EPTThis weekend was amazing. I woke up at around 9am Wednesday morning, and was excited to see Blizzcon coming. I finished packing my bag, and waited for Kingkosi to come over. He made it over at around 4pm, and we played some PSO on a hacked server. Good fun, great game.
The hours went tumbling by, and he passes out at around 8pm. I laugh at him, and continue to fuck around until MSL starts. + Show Spoiler [MSL] +
I wanted Iris to win so much, and was pumped when he was 2-0. I like Kwanro, but Iris needs a title so bad. I'm not sure who I should be more upset, Kwanro for upsetting Iris, or Iris for giving the last three games away. I just hope Kwanro is able to take a title for CJ in the end, I guess, even if it isn't Iris.
We decide to head to the airport early, just as we did last year. Get there are 6am, with 3 hours until our flight hits. We breeze through security in 20 minutes, and bitch about coming so early. We stop by Starbucks, buy two frappucinos, and I'm amazed to find out it's the first he's ever had. He drinks away at mine (while drinking his own) when I go take a piss.
At some point while we're waiting for the plane, I also introduce him to FBH's amazing ceremonies. This became inspiration for one of his poses (that I don't think I caught well) he strikes for a picture in our hotel. We hop on the plane and make it to the hotel rather uneventfully.
We check into the Marriott and settle in a bit. I'm browsing and posting a bit on TeamLiquid during this time. Head down to get some food at Red Robin, and pick up a case of water and some snacks at Target. Was a bitch carrying everything back. I'm from Vegas, where we often reach ~120ish F in the summer, and I fucking hate California weather. Humidity can kiss my ass.
We go wait in line to pick up our tickets at around 2:30. The line oh so slowly inches along until 4, when it picks up pretty quick. Waited an hour and a half in line and it only takes us 40 minutes to pick up our bags, past 4pm. We were positioned behind some TL lurkers, and spoke to them a bit to pass the time. Zatic also spotted Kingkosi in my MBC hoodie (wearing an MBC shirt himself), and talked to us for a bit.
After we left the line, we spot Kennigit and Zatic near the entrance. They had been in with Tasteless and the progamers hanging out, when they left, and couldn't get back in. We waited around for a minute or two before going back to the hotel.
I spoke with Semioldguy's friend Brian, whom had given us a ride to the TL dinner last year. As a thanks, I had picked up a ticket for him this year, and we didn't meet up in time to pick up our tickets together, so I just picked up his bag and such for him. Anyhow, he said we'd probably go out to dinner around 8-9. He just had to pick up a few people first.
I managed to take a 45 minute nap at this time, before I was woken up by the phone, with Brian telling me that it would be closer to 11pm. I wasn't able to get back to sleep at this point, and just wasted time in the hotel room, before heading to Denny's with TL that night.
Some of us ordered food at Denny's and others just sat there. Made me feel a bit awkward, since I had a shit load of food, that I ate most of, and Chill and Kennigit were talking about America's massive portion sizes. The service at the Denny's was terrible, and we make it back to the hotel at around 11.
A few people had gone to buy beer with the extra money that people had put into the Denny's bill pool, and I stopped by the room they were staying in because Kingkosi didn't know where it was, and didn't have his hotel key, like a dumbass. I'm too tired to hang out, so I go back to the hotel room and pass out.
At last year's con, we were waiting in line at about 6am, and got in pretty fast. We were maybe 100-200th in line overall, even though they did that weird wrap thing where line spot didn't really matter, once inside. That wasn't the case this time, as we didn't even head over to the con until about 9:45.
Holy fucking shit, that is the most disgusting line I have ever seen in my life. We walk down the side, from the entrance, never seeing an end. I spot CharlieMurphy passing, pretty close to the entrance. We probably should have jumped in there, but there were guards right there, and the area was fenced.
We continue on up, and we both see the perfect spot to jump in, but we're not trying to cheat our way in, and continue to the end. After a few minutes of walking, and then 15 minutes of slowly inching our way forward, the full parking lot, with a snake like shape comes into view. Fuck that shit, Kingkosi heads back to find a spot to sneak in, and I head with him.
We were into the con in about 2 minutes. The lines for everything are already pretty long, and we head back to the progamer area. There isn't anyone from TL there yet, so I figure I'll look around. At about 11:30-12, I hop into a short looking line for an Elemental Contest thing. Was one of those rectangular boxes that generally has cash in it, which flies all around, and you have a few seconds to grab as much as you can.
