Anime Fight Club’s getting a new coat of paint. Who wants some? >:3
Fightin’ Words?
Tekko Schedule
All times subject to change:
Friday
12:30: RIYL-Madoka Magica, Panel 3
11 PM: Anime For Adults (Not Adult Anime), Panel 2 18+
Mid: Tekko Improv, Main
Saturday
8PM: Anime FIght Club, Panel 2
Sunday
10AM: How To Set Your Table(top RPG)
Five events, seven hours. Another day at the office 🙂
Getting a buzz
A lot of the fun that comes with doing MelloPanther is just working on the creative processes. In other words, the brainstorming, the molding and the building of things, whether it’s panels or game shows or any sort of programming. Presenting is fun, too, but it’s getting to that point that tends to excite me the most. I have folders full of mock-ups and drafts and layouts for just about anything as well as projects that serve mainly as tutorials, unlikely to see the light of day. Not only is it good practice to hone my skills in design and coding, it keeps the flow of ideas free. In a way, it’s sort of my version of a doodle pad.
I bring all this up because I recently got into a conversation about the tech I use for my games. My weapons of choice are currently Flash and buzzers from Buzz! The Mega Quiz. Flash, because it’s fairly easy to work with and the buzzers because it’s a 20-button joystick which can be mapped to a keyboard. During that conversation, we fell down a bit of a proverbial rabbit hole. At the bottom of this hole was the idea for a whole new buzzer system, able to be constructed on the relatively cheap. If done properly, this new system could drastically change if not revolutionize the way I do game shows. I can’t say much about it right now, primarily because most of it is above my head (I’m a software guy, not a hardware guy–luckily the other people in this conversation were the latter) but I’m very excited and I hope to get the ball running on this soon because I can’t wait to tell you all about it!
Setsucon Recap, Part 2
You might have caught my review while recording Otaku Drive Time, but I wanted to go into detail regarding a couple of things here and there.
As mentioned previously, I mentioned 4th Edition D&D and got an interesting side conversation from two old-school RPG’ers. The crux of the argument was that the combat was crap and the leveling system was also crap. Because the main aspects of the numbers side of the RPG were so out of whack, the game itself fails.
Here’s the thing, though. One, I like how 4th Edition was pick-up-and-play ready. The uniformity of the classes allow people to make new characters in no time flat. Second of all, an RPG is only as good as its first two letters. If the group you are in isn’t able to tell or participate in a good story, then it doesn’t matter how the combat system works. I played 4th edition and Star Wars: Saga Edition for very long stretches–campaigns for each lasted over a year, if I remember right–and our parties had a lot of fun with memorable characters, In the D&D game, I ended up turning into an Eladrin minivan because I was able to teleport half the group. In Star Wars, not only was I an ace pilot that ended up putting two over on the GM in the final battle (that’s a great story for another time), our mechanic and our Wookiee were two great and awesome characters that would’ve been great in any system.
So while I understand the resistance to 4E, it shouldn’t have gotten in the way of a good game. Any game system can work if you have the right story.
Next con up
We’re gonna be at Tekko. More details to come, but it looks like it’ll be another seven hours of fine, quality programming.
Setsucon Recap, Part 1?
So let me briefly mention a list of things that went wrong for me at Setsucon.
- I was unable to book at the Penn Stater due to lack of commitment from travelling companions
- My driving directions flew away as I tried to pack
- Retrieving said directions cost me my scarf
- My car’s battery died on Sunday, just as I was trying to get to a panel
- A jumper cable I had in case my battery died frayed off
- Various counter-progamming battles that I likely lost on
- Tempermental laptop cloning
- Accidentally calling someone “Kara”
So here’s a list of things that actually went right
- Super courteous staff
- Super accommodating staff
- Bee! :O
- Name That Tune becoming more inclusive despite a low turnout
- A reg line that almost Ouroboros’d itself
- #TakeYourShippoToSetsuconDay
- Singing along during A Real History of Fake Singers
- That moment in A Real History of Fake Singers when you realize that you’re cosplaying what they’re talking about.
- Wizardmon! D:
- Knowing exactly what I was getting into when I mentioned Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
- Meeting a lot of new and awesome people
- Gosei Knight! x3
- The Creamery
- Spreading the gospel of MelloPanther and OTDT
- Running low on business cards for the above
All in all, I’d say it was a net positive weekend and I’d love to go back. In spite of everything that happened, I’ve been doing this for so long that I’ve built up sort of a resilience and ability to adapt to when things go pear-shaped. Mean old State College didn’t get the best of me no matter how hard it tried, and I’ll just be back stronger and better for the next time.
As of right now, it looks like MP will be making its next date in April, but of course, there’s always the chance that things change. Watch this space for more :3
The Setsucon Schedule of Super
All panels are 1 hour and may be subject to change by the convention
Saturday
12 PM: Shrines, Sushi, and Sickness, Tales & Advice From a Week Abroad
3 PM: The “How To Make a Panel” Workshop
Sunday
8:30 AM: Name That Tune
11:30 AM: A Real History of Fake Singers
1:30 PM: Radio, Podcasting, and You
Hope to see you there!
iPodagatari
Those of you who have been to Pittsburgh conventions might remember the dreaded iPod, but it’s a full story worth telling. Since I started hosting Name That Tune in 2010, I’ve had a metallic pink iPod nano as part of the Grand Prize package for winning with honors, whether it’s winning a bonus round, or beating the final round with a certain score. The problem for contestants has been 1) my endgames don’t kid around in terms of difficulty and 2) Name That Tune hasn’t been played in over a year and at a major convention in nearly 2 years. So the iPod has sat unclaimed for nearly 40 months, and has become a bit of a running gag. You may not think it’s valuable, but it is now one of the greatest trophies one can claim from my games, outside of the people’s ovation and fame forever.
Hopefully, that will change at Setsucon, as the iPod and nearly ¥20,000 in other goodies will be up for grabs at the MelloPanther’s first Name That Tune outside of Western Pennsylvania. I’ll post MP’s full schedule very shortly.
Hmmmmmmmmm
I wonder what’s in here. Won’t you join me to find out? :3
New Year, New Stuff
It’s been a bit since I last did an article, but that’s not necessarily because of neglect. I’ve just been busy enough with enough small things that I haven’t had enough time to sit down and make a full post.
For example, I wrote a story based on my trip to Japan. It’s not 50,000 words, but I think it’s a worthwhile read anyway.
Also, I keep doing stuff for OTDT. Their season finale episode should be posted soon, and you’ll get to hear and see what MelloPanther can do.
Finally (for now), I can confirm that panels at Setsucon will happen, including Name That Tune. It’s been a very long while since I’ve done it (November 2012, I think) so I’ve had plenty of time to develop new games and a new set. Head on up to State College, and you’ll get to see it’s grand debut the last weekend of January.
Setsucon is only the first event of a busy 2014 for MP. I’ll hope you’ll join us for all of our events throughout the year. Until then, stay warm.