Gathering Plans
Target:
Houston - We dropped by Austin a few years ago, and there's several texans around to possibly join in. Merc could show us around the area, and defeat us all in tremendous board game extravaganza. Dallas is an alternate option as well, that'd have a show going on. We can also hit the waterpark.
Can Attend:
Dracos
Merc
Iddy
Wyld
Halbarad
Definite: Arrival on the 14th, departure on the 19th.
Hotel:
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Energy Corridor West Oaks
2205 Barker Oaks Dr, Houston, TX, 77077, United States of America, 855-239-9222
Also:
Weird Al is booked
http://concerts.livenation.com/weird-al-yankovic-the-mandatory-world-houston-texas-08-18-2015/event/3A004E3688012095
Texas or New Orleans I'm down for. I've been to both Seattle and Atlanta, but not for vacation. I suppose I could do either, as well, but I'd have to start searching for a good deal on tickets soon.
I'd be thrilled to meet up in New Orleans or Texas; other places I'm not sure on. Haven't planned out my whole trip itinerary yet, so I'm really flexible, though!
And yes, I should be able to rent a place beforehand in one of these locations for us. Depending on size of group, and general budget.
It did save a little bit last year and did provide a nice place to play games, though it also is really nice for everyone to have their own bed-space too.
I'll say one thing about Washington. If we go there, I'll *really* want to do some kind of rafting or outdoors trip. August is still too hot to do that jazz in Texas, unless you're used to it.
Weren't we skipping 2015? For some reason I had it in my head that it was said we'd skip a year.
...That said, I'd be fully up to meeting in Houston or New Orleans.
Oh, Drac, as a random note of possible interest to you to plan around: August 29, 2015 will have the Symphony of the Goddess (Legend of Zelda concert) in San Francisco.
Neat. But I suspect folks don't want another one in SF.
It's possible we did say that. I am forgetful :) Anyhow, we shall see how topic goes.
Wasn't gonna suggest SF, was more of a "If you don't schedule that day in as part of gathering, might want to go there before heading out" thing. =)
Anyway, I mostly knew about that because I checked the usual suspects to see if there'd be a game concert in Houston during that time, but sadly it looks like Video Games Live is skipping us for Fort Worth and RePlay is skipping us altogether. Symphony of the Goddess is coming to Houston too, but in October. It just caught my eye that it'd be showing in San Francisco and figured you'd be interested. =)
If you want to do that Video Games thing, then consider DFW. There's a ton to do here outside of that.
On VGL/Ft. Worth: Note that the concert is in June, which might be too early for some people. Might be fun for you to go to on your own though! =)
More on Texas: We ended up not going to Schlitterbahn (water park) when we met in Austin since it was at the end of September and the park was no longer open during weekdays by then, so the crowds would have been horrendous on weekends. Well, that and the water would have been cooooooold.
Anyhow! August is when the park stops being open during weekdays. Going by the schedule for this year, the second to last week of August is the last week to have full access to all the rides. The last week of august also has the park open during weekdays, but some of the rides aren't available and the park closes earlier in the day (around 5pm or so). Obviously its also cheaper then.
From Houston we have also two Schlitterbahn options. There is a 2.5 hour ride to New Braunfels for the original park and can visit San Antonio along the way. Or there is a 1 hour ride to Galveston for a new (and smaller) park and you can visit...well Galveston. Keep in mind that during the last week of August, the two parks close different sections of the park, so if you have a type of ride you want to take and that's when we plan on it, that might be a factor.
Seattle gets my vote. It's fairly close to where I live.
*adds some more bones*
I derped and didn't post, but I live in Houston, so I'm definitely down for that one. Others I doubt I'd be able to travel to, honestly. Too much to spend bux on this year as it is.
Texas I can do on short notice, but due to workloads it will have to be short notice if I can make it at all. August is our busiest month of the year, and it's not yet clear how much I'm going to have on my plate at that time.
I'll keep an eye out here to see what can be done.
I think we can call it now toward Texas.
We've got a few cities as options, but I'm thinking we'll do Houston, which seems to have the largest 'Can Make It' group.
I'll do a check of VBRO for general pricing and also a check of hotels.
I'm leaning toward a 4-5 day at most gathering, focused around a weekend.
If we're doing Houston, I'll note that I live in the Katy/Richmond area if you want to search there for house/hotel options (Sugar Land is also fairly close by), but feel free to look downtown or wherever.
