If we were having coffee, I’d first agree with you that 2016 was a crazy year, but it’s also full of fun times.

After going on at length about the grand Star Wars celebration this past summer in London, I’d transition briefly into the surprisingly good gaming(and a few salty moments) had with Overwatch. I’d probably need a new drink at this point. After a brief nod to San Diego Comic Con, it’s on to Blizzcon. So much fun!!! Met a lot of gaming buddies.

Then we’re heading into the insane election and the somewhat troubling outcome, wrapping up with how we intend to keep our part of the world sane.

Happy New Year!

Inspired by and participating in: #weekendcoffeeshare

Another Saturday, another convention. This time, it’s Anime Los Angeles, and it’s the second day. This is only my second anime-focused convention, and it’s certainly larger than the first I attended a couple weeks ago.

The main things noticeably different, to me, than a more general or even comic convention is that the vast majority of cosplays making their prescence known are anime-related, and there seems to be a higher percent (just guestimating that) of cosplay overall. A very colorful couple days this is so far.

I’m also making progress in my solo legendary playthrough of Halo 5: Guardians. I’m discovering that I don’t play as badly as I used to, and my “carry” through co-op legendary can soon be forgotten. Finding hidden weapons caches can help as well as careful coaxing of A.I. teammates to either handle threats, or become fodder (sorry) can help speed things along; against The Warden especially.

I was hoping for some writing inspirarion after almost 2 days without a post. Nothing caught my eye this time, so there you go!

On my mind: Blizzcon.

Swag from Blizzcon 2008 - the first I attended!
Swag from Blizzcon 2008 – the first I attended!

This conference is a nearly annual event staged by Blizzard, who make some of the most popular PC games. It’s all about celebrating them and the fans like me.

There’s usually some news given about upcoming updates or expansions, panels with questions and answers, game demo stations, and even pro gaming tournaments.
There’s also a bit of pin trading action, but I’m not sure how serious I am about that. If I get some pins, cool, but it seems like some time-consuming work to get all the new pins. For me, if it’s a choice between a line for making an “official” trade of a pin and a panel, I’m going to the panel.

IMG_0115
Excellent Overwatch cosplay

This year, since the game that’s closer to its first release, Overwatch, is in its beta testing stage, I’m expecting more information for it to be released. Starcraft II has its last expansion out this month, and World of Warcraft’s Legion is not super close, but it’s close enough that perhaps not much more than perhaps a gameplay demo might be up, along with panels, but that’s still worth a look.

When I was initially composing this, I nearly forgot the most important, and memorable part: meeting up with, and hanging out with friends. Sure, that’s a highlight of most cons, but especially so for Blizzcon. You know that you’re not just fans of games in general, but that you’re fans specifically of Blizzard. After all, you’re going to see nothing but events, panels, demos, and merchandise that supports the franchise games of Blizzard. Making new friends as well as renewing current friendships, sometimes while unwinding between panels, or at the end of the show floor hours, are really good times to remember.

Those times approach again. Am I prepared? Maybe (say nothing, Illidan!)

 

Illidan ponders my preparedness

 

As Blizzcon draws nearer, I’m happy to see that my guild tabard from the folks at Swagdog.com has arrived! I’ll wear it at the conference so that any guildies looking to find me can do so. I think this is the first custom-made t-shirt, I’ve ever ordered. It looks pretty well made.

tabard - Ryagas of Azuremyst realm
tabard - Ryagas of Sanctity guild - Azuremyst realm

Yeah. I’m pretty die-hard when it comes to WoW…