London Ron Gilbert meeting (after report)

[m0ds]

REPORT!

The day started early, perhaps not as early as some but early enough for me - certainly! What with it being a Sunday the local public transport connections are rubbish. I took the 9am bus to Oxford, and then waited half an hour or so for Gabez to turn up. Once he was there we decided to set off immediatley - and though I'm not a student the chubby ticket inspector guy still gave me the discounted student rate, yay! From this point I just KNEW it was going to be an AWESOME day!!


(Gabez enjoys the journey, thinking carefully about what to ask Ron...)

On the coach we had a great chance to bond, and Gabez told me all about his up coming video production; "Mean Streets Of Eynsham" ... Well, I knew they had a toll bridge but never knew of any mean streets! He also gave me some top secret ScummBar news! I felt honoured

Arriving at Baker Street just before mid-day, Gabez pulled out his printed map which unfortunatley did not come with any kind of scale. So we thought we'd test the "scale" to see whether we'd make Tate Britain before Ronfest, and walked to the Volunteer. It was closed, and though he tried, Gabez was unable to get through to Yufster to say... "Hi".

So with 2 hours to kill before the big man got there, we walked off to find the Tate Britain (without paying for transport) and also (with any luck) find a little games exchange shop where I could find a copy of MI or similar, as I had nothing "specific" for Ron to sign... We never found a shop, and halfway to the Tate Britain it turned 1pm, so we decided to head back to the Volunteer. Still, it was a pleasent walk!

At the Volunteer I asked the young guy behind the bar where the "reserved for ron" table was, and he pointed me in the right direction. I firstly met Nick Jm Basil and Jameela - who I understand are fans of Ron and especially enjoy reading GrumpyGamer.com... No-one else was around, until moments later when someone like Berian shouted from across the pub - him and all the other "familiars" were already there, but NOT in Ron corner!!


(thats custard, yufster [signing FoY cd for Ron], part of aga, shattered sponge, Chris, scotch, Iqu & Gabez)

As you know I took along a CD with the FoY beta demo and also a load of AGS games that people wanted Ron to see... AGA also took a CD of AGS Award Winners. I made sure that everyone who attened Ronfest got to sign the little inlay - I think it gathered over 20 signiatures in the end, excellent!!


(Here we see Berian [AGA] with a very good gayme)

As Ron mentioned, just about everyone was there before he was - so I managed to aquaint with a lot of people. By the end, I had chatted to everyone (except one guy) and gotten just about everyones contact details. The majority of people there were GrumpyGamer readers. The second majority there were AGS folk I mean, I admit - I don't really read GrumpyGamer.

The questions commenced immediatley!


(Uh oh, someone asked that question again!!)

There was a rumour that Spaff would turn up, and also Chris Jones. And then yes, Chris DID turn up! And he even got a bigger round of applause than Ron did. LOL...


(Chris doesn't hesitate when a bar is involved)

The majority of people stayed for the duration. There was a lot of interesting discussion, and though I didn't get to have a specific chat with Ron, what he had to say was very interesting. You'll have to come next time to find out exactly what he has to say!


(Ron had his very own corner with his very own fans!)

Also with Ron was Taylor, his girlfriend - who though I believe hasn't ever dabbled with game development, (and never knew of what Ron did until she met him) still has a lot of experience in the computer world. I can't remember now but she did tell me she was a developer of some kind. They were in London as she has relations there whom she and Ron were visiting.


(She doesn't care, Chris )


(Custard listens eagerly to what Ron has to say)

What was also interesting was the number of people there, who looked like someone else. For example, Tom Cruise made an appearence, as did Jeremy Irons. FruitTree made a guest appearence too.


(CJ, AGA & Scotch ["Doesn't m0ds look ugly in that pic!"] and Ron ["Oi!"] + Jeremy Irons)

Okay, I apologise. Tom Cruise wasn't REALLY Tom Cruise but was in fact Andy and had to endure a day of looking like someone else, Jeremy was actually Holger - who I found to be a very interesting guy, who is working on some of his own publications. Also next to Ron in the above picture is Piers - who made it all the way to Burger King with us but then disappeared...!

Naturally I had a drink or seven, (thank you Iqu, thank you CJ, thank you Berian) and soon reached an elated state - I was drunk and with Ron Gilbert!! Sex is good, but this was even better! Plus it lasted longer than 5 minutes!!!

Iqu was in an even worse state than me, and made a very good attempt of pulling Chris!


(Yufster has a MUCH better version of this + kissing!)

As far as I'm aware, everyone got to appreciate Ron. I know everyone got to listen to him and a majority to speak to him - and I remember a lot of people saying they were amazed that Ron was here, in London! It really was a great surprise


(Gabez decides against his well thought up questions, and opts for the hypnosis routine instead)

Quite a few people managed to sneak in a "me and Ron" picture, I certainly wasn't having much luck - my final attempt and... aww damn. He's obscuring his face again damnit!