This house from VRBO is particularly close to my place: http://www.vrbo.com/3864882ha
Highlights:
-Price is $149/night (+$10 on Fri or Sat) or $1000/week
-Extra fees: $129 for protection insurance/cleaning fee, +$10 per guest after fourth.
-House is 10-15 minutes away from mine if we want to hang out there for gaming.
-House has four bedrooms and two extra twin mattresses available.
-Internet is available with wi-fi (Note: search filter says no internet, the house description says yes. Would be worth verifying if interested in this one, but I'm going by the description)
At five people, that'd come down to $247/person for a week. At six people, $208.
If you're thinking of doing 4-5 nights instead of a week, then those prices go down a bit.
Note that I'm currently counting myself and Wyld in that count, and Wyld's intention may be to just drive from his place.
If more people start posting that they can come, then rather than having people crashing couches, since my house is so close by, an option is using my house as a secondary crash place.
Sort of on that note:
I hesitate to offer since it does mean a lot of couch crashing without house/hotel rental, but if people wanted to do it, we could do away with the house rental and just crash my place, and save the $200+/person housing cost of the trip. I'll note that I only have one guest bed (a twin) and couple of couches. Not something I'd recommend, but putting it out there.
http://www.vrbo.com/574064 <-- Another alternative that's near my place (15-20 minutes), with five bedrooms and has a pool in backyard (and a trampoline if someone's interested?), and also $1000/week.
Possibly cheaper than the other place depending on the amount of time we think we're gathering for.
For a week, this is definitely cheaper. For less than a week, the other house comes out to be cheaper.
There are a lot of cheaper deals further downtown as well, but I'm biased towards being near my place, so I'll leave searching of those to others. =)
As for activities, as always I'll offer to bring a handgun or two and a rifle if people wanna go to the range and learn some stuff.
I will probably pass on that this time around.
That's cool. If no one/not enough people are interested, it's one less thing for me to pack.
I'm a bit behind on organizing this. Been a really busy month.
I haven't forgotten about this.
Will start getting pricings together this weekend.
Seems one of the houses went to monthly only.
I'm pondering, though it'd possibly be a bit more expensive:
Just get a hotel by Merc's place. Group up at Merc's place in the morning.
This allows Wyld and Merc to drive in (Net - a few hundred).
At 6 people, subtracting 2, that leaves basically 2 rooms to split. Or basically 200 dollars each for the 4 that are there.
hmm. Seems about the same.
Still, hmm. If that house is right nearby. http://www.vrbo.com/3864882ha
Are folks comfortable with pitching in 200-250? If so, I can book that house for sometime that month.
Thinking possibly: Arrival on the 14th, departure on the 19th. Looks at 976 (which is better). I can book it, provided folks are willing there.
Ah, well, mmm.
Okay, it seems like we have 3 people okay with a house (Merc, Iddy, Me). Wyld, Rat, Hal? Any word on your thoughts?
Something to consider: Since Hal's stated that he can't confirm until closer to gathering date due to work looming right around that time period, if they come out to roughly the same, the hotel might be safer in case Hal turns out can't come.
Ugh, sorry. I have to back out for financial reasons. :/
I should be able to make this. Nothing solid around that time in my new area, so I'll go ahead and book the time.
Is this still a thing?
I believe so, though Drac looks to be the only non-Texan if so.
I be booking travel and all, so I sure hope so :)
Will be sad if I end up there and like, merc left houston or something.
Yeah, we'll have no rat though.
I think I forgot to solidify what hotel we're in. Sorry about that. I don't know how I missed it as I'm sure I researched it. Asked merc to take a look. If he can't, I'll dig it out this week.
Anyhow, I have tickets, I will be there. Bringing like...things :)
Merc, you have enormous game collection. Is there any point to bringing more board games and things along? I can stick video games in if not.
For Hotels, I think I noted some on Hwy 6 / Westheimer area as those are probably closest to my place. I think I'd sent you a few links before, but I'll look around again later on if necessary.
Regarding board games: If you want to bring anything, feel free to, I'll post list of my collection so you can cross out any duplicates (though as far as I know, that'd come down to Lords of Waterdeep and Love Letter).
For video games, bring 'em! ...Though the last gen console I've got is a wii. If you want to drag along a console (or get Hal to bring his), that's fine, just something to keep in mind. Wyld might have later gen consoles, I'd assume, and you said he was also based off here in Houston? Has he said what area of Houston he's at?
Okay, in terms of distance + price (distance being relative to my place), the best option is probably the Scottish Inns & Suites in Hwy 6:
Address - 8415 Hwy. 6, South, Houston, TX, 77083
For the dates of August 14-19, a single king is $70/night, and a double queen is $80/night (per Hotels.com). The inn is 5.5 miles from my place, and about as straight a trip between the two locations as it gets.
