On the new art characters
steph: My favourite new character is the Duke, because all of his animations are really angry.
kcmmmmm: Evil Bondo. He has a very dominant, imposing stature, and wears princely clothes; he just looks really cool. Also, his “neutral” animation position places his hand behind his back, so I kind of wonder how it’s going to feel to track animation cycles with him.
virifaux: I think of the blonde character as “More Handsome kcm.”
evilsnake: The short guy made the biggest impression on me. He will be very interesting to play as.
pwndnoob: Little DeVito. I’m a sucker for a unique bar animation.
elvisnake: His size will provide interesting opportunities for cover, and I love Toby’s kneeling animation when you get a drink.
slappydavis: I think DeVito is the most interesting gameplay-wise (obviously), but I’m really not looking forward to him likely being the de facto “Guess Who meta” character when streamers play the game.
igounseen: I’m looking forward to the It’s Always Sunny references.
warningtrack: “Frank Bugs the Ambassador.”
drawnonward: Easily Orange Dress. I love how Chris managed to sneak in a reference for us old-timers.
elvisnake: Honorable mention goes to blue dress, solely for that eyeball glitch.
slappydavis: I looooove that teal and gray color palette.
warningtrack: The eyeball glitch was a blink-and-you-miss-it (pun intended) bug that was there the day before PAX and fixed just before the convention opened. Luckily I captured it on video before it disappeared forever.
virifaux: I like OJ, because color is the easiest way to group people. OJ being OrangeJress, not OddJob.
wodar: OddJob is my favorite new character.
slappydavis: Orange Sari is up there, but she’s so slow!
cleetose: Orange Sari. Because it’s always Orange Sari.
On nicknames for the new characters
kcmmmmm: Evil Bondo (EB), or maybe Prince. Penguin, DeVito. Crazy Eyes. Danger. OJ.
evilsnake: Short guy: DeVito.
slappydavis: I don’t really have any big preferences except Salmon L. Jackson. I’ve always thought Freeman was bit of a stretch for Papa Danger, but the name alone for Salmon is too great not to use (though in truth, I’ll probably personally say something besides Salmon when playing because Salmon isn’t memory sticky and doesn’t jive with my book memory technique). At PAX I pretty much just used what everyone else used (Salmon, Duke, Devito, Mom, Orange Sari).
elvisnake: Orange Sari. DeVito. Duke. Soccer Mom. Pink Danger.
cleetose: Orange Sari, Penguin, Salmon Danger, Blondo, Blue Dress.
pwndnoob: DeVito, Duke, Mom, Orange Sari, and Salmon L. Action Danger Jackson.
igounseen: DeVito, Orange Sari, Mom, Prince Blondo, Salmon L Jackson.
steph: I only have one or two I guess: the tall dude is duke, because he’s dressed for it, and the lady with the skirt is Crazy Eyes, well, because she has crazy eyes.
warningtrack: checker mentioned that the short character was based on Silvio Berlusconi, but DeVito caught on almost immediately. I mean, it’s a famous actor up against a former Italian Prime Minister. It was inevitable, especially with the height being the most noteworthy thing about him.
wodar: Oddjob (very short guy), Salmon Danger (though there might be a better name for him that I am forgetting), Crazy Eyes (which I will be telling to people without the story behind it), and the final one I remember Aryan Ambassador (that is a personal name which I am not sure will catch on).
On the New Art Veranda
kcmmmmm: It looks interesting. The layout is a bit different, and I think there are more guests by default. There seem to be quite a bit more cover and “hiding spots” than the old one, which I think should prompt more laser movement.
evilsnake: The details added seem like they will make it even harder on the sniper.
virifaux: I still kinda wish that Veranda required more sniper movement.
elvisnake: The main thing I noticed about new Veranda is how much smaller it feels compared to OG Veranda, despite having presumably the same actual square footage. Like in new Ballroom, I’m chalking this up to how much wider the new art characters are compared to old.
slappydavis: If I’m being totally honest I don’t like the changes that checker likes, such as the small line of sight you can get to far books/statues. Veranda is my favorite map, and a lot of that has to do with the opportunity cost of laser placement. That opportunity cost is all about rotation too, rather than whipping the laser around on Panopticon. If I commit to a full rotation to check far statues, I’m fully giving up close statues/books for a good 4-5 seconds.
