Post-sgdq2023

My general thoughts. Nothing in life is perfect and everything has it's ups and downs. I saw cool people, met cool people. Played a few games. Didn't play as much games as I thought I would. And overall a positive experience.

I'm at the airport and if I dipped, it's only because I don't like long good byes. I tend to drag things out.

I did spend more time in the hotel room than usual. Or maybe it was normal amounts of time compared to past. Unfortunately, humidity hits me hard and I have to cool off often or I start feeling uncomfortable.

I think it's time to bring less gear I don't use to the events and go with a couple flash carts and a couple controllers instead of the whole shebang. Over the next year, I think I need to start paring down the game collection too as I make a stronger effort to digitize retro software. Not get rid of everything. But keep the more the meaningful stuff.

I also think I need to plan things a little better. I volunteered for set up and was in the city extra early, but I think it was too much time away from home. I'll likely volunteer for a different role.

Specific thoughts. The run went well. Probably too well. The goal in mind was to not focus on tech, skill, or knowledge. If you need to know more about the game itself, you can find that in a twitch stream, VOD, or YouTube video. People always complain that "no fun allowed," and it's not true. For years, people get nervous and walk on egg shells thinking they'll get banned from reading or watching what they see or hear online. Video games, and speedrunning, are fun. I don't submit to a leaderboard. I just play a game that's fun, hang out with friends, and hit record. People take the hobby too seriously, or even streaming too seriously. And it's not worth it. I think the run being co-op helped immensely. I wouldn't have been able to do it without crak. Starwin was a shoe-in and Trey was a last minute add-in, but everything coming together made it perfect and I'm happy with the result. Extra shout-outs to Krunchy for hootin' n hollerin'. We watched the VOD like 5 times and couldn't stop laughing. Never gets old. I had unconditional support from multiple communities and its cool to see this overlap come together. Additional shout-outs to seckswrecks for being a match in my vibe. MadMega for continuing to be a cool dude. EBC for being a devout member of the GB and Shaq Fu community. IM for being IM. Sonicman for being a good son. And honestly, anyone that made an effort to even talk to me. I met a new faces and hope the trend continues. It was cool to notice the convergence of communities come together and I hadn't realized that I am adjacent to multiple communities for one reason or another. I'm sorry if I missed a few things, it was only because I was either tired or being pulled in multiple directions.

I plan on keeping the tradition and attending GDQs. I have 2 or 3 ideas for submissions so we'll see how it plans out. We'll likely look at strats to grind out time off our co-op run. But I'd like to look at other games in July. Other than that, I'll be casual gaming and working on a couple things I need to work on.

Rock on.