AGDQ 2019 Reflections

In short, AGDQ 2019 was an incredible, positive experience for me.

It's no secret that I had a lot of anxiety before the trip, mostly related to my travel plans, but also in meeting so many people I had previously only interacted with virtually.

Despite wise words from those with experience that everything was going to be just fine and I would have a great time, I was still nervous about making good first impressions. I'm very much an introvert and tend to stay in my safe shell. I was afraid that people would see some sort of severe disconnect between my online persona and who I am IRL, and think less of me for it.

Those concerns were eventually found to be baseless and without merit. My anxiety slowly melted away after I got settled into the hotel room and started exploring the event.

The first nerd I saw was Lanxion. Any nerves I had about being welcomed with open arms were washed away when he recognized me, shouted with glee, and gave me a massive hug. So, thank you, Lanxion, for immediately putting me at ease and making me feel comfy.

I met so many people in rapid succession that it's difficult to keep straight, but I know Mooglemod, DomTurchi, and others quickly followed suit. My imposter syndrome was cured and I started feeling more and more like I actually belonged here. We're all just a buncha nerds who really love videogames.

My roommates, emma, muttski, and screevo arrived soon thereafter. Once again, my concerns about feelings of awkwardness were pointless -- we quickly fell into our usual pattern of giving each other shit and laughing like children.

From there, it was a whirlwind of meetings, gaming, and food. Some highlights:

- Our first live, in-person NMG race: racing on discord is one thing, but the enhanced experience when you can see your opponents, hear their reactions, and talk trash directly cannot be matched.

- Mutt and I's 4am trip to a PACKED McDonald's and him Dikembe Mutombo'ing the fries out of emma's hands.

- Bangin' Indian food and mango lassi's from Saffron.

- Trying my first batch of homemade mead courtesy of DomTurchi -- thanks so much for sharing that, dude! Was pretty damn delicious and has inspired me to look more into home fermentation.

- No EG Race w/mutt and screevo: we all got hover 1st try then subsequently died to Ganon lol

- The 13-person NMG race: what an incredible symphony of sounds that was -- Fell in Hera, got 8bb's, but I took 2nd to Lanxion and barely beat Christos due to a ganon fall and missing torch glitch.

- Towerfall w/lanx, zebra, TGH, benteezy, christos, and others: holy shit what a fun party game. Definitely gonna be picking this up on Switch and challenging some local friends.

- Runnerwatcher curled up on our floor and faces.

- One Mind Race: Took 1st place w/screevo as my partner, we had good communication, only 1 death (to Blind) until Ganon, and we hovered moldorm2!

- Potbelly Kreygasm

- GLS's echolocation skills in the parking garage

- Runs I watched:
	- SMRPG: The run was incredible and pidge's commentary was so. damn. good. Super knowledgeable but also incredibly entertaining and funny.
	- Celeste: TGH is a beast, I could barely keep up with what was going on but was blown away by the skill regardless.
	- FF4FE: my first time seeing one of these and I gotta say, it was really impressive to see that kind of routing and game knowledge shown off -- want to try one soon.
	- FF9: Mutt was an alpha, Tojju was super entertaining, and Luz is a wizard -- y'all's chemistry was perfect and I really enjoyed the storytelling. Wanna play this casually soon.
	- ALttP: Xelna, sick run, man. Thanks for showing off just how well this game can be played, even under terrible conditions. Couch, you guys killed it: Screevo provided just the right level of information balanced with humor (and got TONS of donations read), Angie's reactions were genuine and PRICELESS, and Blunt was the perfect deadpan complement (it's when you dash... with a key). I was super bummed I had to take off early to catch my flight, but I watched from my phone when possible. I'm so proud to be a part of this incredible community.

To everyone I met but didn't mention by name, it was a pleasure and thank you for being so warm and welcoming to this nerd. You've inspired me to break out of my comfy shell more often, to be more of a participant in life and less of a spectator. <3

TL;DR: Was nervous about my first GDQ, met several incredible people who made me feel welcome and squashed that anxiety, had some great food, played and watched a lot of videogames, made a ton of quality memories that have re-ignited my desire to GMST.

Stay comfy.