I think it’s beautiful though. By far the prettiest map.
wodar: The new Veranda is beautiful and my new favorite of new art maps. The Red book case/shelf is genius and I hope to see more interesting bookcases like that. However the best thing to come out of the new build is 20-man Balcony. I cannot wait to get my hands on it again and dive deep into that format!
cleetose: Beautiful map. I love the interior sections. Makes the sniper move more to see everything.
pwndnoob: New Veranda is sweet. Watching it made 5/8 seem plausible, which is not a feeling I get on the old art map.
igounseen: It seems cool, if not very challenging for sniper (maybe thats just my overall impression of Veranda).
steph: I like new Veranda, though its slightly more cramped feeling than old veranda, its pretty. I like the variety of shelves on this map as well.
On the most interesting other things at PAX
slappydavis: Honestly, probably Joust.
evilsnake: lthummus’ Jousting was really fun to watch.
slappydavis: Especially when it’s people you know.
virifaux: I played Joust politically. I had an arrangement with kcm that we would watch each others’ backs, and not attack each other until we were the last ones standing. I sealed an impromptu peace pact with the guy on my left with a fist bump. And then lthummus resurrects a kid, who comes at me from behind with his second YOLO attack.
Never show your back to Hummus.
pwndnoob: Johan Sebastian Joust. Also, JIM.
warningtrack: None of us actually know Jim. We went to see aforgottentune play in the Omegathon, and some guy named Jim was playing, and a bunch of his friends were just constantly chanting his name. So we joined in. It kind of became an in-joke rallying cry. We started chanting “JIM! JIM! JIM!” at the Joust games. I think like five people got the joke.
drawnonward: After Johann Sebastian Joust, I was vaguely concerned about my old fashioned analog games, like Secret Hitler and Captain Sonar.
kcmmmmm: Spending time around the SpyParty booth and community is the most interesting part for me. And I guess playing Captain Sonar.
igounseen: I think the escape the room was the highlight and most interesting thing I did at PAX. Captain Sonar maybe a close second?
wodar: Captain S.O.N.A.R. and Clank! (the ! is part of the name).
warningtrack: Captain Sonar was nuts. If you’ve been around SpyParty people, you know we like to talk, so imagine eight of us at a table where half the game is yelling, and trying to decipher each other’s yells. And it creates so much emergent drama. I was the navigator, and near the end of the game, at like midnight, we were trying to decide whether or not to fire a torpedo. canadianbacon turned to me and said “Do we have them?” I gave a slight nod. We fired. Direct hit! Much fist pumping.
drawnonward: It’s Battleship’s big brother. I actually bought the game almost entirely just to bring to PAX.
evilsnake: I would say meeting everyone was the best part. Meeting a bunch of the regulars in person was awesome.
drawnonward: It’s amazingly refreshing to be able to discuss the inner-workings of the game to other players you’ve thrashed (or been thrashed by) online. Reading zerotka’s articles and comments was amazing, and talking with him on TeamSpeak is always a pleasure, but it will never compare to those nights we wearily walked back to Banebridge Island, or slept in a car in the convention parking lot.
virifaux: I also really liked how warningtrack made me limp some extra miles than we needed to get to that burger joint.
warningtrack: I was sure the burger place was a straight shot from the convention center, but it turns out it was one block over. So we walked like a mile out of our way. But at least we worked off some of what we ate there.
wodar: It is actually pretty funny from my perspective because last year we wandered around the city for 30 minutes looking for a place to eat before coming upon that same burger place. It’s almost mythical.
elvisnake: Most interesting thing that happened to me was probably the escape room.
warningtrack: We came so close to solving the escape room. The host told us we were minutes away, and also that, compared to most groups, we basically didn’t ask for any hints. I’m weirdly proud of that.
cleetose: Winning the SoulCalibur tournament.
steph: Jimmy Johns.
On tutoring new players
slappydavis: While Seduce Target was a bit harder to teach than Transfer the Microfilm, I loved that it opened up maps without microfilm for Beginner vs. Beginner variants. It was a lot more interesting to see the noobs play on an assortment of maps, rather than just one.
evilsnake: I loved how many new players got really into the game.
steph: Taught a couple how to play the game on Friday, they come back Monday play for 20 minutes on the unlimited station, and as soon as they leave the station they line up to buy the game. Made me feel great.