Well, I’m back, regardless of what the title of this post may have inferred. Once again I have journeyed into the blinding light that is the heart of my geekdom and returned with scars both emotional and physical. But really just emotional. But also like, a good scarring. Like the kind that gives you magical powers. Or in my case some recharging of the creative spirit. Maybe I should try to be less dramatic in the future… We’ll see.
So I’m going to jump ahead to day two here because something amazing happened in the queue room. Preface: While everyone waits for the show to open a series of beach balls are thrown out into/onto the crowd. The reaction, day one, was one of childlike wonderment. I saw people whose faces just lit up watching people bounce these balls around.
Day two was something else entirely. I was standing in the middle queue, about ten metres back from where the PAX map hung from the ceiling. It didn’t take long for someone nearby to smash the ball and have to smack into the map. He and his friends let up a small cheer and people took notice. Soon enough, other people were trying to emulate this act while the crowd’s attentions were all drawn to this new game. Even after that, when it got to the point that simply hitting the map wasn’t enough, it was time to send a ball right over the top. When one person (standing within arms reach of me) finally did succeed cheering and clapping broke out throughout the hall.
There are two things here that really amaze me. The first is that gamers can turn anything into a game. But we all know that. The second is that the nature of play is so ingrained into us that without any communication, other than some positive reinforcement, this game grew organically within a crowd of hundreds of people.
I guess the other observation to make is that once one person gets an Achievement then others are inevitably very close behind. Each getting slightly less and less applause until the once arduous task becomes mundane.
But I digress, what you really want to see is me getting slaughtered by cosplayers. I shall oblige your sick fantasies now.
And my personal favourites from the last two years:
And my current collection of Penny-arcadians. Turns out they’re just as hostile as the rest of the attendees.
Yeah… That last one isn’t from PAX Aus.
Anyway, guess it’s back on schedule for me. New comic up tomorrow!