There only seems to be 1 room there though for those dates in Hotels.com (although other sites show more), so maybe a better alternative is the Crossland Economy Studios (West Oaks):
2130 Highway 6 S, Houston, TX, 77077
It's not that much farther (6 miles from my place), but it's right by an intersection that gets horrible rush hour traffic that we'll want to avoid on the weekdays. A single double (no kings) is $67/night, and two queens is $76/night. So it's also slightly cheaper than the Scottish Inn.
Both are fairly cheap places, but I assume we'll typically be hanging out at my place or doing something touristy like going to Space Center Houston or going to a concert/theater show/etc.
As a relevant thing if people are interested:
- Weird Al Yankovic is performing in Houston on August 18th. Tickets look to be around $45-65 at the moment.
Huh, that sounds cool. I haven't ever been to a weird al performance. I'm done if a few of you are. Ring in if you Won't likely be able to do it. Otherwise, we should get tickets :) I guess might make sense for one person to get them as a group again?
Edit:
Talked offline and picked one.
For others:
Right now, I have no one down to split a room with myself. No big deal, I can go grab a single. But just giving a chance in case someone else is needing hotel+budget concerns.
I was definitely down for the Weird Al performance, one of the reasons I commented on it when I saw it. =)
Here's a list of other events/concerts between Aug 14-19: http://www.houstonpress.com/calendar?dateRange[]=2015-08-14&dateRange[]=2015-08-19
(Although I presume the first/last days are probably just travel days and probably shouldn't be counted on).
http://downtownhouston.org/calendar/?start=2015-8-14&etype=&place=
Another link of events during that period
Yarr, updates. With help from friendly merc :)
Sorry about not responding, I am fail at web forums ^^;
As for what I've got: No consoles, I'm afraid. I can bring Star Fluxx and possibly another board game or two if I can borrow them from folks, as well as some classic Munchkin.
Weird Al status: YES PLEASE <3 I've wanted to see him for years, I didn't know he was coming to town!
And for where I am, I'm up in Spring, almost to the Woodlands. Debating rooming with someone versus the drive, the estimates show 50min-1hr one way for me. Really boils down to what funding I can get ahold of, retail part time is not conducive to having a savings account.
I be booked through.
ANyhow, giving people some time for Weird Al Reactin' :)
I own both star fluxx and munchkin (base game only). =)
List of board games: (games in a list under another are expansions)
20th Century
7 Wonders
Acquire
Agents of SMERSH
Aqua Sphere
Asgard
Battle CON: Devastation of Indines
Belfort
Betrayal of House on the Hill
Boss Monster
Chaos in the Old World
-Horned Rat Expansion
Clash of Cultures
Clue: Dungeons & Dragons Edition
CO2
DC Deck Building Game
-Crisis Expansion
Dead of Winter
Deadwood
Descent: Journeys into the Dark (2nd Edition)
-Lair of the Wyrm
Dixit
Dominion
Eclipse
-Rise of the Ancients
Eight Minute Empire
Endeavor
Epic Resort
Flash Point: Fire Rescue
Francis Drake
Fresco
Galaxy Trucker
Gear & Piston
Ghost Stories
Gloria Mundi
Hollywood
Innovation
Instanbul
Jamaica
K2
King of New York
Legendary: Marvel
-Dark City
Lewis & Clark
Libertalia
Lords of Waterdeep
Lost Legends
Madeira
Maharani
Monopoly
Munchkin Deluxe
Nations
Nile Deluxor
Pandemic
Poker Set
Police Precinct
Power Grid
Praetor
Progress: Evolution of Technology
Puerto Rico
Quarriors!
Race for the Galaxy
-Alien Artifacts
Red Dragon Inn
- Red Dragon Inn 3
- Red Dragon Inn 4
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Settlers of Catan
-Cities & Knights
Shadows over Camelot
Small World
-Pretty much every single expansion
Smash Up
-Monster Smash
-Science Fiction Double Feature
-Awesome Level 9000
Star Fluxx
Star Realms
Summoner Wars: Guild Dwarves vs Cave Goblins (I may also pick up the Master Set by then, not sure)
Takenoko
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Tammany Hall
Tasnia
The Castles of Burgundy
The Resistance: Avalon
Thebes
-Thebes: The Tomb Raiders
Tokaido
Trajan
Tzolkin: The Mayan Calendar
Viceroy
Following two games are unlikely to be here by then, as they're being kickstarted right now:
Click! Clack! Lumberjack
Assault on Doomrock
-Assault on Doomrock: Doompocalypse!
