Neutral Grounds mini-convention
Without doubt I would say that the mini-convention, GameCon was a success!

From finally meeting Graham (who found the convention and interesting thing considering he had never been to such a public gathering in the past) and seeing Tom again (too bad there was no time to chat. Or no.. willingness?) it was an interesting day with loads of laughs, good moments and seeing old friends (Benedict, JP, some people from ABS-CBN, finally meeting more AEGIS people) and making new friends.

I ran two White Wolf demo games today:

The first being an Exalted for beginners.
The mix was a tremendously eclectic one; one long-time player, two long time gamers who have NOT tried Exalted, and two players who have not really tried roleplaying games yet. Without a doubt it was interesting to say the least. The perils of a bilingual society were reared up when the fact some of the gamers (unlike me) preferred to run the game in Filipino arose so quickly, I adapted to shifting languages depending on who it was I was facing.

The second was a Vampire: the Masquerade game.
And boy, was it an amazing game. The players were three guys who have long played Hunter: The Reckoning as well as Mummy. When they learned I was hosting a Vampire demo, they tried to sign up but three of the four slots for gamers were already taken. Thank God they were patient enough.

One of the three posters backed out, informing me via text that he could not stay to play. The two others simply disappeared. (I hate that!) So before you knew it, all three of the guys who wanted to play were able to play. And it was a very powerfully moving game. Though there were those moments the players seemed to lapse to FiIlipino or start declaring dialogue in broken English (e.g. and no, no offense meant "I throw that to distracted you.") the game still surged on with background music and fantastic dialogue! Bonus points to go two of them who actually willingly embraced (pun intended) the two female roles that were part of the pregenerated characters and spectacularly pulled it off. Frankly, I'd love to have another game with them some day.

A number of strangers also asked for my cellphone number. One even interrupted the Vampire game and had this interesting statement:

Guy: "Uh excuse me. Sorry to interrupt but, I know its doubtful you'd have time for another demo. But from what i have overheard so far, I would LOVE to play with you sometime. Can I have your number?"

I do hope all those people I gave demo games for, as well as gave my contact details too would find the time to join AEGIS and keep connected. There is a world of gamers out there in Manila! And yes, its nice to know the hobby ain't dying!

Not bad for a guy who has only had two hours of sleep, eh?