third list, as well.

July 14

One Night Ultimate Alien (x2)
Codenames (x2)

July 15

Sentinels of the Multiverse (x2)
Zendo (x6)
A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King
Sushi Go!
Antidote

July 16

Five Tribes

July 17

Argent: The Consortium
Mafia
Shadow Hunters

Highlights:

• One Night Ultimate Alien is the sort of game that looks and feels like Mafia but isn't because of the wacky roles in it. In any case, if you swap the Blob around enough,
  everyone
  becomes the Blob. Also, please tip cows carefully. Also, also, I had a hard time not cracking up during the Night phase because of the narrator's dramatic reading (e.g., "Put your thumb-like appendage away").
• In Codenames, "Doctor: 1" was the clue for "Ducks" not because of the sound "ducktor" because that's totally illegal but because lalaladucks is an aspiring physician. It makes complete sense.
• In the final game of Zendo, we had so much trouble deciphering the Buddha nature of Vi's sculptures that we stopped making individual inquiries and instead turned it into a cooperative game. We still didn't get it.
• Alisae kept throwing out purple antidotes. Why, Alisae, why?
• Five Tribes is a gorgeous game with what I would guess are excellent mechanics, but it was blistering hot inside and I checked out sometime before the game started. Errantparabola can build a mean Camel Jenga tower, though.
• Argent: The Consortium took 30 minutes to explain. We started at around 9 or 10 AM, and we finished at either 12 PM or 1 PM. Despite claiming that they couldn't possibly win, BBmolla won four votes for Chancellor and Vi had three.
• One of the Mafia games played had two Nights of moderator errors (one by me, one by Gammagooey, IIRC) because, despite having an observer, we couldn't figure out who was pointing at whom. Good times.

[Equinox]

How about us beating all those kids at laser tag?
Lol

The vast majority of the blue team were children who didn't immediately move as soon as they were spotted by the person who they were shooting, but etc.

[Equinox]

Who was hornet? 50% accuracy, wowza

That was me. I have no idea how that percentage was derived because I definitely spent the first ten minutes not understanding how lasers and aiming worked. Sniping was great, however.

[Equinox]

Any plans for a repeat of this meet?

Potentially. I intend to host one within the next couple of years while I am in the state, but nothing has been planned or anything.