Answering the AGDQ Question

Is Ace Going to AGDQ 2017?

The short answer is no, I'm not planning on it, although it'd be nice.  Next year though, definitely.

But answering a question such as this one is always more than just yes/no.  A lot of factors must be weighed in, and there are those who are curious as to the reasoning applied to such a decision, as well as it lending to questions about my situation in general, so I'll supply that manner of answer for those wondering.

-Life Situation (Money & Transportation)-
It's true that my life situation has improved markedly in the past few months.  AGDQ is also held somewhat locally on the east coast, meaning I would not need to fly to get there, so at least I wouldn't need a plane ticket.  However, though improved, my situation presently remains insufficient to just be able to handwave it and go "yeah, I'm going, no problem," or "yeah, I'll slap a fundraiser together for it."  I don't have a car at this time, which means someone else would need to provide transportation, and I don't think I would have enough spare funds by then to comfortably attend without doing a fundraiser - and when it comes to money right now, the PC simply takes priority.  It just does.  (See below.)

-Stream Situation (Equipment & Overall Notoriety)-
Let's not forget that I am also attempting to actively build my stream at this time; I am not even where I want to be equipment-wise yet.  The dance pad incentive is nearly but not quite done, and after that, I am going to be working on the new PC fund, which will understandably take some large amount of time - I have other more important priorities right now than to plan for and fund attending a large-scale speedrunning event.  In addition to my actual stream being of sub-par and undesired quality, I also do not think my notoriety level is sufficient to ensure anything other than total awkwardness at the event; my name is not reasonably well-known yet.  Before anyone leaps and goes "lol Ace wants to be totally famous before he goes to an event! XD",  that's not the goal; that'd be utterly unreasonable.  I'm just saying that I want my name to be known *enough* that I can jump into a crowd of speedrunners and expect some people to be able to pick me out instead of 99% going "who's this guy?"  I'm not looking to hit level 100, I just want to do some reasonable leveling up in said department.  :p  I think I can achieve that much, and my notoriety is also something I will be working on in the upcoming year; I've ordered some business cards for my stream, and with the dance pad and eventually the new PC enabling me to offer more content to my viewers, alongside holding events on and participating in events and races from my stream, I should be in a much better position stream-wise and notoriety-wise by this time next year, such that I won't feel like a total nobody in a crowd of mostly-somebodies of various levels.

-Standing (Dedication & Trustworthiness)-
I want to be better-established, having the equipment I feel I need for a better-quality stream, with it having been seen for a while that it has increased the quality and variety in content of my stream.  Let's face it, in the grand scheme of things, I am still very much still in dream land, with a bunch of promises of a better stream in the future if you'll help me buy a dance pad and a new PC.  There are a lot of things I want to do on my stream that I just haven't been able to deliver on yet, claiming I need more money to deliver on games I claim I own; I do not blame the general populace for wondering if I will actually deliver on anything if I'm given money (I would be just as skeptical), as, so far, I have not been able to furnish any truly definitive proof of that (though we're getting closer on that dance pad).  And that's just not who I want to still be when I show up at such a big event.  I don't want that awkward air of uncertainty of my dedication and trustworthiness.  I want to be a person who is known to have delivered on what I said I would do or buy, someone who has truly established a dedication to his stream and its viewers.  That's all I really want when it comes to my standing.

So I'll be shooting for attending AGDQ 2018 instead - that is the event I will keep in mind in the upcoming year, and something I am pretty sure I will actually be able to do without much issue.  (I am also thinking of going to Otakon 2017 before that, if I can find people to room with.)

TL;DR: Progress is being made, and Ace is preparing, please wait warmly until he is ready.