EPTIntro & End of Blizzcon
I’ve been to many Blizzcons before, starting with the one in 2008 and every subsequent one, including this year’s. My primary reason for going has always been to meet up with friends I’ve made throughout the years, primarily through WoW, who I don’t get to see except once a year at Blizzcon. Honestly, the event has become just an excuse to meet up, and it’s been pretty good at getting us together thus far, with a few of our group coming from Iceland to hang out with us…and watch his brother in law play as one of the EU regional WoW arena teams
. He’s the shaman Glyptic on Yagspresents aka Showtime, in case any of you follow WoW arena (they ended up in 4th place 
). This year, that included people I’ve meet through sc2. And it was thanks to these people that I’ve had one of the most “unique” experiences any convention/event has ever given me. I’ll explain further 
.A couple of the CSL admins are from my alma mater UCSD. One of them, Phoenix, texted me randomly sometime Friday right after Naniwa vs. Sen (I think). TBH, I didn’t even know he was there, but afterwards, we met up and watched the GSL finals and went to the Barcraft event afterwards where I ran into my other friend from UCSD, Xeris. Fast forward to the end of the next day close to the end of blizzcon. It was a little after the MVP vs. Nestea finals. Me, Xeris, and Phoenix played some sc2 in the community tourney area (where I was the only one to walk out with a poster…ahem
) and afterwards met up with the rest of the CSL group and discussed dinner plans. Turns out a bunch of other people in the TL/SC community were going too, including some prominent Liquipedia people, the Reddit guy, Twitch.tv, and of course a few other tag-alongs like me 
. Dinner was pretty awesome…found out that Xeris was allergic to pork of all things o.0. It was made even more awesome by the added fact that the Twitch.tv guys comp’d the entire group of us! Gunrun, thanks again for dinner man!Dinner -> Mafia
During dinner, plans were made by one of the TL guys (the one that wasn’t GHOSTCLAW…sorry there were so many people at dinner, I don’t remember all your names!) to get the number of people interested in TL mafia. Of course I said yes, but told them I had to break off for a bit to hang out and say goodbye to my other group of friends (the ones I used to play WoW with). During this brief break I was given a hash cookie, which of course I ate! Now I don’t have much experience with weed, and the last time I took some, it barely hit me at all, so I figured I’d be okay. After this little breakoff I proceed to head to the room in the Hilton where TL mafia was taking place. Initially I couldn’t find the place (somewhere on the 4th floor, forgot the room…something B…lol), but with a quick text I was on my way. Ran into Gunrun and Torch who were also looking for the room too lol. We walked in right as a game was going on. It was super noisy outside the room, so when we realized it was the correct room, I was like “oh shit, lets hurry and get in so we can close the door” and lightly pushed Gunrun and Torch (who I’ve never met before…lol) into the room. It was about then that the cookie really kicked in.
When I walked in, found that Phoenix and Xeris were already out, figured (correctly) that they knocked each other, and sat next to them to await the next game. About the point where the game I walked in on was drawing to a close, I realized that I definitely should NOT be playing, despite how much I wanted to. Mango asked me at some point if I wanted to join in, but I declined saying “I’m not in the state of mind where I should be playing. I think he got what I meant by that…lol. I’ve never really met anyone outside of the people at dinner and people looked super into the game so I didn’t mingle much, delegating myself into the role of that random guy in the corner
. I really wish I was a bit more talkative and introduce myself, but in my condition, I just didn’t want to make a fool of myself…which I did more than once TT.At this time, I’m going to diverge from the chronological and go topically.
First the embarrassing stuff. Beyond Xeris pointing out to me when we dispersed that it was a somewhat funny subplot of the night that there was this random dude staring blankly for a good two hours, there were some stupid things I actually remember doing during that night.
At some point during the game after the one I walked in on, Sheth got killed and sat in front of Xeris. From what I remember, we exchanged a short glance and smile. All that was going on in my head was “Ffs, he’s the nicest guy ever, just say hi and don’t be awkward”. Nothing came out
. During another game, I went over to the drinks to get some water and chilled in that area. Naniwa had just walked in and was talking with Nony and his wife who were sitting on the floor next to the drinks. They started to talk about something and based on their facial expressions and questioning of each other I thought for some stupid reason that Naniwa was high too, which turned out to be completely false, but that didn’t stop my retarded self from saying to him “Dude, sorry I’m a random guy, but I just wanted to ask, are you high?” to which I got a confused glance like “who the f*ck is this guy?” and the reply “What? No”, where I responded “Oh, sorry, I’m a bit high”. I didn’t see anyone else’s expression, but I’m pretty sure everyone in that small circle on the floor was like “Wtf, who the hell is this crazy fool?!”. That [i]did[\i] spark a conversation with another guy though about the different effect Marijuana can have based on it’s type. I don’t recall ever exchanging names, but he’s the guy with glasses and pink shirt in the same area as Nony and Mango in the last of Rich’s TL mafia pics in his blog post (http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=278710).At another point, way late into the night, after Destiny sobered up a bit (drunk & hilarious the entire night!), I walked up to him and asked him if he was drunk and after he told me no so much anymore, I told him “I’m a bit high” to which I received the response “Good for you”. For some reason, I think I did something stupid or embarrassing here too, but forgot what it was, cuz I’m pretty sure I got the “who the f*ck is this guy?!” look again…lol.
