Verdict: success!
Last night was the playtest of GM Space, and I am delighted to report that I had a blast. Jared and Sharone should be very proud.
I played Lily the GM, one of the cast characters, and I had a really fun time wracking my brain for ways to get players to keep playing even when they seemed determined to somehow break or ruin the game. Apparently rigel is signed up for this game at Intercon, and I would hazard guesses both that she would enjoy/is likely to get cast in this character. I believe that would be the second casting she and I will have shared. But as much as I liked my cast role, the horde had so many hilarious bits that I was starting to get jealous. There were lots of spot-on parodies of the weird things that happen in larps and the stupid things that players do that just cracked me up-- not to mention a lot of cool stuff taking off of the Lovecraft universe. All the horde players, particularly Nat, Susan, and Ryan, were just so funny and awesome. I really loved a lot of Mac's bits as well. I remember when Jared started getting concerned that certain important things hadn't come up yet, because the players weren't moving through the horde characters fast enough. Well, dear, that means you've written horde characters that are strong enough to actually stay in game for a while! Apparently they were written too well. :-) The game pretty much accomplished everything it was supposed to-- it has just enough plot to create a framework and a trajectory, with enough humor to really carry its true goal of being a humorous game. With some minor tweaks suggested by the playtesters I think could be completely polished and ready for Intercon. Should this game rerun in the near future (I want to bully Jared into bidding it for Festival) I highly reccomend it.
I extend my congratulations to Jared and Sharone, and I am immensely proud of both my love and my friend. Say nice things to them when you see them!