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Post by vastariner on Sept 1, 2022 10:53:24 GMT
The second-oldest road in Birmingham is New Street.
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Post by slloyd14 on Sept 1, 2022 12:27:34 GMT
I'm helping and just got a heads up from Jon - there isn't any university parking this year so you'll need to find another parking space in Ealing somewhere.
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Post by slloyd14 on Sept 1, 2022 13:12:18 GMT
If you find a brass owl in a shop and give it to Ian Livingstone on the day, he will grant you magical powers. And then only if I tell him from memory how much I paid for it... Lol
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Sept 1, 2022 16:54:06 GMT
Only in Britain would the oldest pub be called The New Inn. Not just Britain, it happens somewhere else too... From fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/The_New_InnThe New Inn is an inn in Port Blacksand's Noose District on the eastern side of Market Square.[1] It is the oldest surviving establishment in Port Blacksand but has always been called The New Inn. It is very busy with rooms always full of merchants and farmers.
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Dungeoneer
Squire
Posts: 4
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Endless Quest, Interplanetary Spy, Time Machine
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Post by Dungeoneer on Sept 2, 2022 2:48:05 GMT
I bought a ticket for the Livestreaming from Zagor the Warlock for 1 gp, so I can scry the event via crystal ball. Looking forward to hearing from all the awesome authors and contributors.. see you at Firetop Mountain!
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 3, 2022 8:52:26 GMT
Did I miss it? Can't see anyone around the entrance at all.
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Post by misomiso on Sept 4, 2022 7:50:02 GMT
What a great Day.
Great Vibe, great atmosphere, great people - wonderful day.
Highlights for me include: -
-The new books. I havn't completed them yet but reading them they both seem to be very well put together and of a lot higher than some recent entries.
-Meeting Steve and Ian. Both are great guys who are very gracious and very humble.
-Meeting the other FF Authors who all have a lot of time for the fans and were quite happy to give a lot of their time -Seeing all the other gamebook creators - hanging out with Martin Noutch of Steam Highwayman was lots of fun. -Chatting to the Audioplay creators. If you havn't listened to them would highly recommend them as they're great stories that have a lot of heart put into them.
And finally meeting all of you guys on the forum and other people at the Fest. I think this was the highlight as meeting other people passionate about the hobby was very refreshing and lots of fun.
So much thanks to Jon Green and co for organising the Fest.
See you guys next time
(I was the guy in the White long sleeve T-shirt looking tired!)
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Post by hallucination on Sept 4, 2022 8:36:13 GMT
Hear, hear!
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 4, 2022 10:24:35 GMT
Just wanted to say thanks and hi to all those I met yesterday. According to my memory, that's Bloodbeasthandler, Sylas and misomiso, but give me a shout if I've forgotten your name. The signing, in particular, was a bizarre blur of incredulity as people queued up to have their precious copies of Magehunter defaced!
Until next time, よろしく。
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Post by hallucination on Sept 4, 2022 10:47:59 GMT
You signed my copy of Slaves and my programme’s autograph page. A quick reminisce of Bauhaus, given my shirt. Cheers!!
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Post by vastariner on Sept 4, 2022 11:23:56 GMT
And I was in the Slowdive tee.
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Post by linflas on Sept 4, 2022 11:52:54 GMT
Really enjoyed the Magehunters talk! Nice relaxed and fun moment
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 4, 2022 11:56:58 GMT
And I was in the Slowdive tee. Of course! We had a chat as I remembered you from Guardian BTL. And Hallucination, too! I knew Marco would have a story about running into a member of Bauhaus. Shame it wasn't a Throbbing Gristle shirt...
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 4, 2022 12:00:24 GMT
Really enjoyed the Magehunters talk! Nice relaxed and fun moment I enjoyed it too. Interesting to hear from Keith, who's one of the relatively few FF authors to do it purely on merit: 'the hard way'. And I'm obviously suffering from worse eyesight than I thought, as Keith looked the spit of Russell Howard to me, but Marco said this was bollocks.
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Post by misomiso on Sept 4, 2022 13:01:50 GMT
Yes was great to meet you Sleepyscholar! Hope you're enjoying London a bit before you go back to Japan!
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Post by linflas on Sept 4, 2022 13:07:59 GMT
I showed Russ... I mean Keith, the second edition of Sardath french version (which is probably the unique layout displaying actual authors name on the cover instead of "SJ & IL present"). He was really happy with that!
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Post by vastariner on Sept 4, 2022 18:13:50 GMT
And I was in the Slowdive tee. Of course! We had a chat as I remembered you from Guardian BTL. I'm assuming they're cutting down on moderators, there are fewer articles open for comment, and the time open for them is usually quite short...
