No, This Isn’t an Overwatch Blog Now

Every so often, I find myself realizing that I haven’t updated the site in a while. Part of that, unfortunately, is my nature. MelloPanther Productions isn’t part of my regular routine, and there’s still not really space to insert it neatly into my work/life balance (though that may change this year). However, between work, (lack of) cons and now having a paid game show gig I’ve started watching Overwatch League with more reckless abandon. I like sports very much, and while I still have no real desire to pick up the game, the way OWL is presented is very compelling and it scratches my math itch, so I’ll occasionally post here to scratch that itch. It’s a better use of the space than what it was doing previously, which was nothing.

That being said, I still continue to use this site as a central point for all of my convention comings and goings. Just because I’m going to be out of action until the fall (though I’ll probably be working with Megaroad at Otakon) doesn’t mean I have other things to do. After another successful run of programming at Tekko, Pop Ramen has officially joined the content farm at Unlocked and it’s only a matter of time before I start trying to infiltrate our channel with some of my content. As a side effect of this, I’ve also decided to dust off my more personal Twitter (which was only actually being used to access MikuMikuDance content…don’t ask) and start throwing in some musings that aren’t big enough for blogs.

In summation, the spring and summer may be slow on the convention side, but it’ll be busy on other fronts. I know I want to have another OWL article to put up during All Star Not-Actually-On-A-Weekend (which will be less mathy, I promise) and more will come as it is available and inspires me to post. Thank you for your continued support.

Vacation What I Never Wanted

It was likely through some combination of skill and luck that my 2018 was somehow more productive than 2017 despite going to less conventions. Want a more concrete recap than the graph above? Here:

  • Exceeded last year’s output in both number of programs (29 vs 25) as well as hours (32 vs 25.5)
  • Increased output over the year before for Setsucon, and Tekko
  • Maintained output at Sangawa and Anime Midwest
  • While losing four unique shows (Anime Mini, GAF, Anime Mid-Atlantic, Blurriecon), gained five (Zipcon, Nyancon, GAO-Kon, Hazard Con, Anime Weekend Atlanta)
  • Three shows for AFC, Five for Wheel of Fortune
  • First 10-hour show (Tekko)
  • Anime Weekend Atlanta becomes my second convention with 20k+ attendance I have presented at (Otakon being the other)

All in all, it was a good and productive year. It’s a shame it won’t be that way in 2019.

Continue reading “Vacation What I Never Wanted”

Hi, Fidelity

Otaku are sometimes overly-prone to stricture; things must be a certain way or else that thing is invalid. This often shows itself in vitriolic fandom debates and other dark cervices on the Internet, and while some concepts should be universal (like you should never affix -gate to something perceived as “scandalous”, because 1) making it a -gate is not how that etymology works 2) most scandals of import don’t have -gate on the end and 3) you’re just an asshole trying to harass other people over nothing) there should be room to play.

I had dinner with someone recently and there was a discussion about fidelity to the source material in game shows and it was brought up about how I was a stickler for things. I can’t personally recall anything I specifically did or commented in the past, but I am certainly not that way now. Between my Name That Tune not really resembling any NTT from the past, my Wheel of Fortune subtly changing forms almost every go-round, and variants of Press Your Luck and Pass The Buck that don’t even share the true names of the source, I think I’m more than willing to stray from the source every now and again.

To be honest, my view is that strict adherence to the source material is not a mandate to me, but a conscious choice. If I choose to do something to the letter of the law, it’s because I wanted to do it. Stylistic choices, rules, and rituals are only to be used if they make sense to me and help create a better product. Otherwise, I’m going to do what I can to ape the game show experience, even if it’s not a singular game show experience. For example, my newest passion project involves celebrities, trivia, and bluffing. Now there are several easy options (and one not-so-easy) but instead of resorting to some other format wholesale, I’m trying to take things from other shows and incorporate it into the original format to make it work because a) it’s more fun for me and b) the audience isn’t going to care about the small stuff if the product is entertaining.

Too bad I won’t be doing anything like this for Anime Weekend Atlanta, but there’s always more shows around the bend.

A Thought While Browsing A Shop About To Go Out Of Business

One of my pie in the sky goals for MP is to have the ultimate portable system to run my programs on. This would include a computer, mini displays, peripherals, all the bells and whistles I would need to put on a presentation or a game show. I already know that what I would need would be able to fit inside a suitcase, but now I see that not only are PC towers smaller that ever, but there are now hard suitcases that fit under an airplane seat.

And that got me to thinking…

Anyway, Setsucon is in the books. I wheel into Zipcon this Saturday at 3PM.

Fandom Feud Survey Post

So I decided that I want to do a Family Feud program for conventions, but it’s hard to get full families at a convention, so it’s getting renamed it to a much more common occurrence at conventions.

Of course we can’t play the Feud without surveys and so I have two for you to fill out. Because I have game show friends who are necessarily into anime and vice versa(???) I’ve set up one survey for all comers and the other for anime fans. Try one or both; it’s up to you. If I can get 100 people quickly enough, I’ll send out two more surveys. The goal is to have 20 viable questions for two full matches, so I want to get through as many as possible without overwhelming you.

You’ll also note at the bottom of each survey I ask for your e-mail. This is indeed for S&P purposes, but if you’d like, I’ll let you know when the next surveys are out.

The links are below and I hope to update them when the next surveys go out. Thanks a bunch!

Survey 1-1 (for all audiences) https://goo.gl/forms/V6QUywcgf4dsEBKQ2
Survey 1-2 (for otaku and con goers) https://goo.gl/forms/hIQafyOc5uOGBjrn1

 

A Learning Experience

So here is what happened in the first 3 1/2 months of 2016 in no particular order.

  • I moved across town into a larger space
  • I was sick
  • I changed shifts at my job
  • My job changed entirely
  • I went to four conventions
  • I did programming for three of them
  • I survived the Mildly Annoying Katsucon Fire of 2016

So yeah, I’ve been busy. Unfortunately, that has led to little time to maintain this space, but here is your catch-up report.

Continue reading “A Learning Experience”