Con this year was fun! Really glad I managed to avoid missing two in a row, even if it was a whirlwind trip, less than 48 hours. There were some minor frustrations (roads, not getting to hang out with a number of people, that bowling place, people's sleep schedules not overlapping well with mine) but nothing major and generally I had a heck of a lot of fun.
First off, a big thanks for Niu for letting us all crash your house and generally being a chill host. Thanks also to everyone who braved LA traffic and drove the rest of us about. LA traffic is a thing that exists, and I can't believe what I saw was just the weekend version.
Other random thoughts:
-Constant board games! I won't begrudge people doing what they enjoy ever (well except maybe Lufia 1 fans), but as I had no real interest in these it meant that I basically didn't interact with those who were always playing them. This was a shame for me since interacting with people is why I come to these things! If I visited for longer I would have made time somewhere else, so to everyone I didn't spend much time with in that crowd (VSM, Andy, Ashley, Soppy, Tonfa, etc.), sorry for not talking much, and I hope I catch more of you next year!
-Yay, trip into the city on Saturday. I always approve of anything which lets me actually visit the places DLCon is at, even if LA isn't the prettiest city and we didn't (while I was here anyway) visit anything truly iconic about the city. Still, giant anime/game merchandise store is pretty cool even if I predictably didn't buy anything. Ramen was pretty good! I'm sure I ate it when I visited Japan 15 years ago but I have no memory of it, so yeah, fun times.
-Came second in the music quiz this year, but deferred my prize since one OST I already had and the other was Persona. There was a lot of Niu saying "THIS IS OBVIOUS" *plays song three times, nobody gets it* For lack of a better way to put it, it seemed appropriate for a Niu-run music quiz. Sorry we failed you, Niu.
-Bowling! So uh actually bowling was one of those events I was planning to use to corner people I hadn't talked to much yet. Then it turned out talking was not a thing which could reasonably happen there. Seriously what the hell was up with that music. The actual bowling experience was fun as always - good group activity that I hope continues - but the actual place itself sucked. (aw yeah glitches)
-Sunday morning we headed over to Niu's and nobody was there for a while. Then Laggy and Brian and Alex showed up, so we went out to lunch with the former two. Mostly talked about job system games since those are definitely the shared interest there! Also Mexican food. Always so, so much better in this country.
-Card games! Watching Super's misadventures in trying to fuck everyone over at (edit) Hearts never gets old. Playing Asshole for the first time in over a decade was also great fun. Well played on your YOLO strats, Gate.
-Persona 4 Arena. Not too much to say; neither Arcsys fighters nor Persona are really my thing, but it was fun to get in a bit of multiplayer, something I always enjoy. Also you P4 fans fail FOREVER at trying to sell me on Persona 4 as a game. How did you not tell me that Kanji beats things up with a folding chair?
As always, it was really great to see everyone. Great to meet Tide for the first time (the Arnaud jacket is sweet, man). I regret that I didn't get to spend much time with a bunch of people but the interactions I did have were good fun. I definitely hope I can see more of people next year!
