AGDQ 2018

First off, I want to address the elephant in the room:

https://i.imgur.com/6bmLz6G.jpg

It's a very nice elephant.

But actually, I do want to address the small bout of "drama" that happened in the days leading up to AGDQ. For those who don't know, JHobz decided to have only SpikeVegeta on commentary for Crash 3 NST. Up until then I had been under the impression that Roach and I would be on commentary as well, as we had originally submitted the game as a three-way race.

Was I upset at this decision? Yes, very much so. I have poured most of my time in the months since NST's release doing everything I can to optimize the game, and I believe at this point I am one of the most knowledgeable people regarding it. I know and understand why JHobz only wanted Spike on commentary, but to be told I couldn't be on the mic honestly hurt quite a bit.

However, I do not believe I was "crushed" about it. Upset, and kind of furious, yes, I will admit. But not crushed; it wasn't the end of the world or anything, but it did suck.

There seemed to be this notion going around that JHobz was a complete asshole about it and didn't care about how I felt. That couldn't be further from the truth. If you want to know for sure, the first thing JHobz did when he saw me at the event was give me a hug and apologize for everything that happened; it was a complete misunderstanding on both sides and there was no malicious intent at all. Every interaction we had during the entire week was incredibly friendly, and he's honestly one of the nicest people I've met. He was also more than happy to have Roach and me on the couch, and while I would have preferred having a mic to go with it, I'm still honored to have been on the couch for the first run of my first GDQ. That was a great experience.

I regret not being more upfront with how I felt about JHobz's decision, and the mild shitstorm that came as a result, but at least the result was us clearing the air.

I know I ultimately can't change anyone's opinion of him, but if how you feel about him is negative solely because, "Oh, he robbed Riko of an opportunity just so he could have the spotlight," drop that feeling, please. After watching the run and listening to JHobz, I know his motivations were very similar to my own, and he cared very much about putting on a good performance, and in my opinion he did. The run was great (not jawdroppingly amazing, but for a marathon it was very solid), and the commentary was very good. My biggest fear was misconceptions being spread, but Spike knew what he was talking about, and I have very little complaints. Some things could have maybe been explained better, but I was not expecting perfection; the commentary was strong.

Now then, with that out of the way...

AGDQ was a fucking blast. One of the best weeks of my life, for sure. I got to meet and hang out with so many people, some I had talked to a lot online, but also many that I had never interacted with at all, and it was all so incredible. So much time spent in the casual room doing races, learning games, being complete degenerates with awful sleep schedules, and playing silly arcade games. That had to have been some of the most fun I've ever had. The only real blemish on the entire event was the fact that my car got towed on the last day, but at the very least it was not stolen like I had initially thought. I don't really know how to go more in depth about it, so I will instead give shoutouts to everyone that made this week absolutely amazing:

*Roach: You were one of the first, if not the very first, friends I made in the community, so finally being able to meet you in person was great. It was really fun sharing a room with you, and I do feel bad that we didn't spend as much time together as we could have. Thankfully you aren't too far away, so hopefully we can make something happen some time.

*Furitskin: This was the first time we met, but I have to say you are a really cool dude. I'm glad I got to meet you and I hope to see you again, and maybe hang out with you a bit more next time as well. Also, HI!!!!

*WhitePaaws: Thank you for being one of my closest friends in the entire community. You and Tebt have helped me keep my sanity both speedwise and with real life stuff countless times, so you were one of the people I was most looking forward to seeing. Spending the week with you was a blast, and I hope we can meet up soon again.

*Crash: It was really great spending the week with you, and I was honored that you allowed me to be on your couch for Gex. I know I didn't contribute much but it was a great feeling regardless. I know this week meant a lot to you and I am very glad we were able to make you feel so happy.

*JHobz and SpikeVegeta: I'm glad we were able to sweep what happened under the rug, and it was great finally being able to meet and talk to you guys. I really appreciate everything you both do for GDQ, and I can't wait to interact with you guys more.

*OutrageousJosh and headstrong: I didn't interact with either of you that much, but what little interaction we did have was great. headstrong, thank you SO MUCH for teaching me how to do Finale Skip in A Hat in Time; you have no idea how much that was frustrating me before. You also almost (but not quite) convinced me to get Superman 64, so I'll keep that in mind for the future, lol. Josh, you seem like an amazing person, and I feel really bad for passing out from exhaustion during your run lmao. I'll be sure to go back to catch the vod for sure, dude. I wish I could have learned a bit of Jak 1 from you two, but I already did so much more this week, so maybe next time.

*The rest of the Sprash people (Cane, Katz, Phoenix, Faulty, zbm, Wed, Spudly, Joester, Nitrof, Gazco, Alex, and April): Some of you I had already interacted with, but for most of the Spyro people, this was the first time I had ever met any of you, and I have to say, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO MUCH for making me feel included. One thing I have always struggled with since joining the community is feeling like people considered me irrelevant and not worth talking to. The fact that so many people I had never said a word to seemed to enjoy my company so much meant the fucking world to me, and you have no idea how grateful I am to all of you for making my week absolutely wonderful. Extra shoutouts to Gaz and Phoenix for teaching me all the ins and outs of Spyro 120% (with some extra guidance from Crash, WhitePaaws, and Roach); hopefully now I can be more acquianted with the Spyro side now that I've finally learned the category I've been wanting to for over a year now. Also shoutouts to Joe for teaching me a lot more about Twins than I had anticipated learning. I actually feel super comfortable with a good portion of Hub 1 thanks to you!

That's all I can think of right now; there are a couple of people I barely interacted with, such as Orsa, Stump, Ricky (ThaRixer), Punchy, and others, who all seem like great people, so I hope next time we can hang out more. I'm also sure I missed some people, and if I did I truly apologize; it was a lot of running around and spending time with people so please know that I didn't mean to forget you.

So what do I have planned for the future? Well, now that I actually have learned Spyro 120%, I want to do a lot of that. I also now feel a lot more comfortable with A Hat in Time since I know the Finale Skip, so I want to do a lot more of that. There's also a Twins race coming up that I'll have some fun being bad at, and I guess Wrath of Cortex isn't the absolute worst thing in the world.

Obviously I will still play Crash 2 and NST, but for now with the latter I only plan on grinding 102%. One thing I realized from learning Spyro is that there are so many cool non-Crash games I'd love to learn. That's not to say I don't like Crash anymore; I love Crash and that will never change, and I never plan on leaving it permanently. But I have a thirst for variety now, and I'm eager to learn as much as I can.

Along with what I've already mentioned, there's other games I'd still like to pick up, namely Jak 1, HP1PS1, and a mystery game that I told a few people at GDQ about, but I think I'll keep a secret for now to see if I like it. It's a pretty obscure game but it seems like it could be fun.

After how fun this event was, I do seriously want to look into submitting to SGDQ. I can't promise it because my summer schedule gets pretty hectic, but I would like to make it work if I can. We'll see where it goes.

But until then, thank you so much again to EVERYONE that made this week amazing. Until we meet again.

Sic parvis magna.

~Riko