You'll see this picture a lot in the next month. If you get sick of it, you're an awful person.

You know what happens in a month? MAGFest, that's what! There's a whole bunch of Dtoiders attending this year, and if you're one of them, we'd like to know! You should consider joining the Google group, or stop into the Forums and look at the thread we have going. Last year was an amazing time, with many Dtoiders meeting each other for the first time, and others having long awaited reunions. Basically though, we party. Whether you like music, games, swag, or dancing, MAGFest has something for you.

This years event is packed with performers, guests, panels(one which includes our own Hamza 'I'm drunk please do this for me' Aziz), and of course the ARCADE. A ballroom packed wall to wall with about every type of video game you can imagine is something you must experience. The entire place is special, and there's a certain thrill to passing the likes of the Protomen, brentalfloss, or Jon St. John in the halls of the hotel and chatting for a bit.


I don't remember most of this, but Jon St. John came to our room later to party, and I called him a douchebag.

So if this sounds like fun, you should come on down to the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland from January 5th through the 8th and see what all this happy madness is about.


Hope to see you there!

Hi, I’m Jon Bloodspray. You may know me from the forums, or you may not. Over there we would expect someone to make a decent intro regardless of their involvement in other areas of the site, so I’ll extend the same courtesy here. The easiest way for me to introduce myself is through a concise bit about PAX East, and my time there. Please lend me your ear (or eye as it may be) and hear (read) my story.

PAX East was my first convention of any sort. I had no idea what to expect, and looking back, never could have. This is not really about PAX, as much as it is the Destructoid community, and the people who attended PAX as a whole. For the first time in my life, I felt at home.

You see, for whatever reason it has always been hard for me to make friends. I don’t know why, I could speculate that it’s because I grew up in a small town (pop. 1400), reside in the Midwest, am in a historically economically depressed city, whatever. Because REASONS, right? To paraphrase Cliff Bleszinski, I was never cool enough for the cool kids, and never nerdy enough for the nerds. This led to me approaching PAX with a certain amount of anxiety. Would it just turn into another instance of me being awkward because I know too much/not enough about a certain subject? Would the table top gamers shun me because I have no idea what an integrity check is? Would the hardcore collectors look down their noses at me because I sold my 20+ year collection for a girl? I had no real idea what I was walking into. All I had was a list of forum names from people that I had only been in contact with through text. Turns out that’s all you need to get things started.

Running into people from Destructoid was better for me than any concert, event, or swag could possibly could have been. There were handshakes and hugs among people that had never even seen each other prior. There was no awkwardness, and our internet names and real names became interchangeable in short order.



I don’t have many friends near me, and the closest one that holds a level of interest in games near mine is about an hour away. I don’t have a car, so that’s a bitch. I very rarely have anyone around to talk games with. You forum guys I love so much? I talk to you all more than I do any other person.

What I came away with is that I want to be a more active member of the community, and it starts with this c-blog right here. I never listened to any of the podcasts, read c-blogs, or commented much on the front page. I want to change that, because the entire weekend I felt a vibe of overwhelming goodness from the entire con, and it only amplified when I was with you guys. I can never thank you all enough for being a group where I actually fit in as myself. It made me feel a lot better at a time when everything else is kind of shit. But I’m livin’.
In the end I must say that I made some friends that I hope to stay in touch with for a very long time. Everyone there was good people. I wouldn’t change a thing. Can’t wait to see you all again, hopefully soon.
Also, this happened.


BONUS:
I wanted to do this for you guys too.

Thanks to IcarusKills and NikMonroe and anyone I’m forgetting from the flickr account for the majority of the photos, and one more time to all the Dtoiders that make me so proud to be a part of it all.