Not just a game...but a way of life!

Hi gang,

I miss Star Fleet Battles. Oh sure, you can play the new Star Fleet game Federation Commander, which is really well done....but I still miss the amazing tournaments I'd play in with dozens and dozens of other Star Fleet captains and admirals, all vying for that perfect photon torpedo launch, or for the plasma's to outrun your enemies.

Before I played my first SFB game, I wore out my knees, pants, living room carpet, and my parents patience (but mom, it's a fleet engagement....it takes the WHOLE living room...), I learned about miniature space combat playing Lou Zocchi's Alien Space. Little four inch square pieces of cardboard with an exotic ship silhouette printed on them, with a six foot string coming from the middle of the ship. A compass with degree markings bordered each ship piece, and you had to give your shots with targeting done in degrees using a Mark I Eyeball. Ships like the Dort with it's gapper-zapper which could annihilate your ship if both beams cross your ship silhouette. The Kuzi with double the normal ships compliment of blazers (think phasers here.) Or, my favorite, the Zark with it's nigh-unstoppable Nytron energy cube and powerful yet short-ranged Nytron energy lance. In fact I still use the term "Zarked up" to mean when something is well defended in other games.

So why the nostalgia? Well, I have been going to game conventions all my life, my first being Pacificon at the old Dunfey Hotel in the late 70's, and then shows in LA, with the occasional trip out to GenCon, or a local Origins when it came to town (back when it used to travel across the country.) Sometimes when I walk though the gaming halls, well, I just miss Titan games with a dozen boards going, the aforementioned Star Fleet room - (yes a whole room), AD&D Tournament Dungeons, Rick Loomis from Flying Buffalo selling games, and cute gaming gals that were always too old.

Now we have the bunches of Settlers of Catan games, Warhammer 40K Tournaments that fill a whole room, RPGA (Organized Play D&D), Rick Loomis (still) from Flying Buffalo selling games, and cute gaming gals that are always too young.

The one thing that stays constant are the people. The friends made along the way. My best friend who I grew up with in Westwood, CA, now lives in Colorado. He taught me to play Diplomacy at the age of 14. Then 1776, Midway, Third Reich, Stalingrad, and so many more back in the early 70s. He was with me on that first trip to our first gaming convention at Pacificon waaay back when, and now he comes out to ConQuest SF. He runs a play by mail game company and I run a game store and conventions.

Did we stay close to our roots? I think so. I am so grateful for all the friends I've made in the gaming world, and look forward to the new ones I'm making along the way. My only regret is that I have less time to play than in year's past. Shoot, I know my friend's got less time with the two kids he's raising. But maybe he'll win the Diplomacy tournament again this year.

The friends made along the way. Conventions are all about community. They are about the people we come to play with, and the ones we have yet to meet. And sometimes those people take a larger role in our lives. (Heck, my sister met her future husband in my D&D game almost 20 years ago.)

So I guess what I'm saying is that the really important things about gaming conventions haven't really changed over the past 30 years. So I look forward to what the next 30 years holds in store. There seems to be a lot of game left to play out in gaming conventions.

See you at the tables,

Mondo

La Vida Mondo 2.0

Hi gang,

Welcome to The Adventures of Mondo. Pretty much this'll be where I will write things to share with the community about the ConQuest Conventions and other game related experiences. I will write about my thoughts on the shows, directions to go, cool ideas being percolated, and why I did or didn't like the current blockbuster flick. I'd also like to hear from you, especially if you have ideas about what we could do better. Comments are 'on', but I've got it set to moderate, so be nice.

I'll also try to include a photo with each post, well, just because. This picture is from October 2004 at the re-opening of the gamestore I own called The Name of the Game. Here I am with a couple Giants of the industry...Peter Adkison (founder of Wizards of the Coast - Owner of Gencon) and Anthony Gallela (Executive Director of GAMA the industry trade organization.) What I want to know is if they are giants, how come I'm so much bigger?