Jester Lord said:
Can someone explain whats going on here? I've read this entire thing and still have no idea of whats going on.
[HEADING=1]Here's an explanation for anybody that needs it[/HEADING]
Last year in Australia, some of the "Escapists," or people that frequent this site, got together in Sydney for what they called (I believe) Escapism. It was just a fun way of being able to actually meet some of the people that you talk with so frequently online. I'm not exactly positive what they did last year, but you could ask Labyrinth by PM (as well as a number of others who were there).
This year, they were discussing doing the same sort of thing again, and we thought if we could generate enough interest, we might try the same thing here in America. We're breaking it down by region, since there's no feasible way for everybody across America to come to one spot. We are, however, looking at linking up via the internet to connect the separate meetings. We're in the process of figuring out who's interested at this point so we can move on to planning. It will most likely be this summer, and you can attend whichever region you prefer or is most convenient.
We're also not sure of what the content would be yet. The Aussie Escapism was talking about LARPing for their meeting, but we could also just play games, socialize, eat somewhere, try to time it around some kind of nearby gaming conference, or whatever.
If you have any questions, be sure to ask, and if you have ideas or suggestions (especially for a location for your region) be sure to share them. Black lincon and I are kind of spearheading the whole thing right now, but if anybody wants to help, you are more than welcome. PM us anytime if you need to, as well!
EDIT: It looks like the Aussies are looking at a bowling/laser tag (which is fucking awesome, I might add) combo. Paintballing was also brought up, which would be much easier in the summer, though admittedly dependent on weather. Also, parental permission is an issue there. Just some things to think about.
EDIT AGAIN: Also, in reading the write-up of the Aussie Escapism '08, it looks like they met up, shot the shit while they waited for everybody to show up, went to an arcade, got some food at a foot court, held a small LAN party with Left 4 Dead, chatted online with some others at a cafe, then shot the shit some more. People left whenever they needed to, but it looks like everybody had a great time, even with a smallish group. (Thanks for the help, Labyrinth.)