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EVENT REVIEW: FTN reviews Q-Con XXI

June 23rd, 2014 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Q-Con XXI – What a Weekend!

Greetings fellow Nerds and Nerdettes, and what a weekend it’s been at Q-Con XXI, The UK’s biggest gaming convention!

There were gamers of all kinds, Cosplayers from more genres than I ever thought possible, vendors selling everything from t-shirts to toblerone bars, live music, a pub quiz and competitions galore! Indeed there was so much going that it was physically impossible to attend it all.

With the proceedings starting on Friday and continuing right the way through to the closing ceremony on Sunday evening, it’s very safe to say that nothing was left out of this gaming convention.

I myself spent my weekend playing the RPG game Cliché created by my good friend Marc Farrimond, which is a movie-based game. With tears at times literally streaming down my face, it has now been recommended that “Phil Must Die in every game” be entered as a permanent fixture into the game!

Aside from playing Cliché, I also took part in the LARP game Speakeasy Returns, written by my very good friends Scott and Karen, the sequel to last year’s LARP Speakeasy in which I once again played the character Al Capone. This was probably the highlight of my weekend as I got to swoon around and extort and steal money from fellow players, all before I (once again) met an untimely death – this was something that was fast turning into a habit in my weekend’s game play! Several of the players turned up in period Cosplay outfit, myself included, and as this was a competition game, there were a number of prizes, of which I won The Best Period Costume.

Whilst RPGs and LARP’s may not be to everyone’s taste, there was no denying the ever increasing popularity of the character mime/strike games which was taking place outside of Student’s Union throughout the entire weekend. This is a game that has literally captured the imagination of the teenage gamers, both male and female, and it was visually entertaining to all onlookers.

The video gamers, (secluded away on another level) were as busy as ever, taking part in one tournament game after another. Whilst fingers and thumbs frantically tapped at the controls, the audience members, made up of both fellow competitors and onlookers, cheered and sighed when a character performed a signature move, especially a finishing one!

The Q-Con quiz, another staple of the weekend, was as popular as ever, with demand far outstripping tickets (my team came in 3rd out of 64!). Also, throughout the weekend were the various screenings of movies, one of which was the recent LEGO Movie which was packed with fans old and new.

All in all, this was an incredible gaming weekend, where gamers of all ages welcomed veterans and newcomers alike with equal enthusiasm. This is perhaps the greatest strength of Q-Con, for without the gamers, there would simply be no event. The gamers however grow each year, and the willingness to share and encourage new gamers to new experience whilst cheering on rival gamer competitors is perhaps the greatest joy any Con attendee can have!

See you all next year at Q-Con XXII!

 

 

Phil Wilce

FTN

 

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.