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 5, 2022 6:27:13 GMT
Yes was great to meet you Sleepyscholar! Hope you're enjoying London a bit before you go back to Japan! Actually I've had a great week, but yesterday was my first 'tear your hair out' reminder of what London can be, with cancelled Tubes, buses that you wait an hour for and then which give up a quarter of the way there. Still, I'd had some Crispy Duck in Chinatown, so it wasn't all bad.
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 5, 2022 6:39:53 GMT
Of course! We had a chat as I remembered you from Guardian BTL. I'm assuming they're cutting down on moderators, there are fewer articles open for comment, and the time open for them is usually quite short... Yeah, soon it won't be 'open for comment' so much as 'open for Thank you John; Thank you Struner comments' for about five minutes.
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 5, 2022 6:41:21 GMT
Jon Green is a star.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Sept 5, 2022 8:09:31 GMT
I agree with all that's said so far.
Good old Steve Jackson staying on to sign every copy of his new book that people wanted signing. I was pleased to see he got applauded so well at his talk in the auditorium.
Ian Livingstone put on a good talk as ever - he's sharp as a pin and his sense of humour comes out in his speeches and when he fields questions. I also noticed that he went out of his way to see and speak to the Japanese people who had quietly sat down near the coffee shop some time in the mid afternoon - I thought that was a nice touch him going over to them and seeing how they were.
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Post by misomiso on Sept 5, 2022 9:54:04 GMT
bloodbeasthandler completely agree. I didn't realise you were there! Were you one of the Ushers? Would have been great to meet you! If you are in any photos that come up let us know!
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Sept 5, 2022 10:20:37 GMT
bloodbeasthandler completely agree. I didn't realise you were there! Were you one of the Ushers? Would have been great to meet you! If you are in any photos that come up let us know! Yeah mate, I was there, but as a civilian - not one of the ushers. Likewise would have been good to meet you. Not being on whatsapp or anything I'm out of the loop on a lot of things so cannot react to changes of plans. I saw Stuart Lloyd at the entrance and was hanging around Jon Green's stand at 0945, but drifted into the 'welcome greeting' talk and spotted Paul Mason by the door and collared him. If you see anyone in the photos with a t-shirt like this: that'll probably be me.
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 5, 2022 19:38:57 GMT
I agree with all that's said so far. Good old Steve Jackson staying on to sign every copy of his new book that people wanted signing. I was pleased to see he got applauded so well at his talk in the auditorium. Ian Livingstone put on a good talk as ever - he's sharp as a pin and his sense of humour comes out in his speeches and when he fields questions. I also noticed that he went out of his way to see and speak to the Japanese people who had quietly sat down near the coffee shop some time in the mid afternoon - I thought that was a nice touch him going over to them and seeing how they were. Given that they were SNE Group, the Japanese publisher of FF, there may have been more to it than mere kindness.
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Post by slloyd14 on Sept 5, 2022 22:11:38 GMT
It was great to meet you all! I mainly go to conventions to talk to people I don't normally see around, so I loved meeting up with all of you.
I might be at Dragonmeet if any of you go there.
Mobius strip (some of you will know what I'm talking about, probably)
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Dungeoneer
Squire
Posts: 4
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Endless Quest, Interplanetary Spy, Time Machine
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Post by Dungeoneer on Sept 8, 2022 12:59:29 GMT
Much gratitude to Jonathan for setting up the livestream for the event, enabling a handful of us to join in the fun from afar! Zagor the Warlock channel on Youtube has shared the recording of the 2pm panel (Allan Langford, Duncan Smith & Tony Hough) and also the 3pm Salamonis panel with Jon and Steve! A super awesome convergence of people with excellent taste in fantasy!!
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,679
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Sept 8, 2022 16:32:08 GMT
I planned to write this the day after FFF4 but my computer died so here it is now.
I would like to thank everyone who organized the Fest and the Beer-O and everyone who attended. I had a fantastic time there and glad I got to chat with some old friends again as well as getting to put faces and names to some new ones. All present were kind and enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Fighting Fantasy and were great to share stories and ideas with.
I am grateful for having attended the Fest as it helped me in my struggle against depression which has caused me a lot of anxiety, sadness and exhaustion recently. Due to this, I did not get to do half the things I had planned for the Fest or get to talk to the many people who had inspired me in my FF journey. I should also apologize to anyone I may have appeared rude to or dismissive - it was not my intent.