Instead of cash, it was WoW prizes, all from the TCG. There were three tiers, biscuits (a few uses, to increase the size of your pet), a collectible pet, and a mount. The mount is probably the most sought after mount in all of WoW. Hell, when I played the game, I wanted one.
I didn't really enter the line because I'm a WoW freak, the line just looked short, I had an hour to blow before SC, and I've always wanted to be in one of the wind flow boxes. So I waited, and eventually make my way into the box.
The tickets are different colors, to determine the prize tier, and then most of them say "Sorry, this is not a winning ticket". My basic strategy was to grab as many tickets as possible, and then try to sort through them near the end, and pray. I was doing this, without much luck, when I spot the mount winning ticket with a second to go. I grab it just as the current shuts down, and show it to the guy running the thing, triumphantly.
I write down all of my contact information, even including my physical address, when the rules said it would be emailed to you. I was just excited, and over thinking things, I guess.
I make my way over to the tournament area, a few minutes late. I grab a seat near the TL people, and sadly watch Skyhigh lose to Zero.... in the only ZvT I was able to watch during Blizzcon.
At this point, I talk to Kingkosi, and he had won a poster by playing a Bo3 in the community area. For those of you who don't know, Kingkosi and I are complete and total scrubs at the game. Seriously. We'd probably have a combined 100 APM, and couldn't execute even the simplest of build orders. I'd say that I'm slightly better than he is, though.
So that made me think I could possibly win one. It wasn't meant to be. I played abysmally. Lost the first PvP game because my brain was blocked for whatever reason, and I refused to tech. I had 2 gateways to start, and was able to do some minor damage to my opponent in his base, and kill a few stalkers.
But I didn't tech, and kept at zealots. Eventually my opponent figured this out, and was just able to micro his stalkers so that I got hit off for his every 3. Wanted to try a different race, I went Terran, and failed even more miserably at BBS.
It was bad. I even sent my marines in the right direction, from the barracks in the center of the 4 player map. He kills off my marines without too much trouble, and I just sent in my SCVs to fuck around a bit, before GGing.
I walk around and meet more people, and just spend the day enjoying Blizzcon. Catching all the SC tournament, and hanging out with whatever TL people I come across.
Then the highlight of the trip comes along. OSL Finals party. Seriously, thanks to Chill, TL, and Sean Oh/CJ for setting this up. I've never had a better time, and the entire cost of the trip would have been worth it for this alone. Thank you.
I came right at 10, and took a seat in the front. Pretty sure the webcam was staring at me for a good while, before the place really packed in, and was wondering what the comments on the live stream were like, but didn't care enough to go see.
CJ finally makes it down, and things become infinitely more amazing. I snap a few pictures, and talk with Sean Oh a bit, and mentioned that I'd send him all the pictures I took of CJ, if he wanted. He said that's be great, and wrote down his email for me.
Kennigit pulls CJ up to the front, because it's getting late, and they all have games tomorrow. When all the players are up front, and I think it was Savior who was doing his introduction, my phone rings. So I pull it out of my pocket, and hang up as quickly as possible. I probably should have had it on vibrate, but I didn't.
I mention that because my ringtone is set to the Terran theme. So I pull my phone out, and turn it off as quickly as I can, while apologizing. The theme gets a laugh from a few people who can hear it, and I look up to see Skyhigh both nod and smile.
The trivia begins, and it was pretty crazy. So many people were just guessing at questions. I snagged my shirt on the third question (total), and while I probably would have guessed on questions that came after it, had I not won a shirt, I also knew a good amount of the answers to questions asked. Except for spitting out exact birthdate and year.... that's just kinda creepy.
CJ leaves after finishing up the trivia round, and I see them off in the hallway, while I head to the bathroom before the show matches start. The event was filled with much laughed from that point on, with the highlight definitely being Incontrol's commentary of Idra vs Machine. Either that or Ret pushing Incontrol out of his chair, and then Incontrol returning the favor.
The night wears on, and I acquire heartburn after I down a glass of something left on the back table ("Official" statements would contradict what that glass was). I push through it, and watch the ZvZ finals. + Show Spoiler +
lol, rape
Almost immediately after it's over, I head back to the hotel room. Had originally planned on staying up, and just going to wait in line at this point, but I quickly rejected that idea and went home to crash. I give Fudd a call, as I told him that he'd be more than welcome to crash in our room.