I think that does it for the embarrassing stuff. Now onto the cool stuff, although I probably made an awkward turtle of myself at those times too…
I think it was the 6th or 7th game of the night when Kellymilkies got out. She sat close to where I was blankly staring from. We caught each other’s gaze and she introduced herself to me, and I introduced myself back. Sidenote: this is what I love about weed compared to alcohol. If I was drunk instead of high, I would not have been able to put together a coherent response, but as it was, I had at least a short conversation that I was able to remember (that kinda “ended” when I said I was a protoss player lololol). A feat I wasn’t able to pull off with anyone else there.
At some point during one of the games, Hot_bid got killed and sat down next to me. I have to admit, I was a little starstruck being an unknown guest. I also didn’t have anything to talk about since I opted out of play mafia. He looked a bit annoyed and I pointed out to him that this game was more intense than I thought it would be, at which point he told me he was a bit mad at one of the players making noises on purpose and how that shouldn’t be allowed. I didn’t know what to say beyond “oh really? I guess…”. Oh and I didn’t mention this yet, but next to Hot_bid sat Rich, then Nazgul, and Mango was right behind them. Talk about starstruck eh? Anyways, I kinda blanked out for a bit right after that bit with Hot_bid, and when I was next coherent, I heard Hot_bid say in a very serious tone [b]“Day9’s dead”[\b], with another confirmation from either Nazgul or Rich. It felt like my heart stopped beating and it took longer than a few seconds to realize they were not in fact talking about Sean Plott, but rather one of the mafia players…as most players who didn’t already have established names were given nicknames. Like one of the guys was nicknamed “Korean bbq” and another “Day9”.
Oh yeah, and at some point in the middle of the night, someone brought MVP and Nestea into the room and everyone cheered, but they were so focused on mafia that everyone kinda just went back into the game minus a few of the dead people who went over to shake their hands and stuff. I remember just thinking “holy shit, that’s the top two players in the world…wait wtf, lol, everyone’s just going back to the game”.
In retrospect, I shouldn’t have eaten that cookie (yet) given that I knew where I was headed afterwards (TL mafia). I definitely wish I was more coherent so that I could’ve played mafia with you all and have something more to talk about, and was glad that I was at least “there” enough to know not to join in given my mental state. It was really cool that I was invited to join in this event and I really wish I could’ve gotten to know everyone better instead of play the role of odd outside observer…lol. I don’t know how I can exactly contribute more to the TL and overall SC community, but after experiencing dinner and the party, even in my condition, it makes me want to try to do something, so I can be more than just that random tag-along. I talked to some people that were at blizzcon and with some luck and work, I’ll be helping out at at least one event come next year
.Around 3-4am the mafia group disbanded and I walked out with everyone else, met up downstairs with the original group I came with: the CSL guys where we said our goodbyes and departed for the night. That pretty much sums up my experience for that night of post-Blizzcon adventures. Thanks for reading guys!
I got some specific “to whom it may concern” addresses I wanna make...hopefully you guys see this post:
To Sheth: Don’t know if you remember me sitting next to Xeris or the 3-4 awkward eye contacts (which I think was the most out of everyone I didn’t know that night) but you’re an awesome guy, even just from observing everyone, I can see what everyone means when they say you’re super mannered and friendly
To Destiny: Sorry for being so awkward dude…I THINK I told you I was high more than once because I remember hearing your specific “Good for you” response more than once…but at least once, haha. I have to admit I usually only follow TL and protoss players, but you definitely made a fan out of me after that night!
To Naniwa: Lol…sorry for that awkward bit we had. I actually thought for a second before I grabbed your arm whether or not it was a good idea. I have no idea how my brain worked that equation out
. Still/Always a fan, and can’t wait to see you own shit up once you master that Korean practice!To Kellymilkies: Correct me if you remember if I’m wrong, but we DID have that small conversation that ended around when you asked if I was protoss right? Also, I have no f’ing idea what people say when they say they can’t understand you. Your English sounds perfectly fine to me <3. Also, could you tell that I was high?
And lastly, to everyone there that night: Sup, I was the Asian guy with the Protoss shirt and white jacket that was sitting being the circle either next to the drinks or in the back staring blankly into the distance for long periods of time. It was nice to have “met” you all and hopefully next time I get the chance, I’ll be more…there
.