Nonetheless, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day and hopefully I will have a bit more energy by the time the next Fighting Fantasy Fest arrives. A big thank you to all attendees, artists, authors, trialmasters, traders and in particular Sir Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson and Jonathan Green for their kindness, generosity and professionalism in making it happen. Onwards to FFF5!
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Post by vastariner on Sept 9, 2022 18:04:02 GMT
Bit of time since then to let it process, so here are a few more comments. 1. Jonathan Green seemed to be everywhere - brilliant stuff from him. 2. Way more people there than I expected, and also way more ways to bump against the credit card limit than I thought (although I missed out on Secrets of Salamonis - left the buying too late). 3. I'd never bothered looking up people on the internet so was intrigued to see what people looked like. Were there as many artists as authors there? Must have been close. Must be a bit weird for the artists as well, they're commissioned for a one-off job that ends up with this extensive afterlife. Some of the artwork they brought along as well was stellar; my favourite being Tony Hough's street urchins in carnivale, it was like the Artful Dodger had discovered Pennywise. All brilliant to chat to;
4. I did do the geeky thing and asked Peter Darvill-Evans if the Portal in 37 was through space or through time. "Um...time, it MUST be." So there you go.
5. I had assumed for these four decades that Iain McCaig was Scottish. Stunned to find he was Canadian. His talk was not streamed because it involved work done for Lucas et al, but he showed at the end how he re-did the Games Workshop plastic bag design in digital format. "How long did that take?" "A couple of hours." That's a lifetime of drawing right there.
6. I did wonder how the day could be filled - in the end it could easily be spread over two (in theory), there was not a dull moment, so much packed in that I missed out on lunch.
7. Sincere thanks to everyone being so generous with their time and pens, I got a few books signed by nearly every author and artist there, which will take pride of place in the Shrine of Hamaskis at Vastariner Towers. I would have liked longer chats with everyone, but of course there's only so much time and there were so many others who deserved their chance.
8. Keith Phillips seemed to be loving it (I can now see the Russell Howard comparison), I thought it was brilliant that even a one-off author could be embraced within the world as much as the 'regulars'. Recognizing that his contribution was valuable and definitely too fleeting.
9. I bought something at auction for the first time. woot
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Sept 15, 2022 12:57:45 GMT
I'd like to (belatedly) echo the general feeling about what a great day it was. All the talks I went to were highly enjoyable in different ways. (Incidentally, I completely missed the Hough, Langford and Jones panel due to being in a queue for signings from SJ and IL and didn't even notice I'd missed it until the next day, so I'm glad it's online!) It was great to meet people too – albeit slightly chaotically – including (in roughly chronological order) daredevil123, hallucination, slloyd14, misomiso, vastariner, sylas, bloodbeasthandler and linflas right at the end. Admittedly I think I met bloodbeasthandler literally for seconds rather than minutes, but it all counts. I do wish I'd taken more pictures of you lot. As it was my first fest, I'd never heard Ian Livingstone giving a talk before and was quite surprised by how good he is at it. He has a sharper sense of humour than I'd realised. It was fun to revisit the days of moral panic surrounding FF and how we got here from there. There was a big cheer when IL said he had 'forced the issue' of returning FF art to a more realistic style for the latest books. I have to agree that SJ and IL spending so long signing was impressive. For IL it was commendable but for SJ, with his health as it is, it was downright heroic. I haven't played Secrets yet, but it seems clear from their talk that whether or not there's an obvious Jon Green component to the book that it wouldn't have come together without him. There probably aren't that many people around who have the ability to convert a lot of ideas and an outline into a high functioning FF gamebook whilst also having a modest enough ego to leave it as essentially someone else's book. Just curious: On arriving at Ealing Broadway station, I noticed that the board had a quote from "John Green" on it. Was this 'our' Jon Green or just an auspicious coincidence?
Russell Howard and friends (allegedly)
ARRRGH! IMAGINATIVE CHILDREN! PANIC!
Mike McCarthy joins Ian Livingstone to talk about art which isn't cartoony crap
Slloyd14 is alarmed to be surrounded by a hallucination (left) and a mudworm
In many ways technology peaked with colour-coded post-it notes
Map showing where all the craziness has gone down (a bit blurry, sorry )
A final successful LUCK roll led to me meeting Linflas. The SKILL roll for photography was less successful.Perhaps it would be worth embedding a few pics etc from other people's social media as a reminder/showing of a bit more of the day.
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Post by Peter on Sept 16, 2022 6:29:35 GMT
Thanks for the photos. Looks like you had a great day. None of you look anything like I had pictured you.
Note: I don't look much like my avatar picture, either.
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