For game systems, I've just got a PS2, Wii, Gamecube and N64. So don't expect much from me in that department.
I also have a DDR Dance Pad somewhere in my house, and if that still works, we could potentially embarrass ourselves that way. Or maybe one of us is awesome at it, who knows?
I have <allvideogamesever> and can bring any folks would like to play, along with the system.
Smash is probably a good call since it has good large team vs team stuff lately.
Okay I hear Wyld, Myself, Hal, and Merc are all 'good' for the Weird al show.
Giving Iddy a chance to read/react. I'll buy tickets as a group for all of us to try and get us able to hopefully sit/stand together :)
Betting on dragging him along to just get things dealt with :P
/me grabs tickets near the front for everyone. Payback is 64$.
Since we are closing in on date: any interests in any particular activity from people based on links posted previously?
Also, around what time do you arrive on Friday the 14th, Drac?
Okay, for Iddy/Hal's reference, I believe Drac arrives around 5pm on Friday.
Not sure if you guys are planning to get into Houston earlier and hang out until its time to pick Drac up, or come in late yourselves.
Almost time.
Planning out my luggage.
Of course I shall pack in Betrayal at House Hill which has seen several fun plays but belongs back with its owner :)
I will bring a full CAH set.
I will bring Smash and a Wii-u.
If neferious gets here I'll bring that.
Crononauts? I can bring Resistance, but that's 6 players minimum and I think we're just shy on that.
I was thinking I should probably bring wii-u and smash as well. I'll bring ds for usual shenningans.
I've got both Betrayal and Epic Resort, if you want to save that space.
https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/kayeich?own=1&subtype=boardgame&ff=1
Link shows my collection of games.
I'd be bringing it largely to give it back to Hal. Not that I mind keeping (as it is awesome) but that'd be really lame and I'm sure he'd like it back.
Edit:
Your collection is legend. I'm not seeing much reason to bring stuff over that.
I'll bring video games. And I guess swimwear in case we decide to go somewhere but it might be too late in the season.
Planning: That's an island in france right?
Its 107 outside. Pretty sure its still pool/beach time.
FYI, since you're bringing swimwear...
Schlitterbahn Galveston is about 75min away. Schlitterbahn New Braunfels is about 150min away. Both are still in the time period where they're open in the weekdays, unlike when we were in Austin.
You or Hal (or Iddy or Wyld) should bring Cards Against Humanity.
Other than that, video games are always welcome. My collection isn't exactly lending itself to multiplayer there. Even for the consoles I do have, extra controllers probably aren't a bad idea, although the only game people would probably want to play is Smash Brawl and I'll note that I haven't really put the effort into unlocking characters there (I -meant- to, but somehow we're already in August. Whoops!).
Updated.
I'll bring CAH.
I have Smash Wii U with all characters unlocked, so that's probably fills that spot :) Do we have Gamecube controllers there? if we do, I will just bring the adapter and however many extra are needed.
I have four Gamecube controllers that I can bring along. CAH is also not a problem to haul in, as well as any number of other non-Microsoft gaming consoles if needed. If you need or want to save luggage space, I can provide the Wii U and Smash as well.
I'll be bringing my MTG decks for the hell of it.
Okay provided the dlc is gotten, I shall not bring my system, just another adapter and 4 controllers, so we'll have 8.
Hal: You have a wii-pro controller if we do hyrule right?
I don't have much in the way of big party games, smash being the classic one, since usually I have more 2 player than 4-8 player games. let's see.
I will bring mario 3d world. I guess Wii sports might be an option? Folks interested in that?
Quote from: Iron Dragoon on August 06, 2015, 09:39:24 AM
I'll be bringing my MTG decks for the hell of it.
I shall...watch. or lose to you. Up for either :) Have never played.
I do have a Wii Pro controller for HW.
Current packing list:
Swimsuit.
Tickets for concert.
4 gamecube controllers + switch.
Mario 3d world.
Do we have 4 wii-motes if we do mario?
I am short on Wiimotes, but the Wii Pro controller will work for it, I'm fairly sure. I only have the one though.
I should have two wiimotes, just have to find the box with them and some batteries.
What time are Hal and Iddy planning on heading over to Houston? Drac arrives Friday @ around 5pm iirc and I was going to pick him up. If you guys think you'll be coming in early, I'll probably be home and hang out until its time to pick Drac up. If you guys are planning afternoon/evening, might head to the office and work, then leave from there to pick up Drac.
