Politics of Gaming

A good friend stopped by last night as he was up here for a funeral. We ate at Shakespeare's, like we usually do when he is up here from Florida. He is a Mizzou grad and a die-hard football fan; he had to go to the Team store and stock up. This got me thinking about, what I like to call, the Politics of Gaming.

Now I am not talking true politics, as far as I know, I have never been concerned with that when I play. My only concern is that they are a good gamer. The same goes for race, sex, religion, sexual orientation or any of the other multitude of things that people get upset about in the "real" world. The only concern when you role play is that the person is a good player. But that does not mean that jokes and rivalry doesn't exists. Let me tell you about this one time at Gen Con; A newly minted National Guard 2nd lieutenant, I in my Star Trek uniform, 6 others and a Jayhawk sat down at a table at Gen Con....sounds like a good set-up, huh?

Gen Con is the largest gaming convention in the world. It is the super bowl, world series and the Stanley Cup, along with premiering all the new role play games and accessory coming out on the market. This is where the creme de le creme go to play and see who is the best. And its not all about winning; for some its all about who is the best role player. This was when it was held in Milwaukee.

As I have mentioned, I am a Gamer. I am also a Trekkie... yeah I know, big stretch. So I signed up for a Trek game, and decided to wear my uniform to the game. Well imagine my surprise when I found that our Game Master was wearing a Jayhawk hat! I immediately identified myself as a loyal Mizzou son. Now a bunch of kidding ensued before we started the game. In spite of the rivalry or maybe because of it, we became fast friends.

Since I had been to Gen Con a number of times, and this was his first time there, I invited him to come and try some of the local hang outs that the thirty thousand plus gamers went to, when they weren't locked in gaming. I took him to The Safe House.

You are not cleared to receive all the information about that location (it is a Great Place-themed in spy motif. I highly recommend if you are anywhere near Milwaukee to check it out). But once we made it in, we ordered the house special called "Spy's Demise." You get the drink in a theme glass, the drink is then discounted and you get to take the glass with you. The drink looks like Kool-Aid. Trust me, its not.

Well my Jayhawk friend walked around, checking things out, seeing people he knew and generally exploring. I had been here before so I stayed close to the table. And since we were both having the same thing, I thought I would be a good friend and friendly opponent and give him some of my drink, often. He never saw me do, and could never quite figure out why his drink was always more than mine.

After awhile we decided to grab something to eat, so we moved from the bar to a table. As we sat down, he had just gotten a fresh drink. He said he was going to the bathroom and for me to not touch his drink. I replied, I had no idea what he was talking about. As he stood up, he looked at the large table next to us, people we had no idea who they are, and said, "Make sure he" meaning me, "doesn't mess with my drink." He then left.

As he was out of sight, I took his drink, poured most of it into mine, and sat it back down. The table just watched me. He then came back. He inquired what happened to his drink. I stated that I didn't know what he meant as he had drank most of it before he left. He said no, he had just ordered a new one. A woman at the table then piped up and said that I had poured most of his drink into my own. He then turned back to me, and went on to say that he knew that I had been messing with his drink all night, that I was the one, etc. Well, about this time the woman who had spoken got up and left her table. He then concluded the accusations, stating that he even had a witness and that woman had seen me mess with his drink.

I looked at him and asked, "What woman?"

"That woman right there at that table!" He looked at an empty chair. He then turned and asked the table what had happened to the woman that had been sitting there.

This table, with people who we had never met, had never seen before; one man with a perfectly straight face looked at him and replied, "What woman?"

I wonder if that guy was from K-State?