I am home recovering from an incredible PAX Unplugged. I love the show but I always need a few days afterwards to hibernate and recharge my batteries. This Unplugged was especially cool because it was just me and my youngest son Noah. He’s 14 now and as a Dad it was just an incredible opportunity to get to spend the entire weekend with him. We spent time roaming the massive expo floor, watching folks play games in the freeplay area and trading pins at the community events every day. I also took great pleasure in introducing him to the magic that is Reading Terminal and its culinary delights.
Thank you to everyone who came out and watched our PAX Birthday/Make a Strip panel. It was originally scheduled for 90 minutes which would have been nice but when I got there and hooked up my iPad it decided not to work with the rest of their video setup. Usually I can just mirror my screen but after 30 minutes of everyone fucking with it we realized that was not going to be an option. They eventually decided to use the camera that’s above the stage and used to capture dice rolls during live play games. This left me just 60 minutes to knock the strip out and you can watch my frantic efforts right here.
Afterwards I had a few people tell me they actually liked this better as it let them see what my hands were doing during the process. I had not considered this but maybe it makes it cooler?
The highlight of the show for me was definitely the live Acquisitions Inc. game. I know there are lots of other Live Play games out there these days but I don’t think of what we do up there as a performance. Obviously there are cameras and an audience but once I sit down I feel like I’m playing with my friends in someone's basement. As players we literally prepare nothing ahead of time other than our character sheets and we go into every game having no idea what to expect. I might be biased but I think It’s the closest you can get to seeing an honest to God home game up on a stage. Everytime I’m up there I’m reminded of just how smart and funny my friends are. I feel so fucking lucky that I get to sit at a table with Jerry, Holly, Jasmine, Anna and Jeremy. You can watch our entire live game from the show right here.
I also want to give a special thanks to Arielle AKA Air Bubbles Cosplay who helps us all get costumed up backstage. She always does an amazing job making Jim up to be a glam rock star.
Thank you to everyone who showed up to watch us roll dice. Here’s some more great pics of the game from my other incredibly talented friend Dabe:
Okay I have to draw a comic strip now but then I'm diving back into Marvel Rivals which kicks fucking ass! I've seen a couple people say it's "just Overwatch plus Marvel" which to me is like saying it's "just chocolate plus peanut butter".
-Gabe Out
