Arcon, and a side of Listlessness

I'm stuck in Limbo these days, struggling in a sort of void, looking for something to latch onto. 

I just can't seem to get passionate about anything, probably because a lot of my anchors seem to be slipping on the firmament. All my commitments for the summer are over, the one LARP I was attending has passed, and ARCON has just ended... My girlfriend is still on vacation and my exames are long-since over. I guess this sudden lack of commitment has me lost in a funk. 

Oh well, something will come along soon enough, I just have to wait it out. 

ARCON, The annual Oslo gaming convention is just over and in my opinion it was the best one in years, not only did I, and a lot of the old-timers, have a lot of fun, but it's been ages since last time I saw so many fresh faces. I've already been quoted as having stated that the balacne between traditional and independent games was better then it has been for a long tome, and I stand by that. For a few years now Arcon has been gaining a profile as a testing ground for a lot of the fresh Norwegian PRGs, mostly produced within the Norwegian society of game-creators (sounds more pretentious in english :p) a group created in Oslo for exchange of ideas and to help people get their games tuned and tested. Don't get me wrong I like the thought that independent games get exposure and I can understand perfectly well that the "old-timers" of the gaming community want to host new games that interest them, but that is in no way going to stop me from complaining about it. Another amazing thing about the con was the theme, namely the new norwegian RPG "Itras By" (City of Itra) (the page is only in Norwegian sadly...) which is a ready wonderful read, and I can't recommend it enough. I may write more on it later, now though I'll focus on some of my personal High-points during the con. 

Friday: 

Kita and I arrived early friday morning in full Futurist get-up (Futurists are a from of radical scientists and followers in Itras By, performing acts of terror against the Machine-god and his followers, the symbol of the old technology and conservatism) to much amusement for the crowd waiting in line to register. very few recognized us, with good reason, as you can see in the picture below. The Con kicked off for us with me GM'ing a game of classic, 1st ed. Dungeons and dragons. It was full of zombies, orcs, traps, polished stone tunnels and 20x20ft square rooms. It's the probably the most fun i've had with an RPG in quite a while, and it brought back a lot of fond memories for everyone involved. The end of the first day was spent in the pub, chatting with old friends, and poking a few new people who fell in at our table. Needless to say there was quite a bit of alcohol involved, and in a fit of passion, and inebriation I convinced 11 other amers to come with me to the "After-hours" gaming hut, for a late night game of Old-school Vampire. In retrospect keeping the game going unti 8:30 the second day may not have been the best idea i've had. Especially since I overslept for the Con-Larp the next day and didn't get up to the convention-halls until 14:00'ish. 

Saturday: 

After a few hours stretching in bed, and getting sober and awake, I finally got to try Itras By and it really gripped me, I played in a session GM'ed by one of the authors of the game, Martin Bull-Gudmundsen, and I was amazed at the innovative storytelling style the game presented, as well as a unique way of splitting up the storytelling perspectives and surrendering GM-control to the players. The Last session of the second day was a bit awkward for me, I was supposed to be in charge of the hosting of "The Amazing adventures of Baron Munchhausen" In my eyes the best storyteller game available. The problem for me was that I waas supposed to host it in the Pub. This was problematic for several reasons, 1) THe noise-level in the pub was fairly unbearable. 2) the pub was a lot smaller then anticipated, due to reconstruction of the proper basement-pub, making it impossible to find free tables for the game, and 3) The fact that someone had switched the room without informing me, and the only reason the game got hosted at all was the fact that one of the players who had signed up knows my habits, and knew to search for me in the Pub. After this bumpy start we actually did manage to get the game going, over two tables, and I'm fairly sure everyone enjoyed it, though I was hoping to be drinking during the hosting <.<>.> On the other hand i guess the three participants under 18 appreciated getting to play... 

Sunday:

In many ways, this was the best day for me, I arrived too late to participate in Kobolds ate my baby like I had planned, instead getting to spend the entire day in the sun in an outfit that was perfect for it. During the day I got to do a lot of things I genuinely enjoy, but rarely get to do. For instance i managed to grab a girl I know and take her for a walk around the park areas of the Campus ( the con was hosted at Oslo University) I had sandwiches on a bench in the sun, and we even had a point where I read to a few other people form the fictional Con-newspaper. The Con culminated in an award-session, where the winners of the various board-game tournaments and other competitions where announced and prizes were handed out. and extra bonus was ofcource Kita and I winning the "Composite" category in the costuming competition (it was actually hosted the day before but the winners we purposefully not announced until the end of the con). We left with ha coffe cup each as well as yet another signed copy of Itras By, we each had one from the release party a few days before, though we greatly appreciated being described as "The two most well-dressed gentlemen of ARCON". I even managed to dodge the "post-con-blues" by having a great dinner with Kita at a friends house before going home to crash. 

That was the play-by play... I'm going to try to squeeze out a proper assessment and a few personal opinions on the con later, as well as a few more pictures... Right now I just want to get something up, so here you are:

 

Me (right) and Kita (left) in our award-winning outfits, photo by Zatharee, Final edit by Kita...