(L-R: unknown cheek, Piers, Chris [afro of], Esper/spongey, Bambi, Duncan, Ron, me, guy*)

Being the legend that he is, Ron cleverly paused time so that he could take a group photo of us all safely, without being mown down...


(Don't try this at home kids, he is the only One!)

Ron left well before tea time, his absence caused the group of new found friends to deplete slowly, until a point when the majority of people got hungry and decided to move on to Burger King. During THAT walk we managed to lose another bunch of people (And Holger, you never came back! Did the ATM machine swallow you?!)



After that we settled into another small pub, had a few more drinks and socialsed a little further. I got to rub knees with Yufster too, so TOTAL w00t! It was great to meet all the new people and of course to see all those who I am familiar with... And another thanks to Yufster who kept giving me money so I could continue on as part of the hardcore group!


(This picture is as drunk as I was)

However, like all good things, Ronfest/Gilberfest/Ronittens had to come to an end. Victoria Station was our final destination by about half midnight. Yufster and her friend Chris sailed off into the night, and shortly after that, so did I.


(Goodbye London, hello 11 mile walk!)

It was a superb day! Honestly. Mittens 04 currently being the holiday of my life, this was again one of the best days of my life... A chance to meet a legend, similarly minded people and of course people who are already friends... Well, it doesn't get better than that for me...

---autograph scan here---

I hope I'll see you all again sometime!! You're welcome to visit Brittens, in Staines, on the weekend of the 2nd/3rd July. Keep an eye on the AGS forums for news and updates

* I can't remember your name dude, sorry. I'll call you Mr Smart, because you outsmarted me with something when I first said hello to you.

** Duncan, you have no excuse but to make the game we all designed in the second pub. Email me whatever I wrote and I will see whether it can be made, Ron Gilbert Quest (and what was it's sub-title?)

neeee

[Meowster]

Why is Dave wearing horse blinkers in that picture of me, dave and arthur?

[edmundito]

Oh, don't tell me that Chris Jones was driking Fosters again...

[Renal Shutdown]

He would've if they'd served it in that pub.  He had to settle for England's answer to it, Carling.

[Andail]

Woops, I was completely unaware of this happening!
You apparently had a blast
Just seeing you makes me looking forward to mittens soooo much. You're all coming, right?

[AGA]

He would've if they'd served it in that pub.Ã,  He had to settle for England's answer to it, Carling.

But as everyone knows, Foster's is actually just as English as Carling. Only CJ is deluded enough to think it actually has anything to do with Australia.

[Meowster]

Ron,

You are a legend!
Look behind you...

If anyone can suss my meaning, I will sleep with you!

You want him to look behind him! ! I WIN.

I can't remember what I wrote.

[AGA]

I wrote, "I prefered Sierra".

Well, it's true! I'm not gonna lie!

[Meowster]

Most surreal moment of the whole day was when we were walking around what we thought was Hyde Park, trying to find an entrance gate. Eventually I got irritated by the lack of a gate and started hammering my fists against the wall in frustation, whereupon a little old lady wearing a crown peered over the wall and snapped sharply, "Do you mind?!"

Turned out to be Buckingham Palace.

[Bambi]

Was fun ^_^

Hopefully you guys will visit London again sometime. Or Cardiff (moving there in October). Or have some form of gamey gathering somewhere. ^_^

Well, Tom Cruise (I mean Andy ) and I are off to play WoW. (in case anyone plays on the europeon side we're on the Arathor server). Ã, (We're Mothhive and Desmorgana, night elves. Currently. Havn't started our characters on the other races yet.)

[AGA]

...I live in Cardiff ¬¬

[Privateer Puddin']

...I have WoW ¬¬

[Pumaman]

...I like cheese ¬¬

[Meowster]

I'm Ron Gilbert!

[Ishmael]

I have nothing to do with it!

[Matt Goble]

He would've if they'd served it in that pub.  He had to settle for England's answer to it, Carling.

You're saying Chris was on pints of "Wife Beater"?

Oh Chris, how could you!

[Renal Shutdown]

You're saying Chris was on pints of "Wife Beater"?

No. It was me and Aggie drinking the Stella Artois.

[Tiki]

Yes, it was a truly touching experience for me; finally meeting a man of such high stature.  Although, I did get a tad too drunk... I have a feeling I've violated him.  Still, I greatly appreciate the supersecret stuff he gave me!  And the 14 1/2 minute chat with him!  The pretzels were mighty tasty as well...

Ah, hell.  Who am I kidding?

[AGA]

Yeah, silly matt. Wife Beater is Stella, not Carling.

[Bambi]

I like pie.

AGA - Sooo Cardiff person. Know any safe areas with pretties and fairly decent rent rates?
Preferably atleast a mile away from the ocean. *ocean-phobic* We'll have to see if you have anything in common with Andy and I, then we'll have to kidnap errr befriend you. ^_^


Puddin - Guessing you aren't on Arathor.  <_<  >_>