The Gathering: In Texas This Year

[Dracos]

I haven't forgotten this.

Now that it's march I'm going to start settling out hotels and things like that soon.

[Dracos]

Update with dates and things in the first post.

Tasking:
1)If you're bringing stuff, start saying it.
2)I'll start adding in event ideas soon to try and flesh out the days.
3)Yuth, can you take a look at your possible schedule.  Maybe we can get a van early and handle commute from airport to hotel and back through that for people.
4)If you have issues with the proposed trip hotel target, let me know now so we can plot on it.

[Merc]

I'll bring board games (I don't have much of a collection so far, but I will presumably build one by the time of that based on games I try out at that board game meetup I've been going to lately).

As mentioned at some previous point, if people find that it's cheaper for them to land in Houston than Austin, I'm willing to host 2-3 people for a bit, and then we can have a road trip over to Austin.

[Iron Dragoon]

I will bring some games as well. I have Sour Apples (I think) and Cards Against Humanity.

[Halbarad]

On the board games note, I have Betrayal at House on the Hill and Arkham Horror with the Dunwich/Kingsport/Innsmouth expansions, as well as Gloom (which isn't really a board game, but.)

[Merc]

I was counting card-based games and just games in general, in my mention of board games as well.

Games I might be bringing:
- 20th Century
- 7 Wonders
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark (with Lair of the Wyrm)
- Eclipse (with Rise of the Ancients)
- Galaxy Trucker
- Gloria Mundi
- Legendary: Marvel deckbuilding
- Munchkin
- Star Fluxx
- Small World (with all three expansions)
- Takenoko
- Tokaido
- Trajan

[Iron Dragoon]

There's another card one I'm thinking about getting called Resistance. Basically, needs a minimum of 5 players and a certain number of people are designated as spies who try to sabotage the group's missions. Interested?

[Dracos]

I dunno about others, but I definitely sound preference toward either cooperative or games where everybody is in the whole time.  Last Betrayal game I played had a lot of the crew sitting out for a portion of it.

There's a lot of board/card games getting listed.  I'll try and get them all listed up. :)

[Brian]

Betrayal is interesting, but I've also had a poor track record with it via luck-of-the-draw.  I have always lost, personally, so it's difficult to regard it warmly.  I guess I could give it one more playthrough, at least.  I already know the rules, after all.

[Merc]

I watched a playthrough of Betrayal. Based on how the traitor is triggered? I think if we play that, I'm not exploring anywhere near Iddy because he's going to go nuts and try to kill us all. You know he's going to roll all blank dice on one of those omens. >_>

Anyway, some thoughts on other events since right now we only have tabletop games (I've been updating list of games I might bring btw), gunslingin' like cowboys, and possibly hiking:

1) Circuit of the Americas opened up just last year right outside Austin. If people want to go see some car racing, the WEC is currently scheduled for September 22, first day of the Gathering according to Drac's first post.

2) We're in Texas! If we're already planning on some gunslinging, why are we doing hiking? Let's go horse riding! I can't link to anything off the top of my head, but there should be plenty of trail rides around Austin. (There's still nice places to go hiking too though, and we can do both!)

3) There's the cathedral of junk. Nothing exciting, but it's something touristy to do.

4) Fredericksburg was mentioned by Hal early on. Put it on the itinerary, Drac!

[Kt3]

I've been silently looking at this on and off for like a month or two.

Still on the fence as to whether or not I want to meet a bunch of strange men from the Internet.  :p  (As well if they want to meet some stranger that might have talked to them once in a while almost a decade ago.  I always had that feeling that it was the kind of thing that better worked for the people who actually stuck around/were more of the "core" users.)

[Merc]

If you live in Texas, you totally should come.

If you don't live here already, well, I'm sure you'll still have fun hanging out with us, but it might be more debatable whether it's worth it for you.

I didn't really know half the people that went to the San Francisco gathering back in '08, and I still had fun, for what it's worth. =p

[Iron Dragoon]

I've been silently looking at this on and off for like a month or two.

Still on the fence as to whether or not I want to meet a bunch of strange men from the Internet.  :p  (As well if they want to meet some stranger that might have talked to them once in a while almost a decade ago.  I always had that feeling that it was the kind of thing that better worked for the people who actually stuck around/were more of the "core" users.)

You can not come and never do more than talk to us once every decade or so, or...

Or you can come get fuckin' plastered with us (Yuth and me, really), who you have talked to before. An easy choice, really. Beer awaits! If nothing else, you'll get to be entertained by our drunken antics and then mock us for our hangovers! That's what Merc plans to do, so you'll even have someone to do it with!

All (semi)joking apart, if you have even the slightest interest, you should come. Meeting us could very well be the thing that boosts you/us from being 'one of those guys that I/we might have talked to once in a while almost a decade ago' into people who are friends, albeit long distance friends.

(This actually works! I have a buddy up near Seattle who I met via internet games. I went white water rafting with him last year! And one of my best friends met his wife via the internet. Though if that's your aim, I'm going to have to direct you back towards Merc. Those Venezuelans bend that way, I hear.)

Pretty much everyone who's said they're going is pretty sociable, so it'll be fun either way. We all have pretty similar interests, and already have shared conversation topics, so you're already like 2/3rds of the way to being a friend, anyway.

And if you're worried about strange men, I can have a rape whistle waiting for you! =D

[Dracos]

Merc:

Awesome thoughts, I will incorporate them when I'm at home and fiddly :)

I do enjoy a good horseback ride, so I'm definitely down with that.

[Dracos]

*slowly gets moving*

*Books all za tickets*