dragoncon: a gaming story
Then when you're more mature, you start telling the truth. "I've broken a glass. Is it expensive?" "I'll pay for that. I'm sorry." You do that so people might go, "What a strong personality! I like to have sex with people with strong personalities."
Eddie Izzard, Dressed to Kill
I walk around Dragoncon on Saturday with thebill, determined to draft at least a little bit. That is to say, my stated goal was to "play Magic until my eyes bleed", but when faced with the practical reality of suffering through other people being sluggish, stupid, and wishy-washy, I was just glad to play the once.
The format was Shad/Shad/Even draft. I open the first pack, and there's a big flashy shiny dragon looking at me, so I decide to go red. Then I get handed a Furystoke Giant, and wonder what the hell the guy took out of the pack that could possibly have been better while confirming my decision to go red. Then, a little later on, in pack two, I get passed an Oona: the queen of draft play and super-solid if you're playing ANY black or ANY blue. I also picked up a Rise of the Hobgoblins and a Creakwood Liege in pack three.
I won the draft, of course, with a rarebomby red/black pile with inconsistant mana. How could I not?
The best part, though, was when I sat down to play the guy in round one. "Hey, what's up, I'm playing you." "Cool. I'm Allison, nice to meet you." "You don't see too many girls playing." I shrug. "Been playing long?" I nod. "Yeah, I started back in Onslaught block," and I knew then that I've got like three times as much Magic experience as he does, though he tried to play it off like he was an old hat. He went on for a few minutes while we played about his experience. Truth be told, he didn't suck, but I could tell by the way he talked about Magic history that
Please. If we're going to get into crotchety old gamer stereotypical attitudes, I'm the hottest thing around in that arena: I hate Games Workshop with the best of them, have freelance experience to inform my grousing, and armchair game design better than most people I know.
"My first rare was a Taiga," I said simply
I walked up to the dealer running the draft at the end and offered to pay. The five people behind the counter collectively turned to me in confusion. "You didn't pay before?," asks the guy apparently in charge. "Nope. Nobody asked me to."
As I handed my money over and collected my prize packs, their token girl, in this case a very attractive early-twenties blonde with spiky hair and a "witty" shirt looked up in awe and amazement, as though I had some kind of strong personality. I smiled back, deliberately and obviously checking her out. She apparently liked that, and the guy in charge thanked me profusely for my honesty.
As I walked away, running late to my guild dinner (at which I came out as trans, but that's another story and involves a good bit of trangst), I reminded myself that the very basic interactions I had: gaming, flirting, (small) demonstrations of good character... these are things that make me feel good. They make me feel great, actually. They're part of who I see myself as, and I think that's why I like cons so much: at a con, I'm me.
Plus, free packs are free.
-Allison contemplates
Eddie Izzard, Dressed to Kill
I walk around Dragoncon on Saturday with thebill, determined to draft at least a little bit. That is to say, my stated goal was to "play Magic until my eyes bleed", but when faced with the practical reality of suffering through other people being sluggish, stupid, and wishy-washy, I was just glad to play the once.
The format was Shad/Shad/Even draft. I open the first pack, and there's a big flashy shiny dragon looking at me, so I decide to go red. Then I get handed a Furystoke Giant, and wonder what the hell the guy took out of the pack that could possibly have been better while confirming my decision to go red. Then, a little later on, in pack two, I get passed an Oona: the queen of draft play and super-solid if you're playing ANY black or ANY blue. I also picked up a Rise of the Hobgoblins and a Creakwood Liege in pack three.
I won the draft, of course, with a rarebomby red/black pile with inconsistant mana. How could I not?
The best part, though, was when I sat down to play the guy in round one. "Hey, what's up, I'm playing you." "Cool. I'm Allison, nice to meet you." "You don't see too many girls playing." I shrug. "Been playing long?" I nod. "Yeah, I started back in Onslaught block," and I knew then that I've got like three times as much Magic experience as he does, though he tried to play it off like he was an old hat. He went on for a few minutes while we played about his experience. Truth be told, he didn't suck, but I could tell by the way he talked about Magic history that
Please. If we're going to get into crotchety old gamer stereotypical attitudes, I'm the hottest thing around in that arena: I hate Games Workshop with the best of them, have freelance experience to inform my grousing, and armchair game design better than most people I know.
"My first rare was a Taiga," I said simply
I walked up to the dealer running the draft at the end and offered to pay. The five people behind the counter collectively turned to me in confusion. "You didn't pay before?," asks the guy apparently in charge. "Nope. Nobody asked me to."
As I handed my money over and collected my prize packs, their token girl, in this case a very attractive early-twenties blonde with spiky hair and a "witty" shirt looked up in awe and amazement, as though I had some kind of strong personality. I smiled back, deliberately and obviously checking her out. She apparently liked that, and the guy in charge thanked me profusely for my honesty.
As I walked away, running late to my guild dinner (at which I came out as trans, but that's another story and involves a good bit of trangst), I reminded myself that the very basic interactions I had: gaming, flirting, (small) demonstrations of good character... these are things that make me feel good. They make me feel great, actually. They're part of who I see myself as, and I think that's why I like cons so much: at a con, I'm me.
Plus, free packs are free.
-Allison contemplates