Kingkosi falls asleep, and I talk with Fudd for about half an hour. Fudd, I just have to say that you're an awesome guy, and it was a great pleasure sharing a room with you for a night. Hope to see you again, sooner or later. Before I fall asleep I remember that one of the reasons I wanted to go early was so I could pick up a SCII bag, as they had been sold out for the day. Oh well.
I miss Savior vs Nada, unfortunately, because I'm tired and decided to sleep in til around 12. I catch the next few rounds, and watch Effort destroy (not quite destroy, but meh) Zero. My hopes are up for some sort of 2010 message, but it didn't come. At least his nickname of the Messiah is becoming more and more fitting as time goes by.
After this all ends, I wander around a bit, and make my way back to the tournament area, to see a SCII showmatch go down. It starts off well enough, and then we're booted off the floor, the same place for the entire day, as well as yesterday. I eventually give in, and move a bit back, to watch the game standing up.
But it doesn't hold my attention for long, and I wander off. At this point, I don't really know what I want to do. The pros are gone, and I don't have the will for anything else. So I head back to the hotel until about 5:30-6, when I come back, because I figured the lines would die down as everyone is watching Ozzy.
Sadly, they didn't really die down, so I just end up sitting for a bit again, not really doing anything. I was pretty jaded, and just about done with my Blizzcon experience for the year, when I decided I wanted to try SCII single player.
I wait in the line, and play it for my 20 minutes. It was actually pretty fun, and I can't wait for the game to come out. I of course tried typing in "terrible terrible damage" to see if it did anything, but it didn't. My 20 minutes are up before I can finish the first mission ( I was screwing around inside the ship, and watching cinematics ).
I start to head out, when I bump into a group of TL people, on the other side of the area. Some are playing SCII, while the rest are watching. I then see one of the greatest things ever go down.
TL guy, in a CJ shirt, is playing Protoss. I didn't catch his name, but he's playing a random Zerg across from him. I'm looking at his screen, and he's in the Zerg's base with 1 zealot, and a handful of probes. The Zerg has some Zerglings, and also sends his drones to fend off the attack.
The Protoss completely outmicros him, and destroys all the Zerglings/drones, and then the player's pool and hatchery. The player 0 will be revealed message pops up, when player 0 types "proxing noob" "gg". That made me laugh so hard. It was good enough seeing him lose to a zealot and some probes, but his comment at the end was the icing on the cake.
So, we chat for a bit, and then decide we're going for dinner. We wait in the lobby of the Marriott for a bit, then decide that it's time to set out on the task of finding a place that can seat 20 people.
We walk around for a bit, and even enter a restaurant that's just about empty. All of us walk in, before walking out because it was too small, without anything other than 4 seater tables. We make our way back up the street and settle on a southwestern grill.
They're able to accommodate us by putting three tables closely together, and then telling us that the bill would be split by table.
I was seated near blabbler, the owner of SC2GG - who's name I forget, and he said it was the SC2GG that doesn't do much, so I'm not sure what site he's referring to >_> - LosingID9, Kennigit, and a Reporter from PGR21. I believe he said he went by Sam, however, it was very tough to hear, as there was quite a lot of chatter going on, so I apologize to him if I misheard, but he was a very nice guy, and it was great to meet him.
We all eat, and the food's pretty good, but then the bill comes. It's $155. Our food totaled up came to ~$115. They had a charge on the bill called Service/Gratuity, along with the Large party charge. And then it said "Gratuity not included", when the charge was named "Service/Gratuity". We all put in our cash, and LosingID8 puts it on his card. We didn't really leave much for an additional tip, as we were already being charged a ridiculous extra amount, even excluding the standard large party charge.
It didn't go unnoticed though, and our server sent a few nasty glares our way before we left. We take a few pictures at the table of everyone, and then head outside. I snap a few more pictures of the group, and then feeling just a tad out of place, I head back to my room.
The rest of the trip is really uneventful. I packed up that night, and we checked out just before noon and headed to the airport for our (/facepalm) 5:47pm flight. We're camping out at the airport, and as the time approaches, our flight is delayed by about an hour. We finally get on the plane and there's nothing more to mention other than taking a long piss in a plane bathroom with extreme turbulence going on is an experience.
Edit: Fuck, fuck, fuck. I finally uploading my rar'd pictures after 3 hours, and I go to click the download link. It's 1.14 GB, and only premium accounts can download files over a gig. So my apologies, and I'll split them up tomorrow, or something. For now, I sleep. Night, guys.
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Here's a smaller upload. I still intend on splitting all of my pictures into two big files, but these are the pictures I'm sure everyone would want to see from TL.