Also, I know Wyld lives in the area, is he just hanging with us for specific days like the concert day? Or most of the week? Not sure if he lives in the west side of Houston (Katy/Richmond area) which is where the rest of us will be.
I actually wanted to check on that. I was planning on leaving Austin early in the morning on Friday (maybe not that early, so I can miss Austin rush hour traffic leaving town). If I leave here around 10, I'll probably make it to the Houston area by around 2pm or so.
Is there an address where we're meeting up, or do I just need to hunt up-thread for that?
I'd assume we'd meet up either at hotel or my place. I'll send a PM with my phone/address to everyone when I get home.
Everyone should arrive and settle their 'where they will sleep' arrangements. After that, attempt to call myself or Merc. So likely at the hotel for meetup, but depending on timeline we might go grab food/game on while waiting.
I should be meeting Merc about 5:15-5:30 at the airport coming out of southwest.
Wyld I believe is planning to join the whole gathering :) I'm assuming we are all there from friday evening onward.
I don't know when Iddy is arriving in.
I should probably pay attention to the forums. Sorry guys! ^^;
Here's a heads up on my end of the situation. I do live in Houston vicinity, on the north side though. I'll probably be staying at the hotel some of the time. May venture back home once or twice.
When it comes to gaming, most of what I have is covered by other people already. I don't have CAH, sadly, so i can't bring that. I CAN bring a few tabletop games - I have an ancient, dog-eared copy of Teenagers From Outer Space, and if I can find it, a copy of Paranoia laying around. Both make great one shot games. I could also bring the grimdark with Rogue trader, though the caveat there is I've never PLAYED that one before. (Never played Paranoia either, but the rules are a lot simpler and part of the point is that the players don't KNOW the rules...)
I'll see if I can pick up a swimsuit just in case. As far as other local entertainment, sounds like that's decently covered, but if you want me to hunt things down or do prep work just say the word!
I will pack an extra two wii-motes, just in case.
Bring Paranoia. It should be comical :3
Any party/4-player video games are welcome.
Oh, I'll also bring some Butterbeer on the first night for everyone. The mall I work at opened a candy store that stocks it. :)
PM'ed contact info to the four of you.
Wyld: If you're over in the north side, is there any chance of you picking up Drac? He's arriving at the George Bush airport, so if you think you're coming by Friday afternoon/evening, might be easier for you to pick him up on the way to the west side of Houston.
If not possible, I can still pick him up, but I wouldn't say no to skipping out on driving on beltway 8 at that time of the day. =)
Done and done! I don't blame you for wanting to avoid the Beltway.
Bad news, everyone - it seems Friend Computer decided my copy of Paranoia was communist propaganda. It's missing, and out of print, so no bringing that unless I get lucky and find it.
I was considering picking up the core set of the Net runner card game already to play with a local friend. Would this be interesting to anyone?
I'd be interested in playing Netrunner.
While I've not had interest in picking it up myself (own too many other card games/deck builders), it's something I've had interest in trying out at least.
Update and question time!
I did pick up Netrunner, and I'll be bringing that. I rather enjoy some of the design choices they made with the starter box; I'll have to gibbering about that when we break it out.
As for the question. Would yall mind if I invited and/or brought a friend along for some of the days? I don't think he'd be around full time, but he might be a fun addition. Just don't want to drag him in without clearing it ^^;
I don't mind. And you can always drag him into the board and irc channel and make him a member too!
Yarr, the more the merrier. Game on for all those too poor to make random spot trips :)
Just to check: drac + wyld have made plans to meet up at the airport, yes?
Also: Drac bring along the Peach Cake game if you can still fit it in. Its a nice pick up game and I can't find my own copy >_>
Quote from: Merc on August 13, 2015, 03:54:40 PM
Just to check: drac + wyld have made plans to meet up at the airport, yes?
Also: Drac bring along the Peach Cake game if you can still fit it in. Its a nice pick up game and I can't find my own copy >_>
Sure I can. Wasn't packing since I knew you had it, but it is indeed.
Already told Iddy, so this is more for Hal:
I'm going to be working until noon'ish. You both said you'd probably be getting here around 2pm, but just as an fyi, in case you end up getting here early.
Hoi hoi, the gang's all here
[14:23] <Merc> My home is now cleansed of evil interlopers~
[14:24] <Merc> Fun was had.
Aye. Fun was had... But man was getting back a pain. Storms, Floods, Plagues, Lines, Delayed Planes.
It was thursday before I even landed.