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 Post subject: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 6:17 pm 
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Hey all,

For those who haven't heard of MAGfest before, it is a gaming festival that happens in Washington DC every year. This coming show will be February 18-21, 2016 at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center located at National Harbor, MD

The show is special for having about 200 working arcade machines, Pinball machines and a ton of spots to checkout and play any console/games you want. There are also live concerts ongoing throughout, panels and areas to checkout and play board games. Best of all the show is running nonstop during those dates so everything is open 24hrs.

Skie, Blackwolf and several others will be attending MAGfest this year. So I'm setting up a thread for any listeners/hosts/ect that are attending and want to do a meet up or any plans on the show.

If you weren't planning on going but will be in the area, tickets are still available at http://magfest.org/ . Hotels in the direct area though, are all booked up.

This will be my 5th MAGfest so if anyone needs any advice on the area or what to bring, feel free to ask. I will send a reply in the next few days with some advice and some links about the show and the area.


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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:30 am 
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Orange Lounge Radio
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Thanks for starting this thread, Matt!

I'm coming in via an airplane obviously, and my biggest concern is a snowmageddon similar to what happened in Boston last year. Knowing this, what are my best transportation options? I'd planned to take Uber/Lyft, but is there any sort of train/light rail or public transit I can comfortably take a suitcase on?

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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 12:46 pm 
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The National Harbor area is kind of isolated away from any mass transit subway/light rail so best bet are shuttle buses. Both area airports have a shuttle service that takes you to and from the airport to the Gaylord Convention Center. I haven't taken it from the airport but I did take it from the Bus Station in DC. There is plenty of luggage storage from what I remember on the shuttle. I believe there is a bus that leaves every 20 mins from the airport. You do have to buy a ticket/make a reservation beforehand for the shuttle and I don't believe it's mutually exclusive to people staying at the Gaylord National. Prices look alright from what it seems. Link Below:

http://www.marriott.com/hotel-info/wasg ... rtation.mi


Weather wise hopefully it should be alright. Simulated weather projections on accuweather says it will be in the mid 40's to 50's that week. (Knocking on wood)


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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:16 pm 
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Earlier today the staff over at MAGfest did an AMA on reddit: There is some useful information on there


https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ ... i_and_the/


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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 12:58 pm 
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Worst news is that they're moving it back to early January. The entire reason I could go this year was because it WASN'T in January, but apparently this is a one-off fluke that they don't want to repeat.

Well, at least I got one year, right? :)

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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:11 pm 
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I will be at MAGfest! I'm looking forward to meet everyone that is going.


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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 12:28 am 
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Hey all,

We're rapidly approaching MAGfest (2 weeks away!).

As promised here are some links, updates and advice


Registration: Pretty much everyone here has bought their passes already. If you haven't they are on sale now and they will also sell more at the door. They are going to cap the passes at 20,000 this year (17,000 was last year).

https://prime.uber.magfest.org/uber/pre ... ation/form

Registration is always pretty fast considering its open non-stop from Weds (the 17th) afternoon until Sunday. I've never spent more than 15mins waiting to get my badge in all my years there. Best thing to do is get is Wednesday night before Thursday day of.



Schedule:

As of today the schedule is out! There will be a Guidebook app coming out within the next day or two. MAGfest doesn't usually have an abundance of physical schedules so the Guidebook App is the best way to keep in touch with panels, tournaments, events, ect

http://schedule.magfest.org/


Tip: Panels don't usually fill up but for the higher profile ones they have a staff member on line that will keep track and let people know when the room is full



Guests: The finally Guest, Performer, DJ's, Community and Visualist's list is out. You can check them out at the main MAGfest site: http://magfest.org/


The List of Indie Games at the showcase are also out as well:

http://magfest.org/mivs/


List of Events:
http://magfest.org/event/



Games on Film: One of my favorite parts of MAGfest are the games on film. It is like a mini film festival for indie produced (occasional replays of bigger budget documentaries) gaming themed movies. Check it out

http://magfest.org/gamesonfilm/


Gaming: I'm going to leave this part mostly up to everyone to experience. There is a console gaming, arcade gaming, Indie game and boardgaming area at the show.

The arcade area is pretty big and there are a lot of machines coming to the show this year (200+ machines and pinball cabinets). There will be some cabinets that are turned off because they sadly did not survive the trip or are there just to be used for spare parts for repairing other machines. Pinball tables sadly suffer the most here because of the massive amount of us. There are techs that are around that do their best to repair what they can. Most the machines are donated by private collectors and local area arcades.

Tip: Most of the machines are on free play or have a ton of credits on them. Some machines have dip switches that let you add more credits. There are some machines that don't have obvious means of adding credits (primarily older ones). I usually keep a quarter with me and insert it into the machine and open the coin door (usually left open). If for whatever you can't add credits ask a Tech/staff member and they will show you how. Since some of these are from private collectors it's best to ask before you poke around.



Board gaming:

The board game area has a wide selection of board games to check out and play. I will probably be bringing a couple of games from my collection to play if we choose to meet up anywhere and play.



Food:

The area (I will reference things here often):

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7826765 ... 263,17.21z


http://www.nationalharbor.com/dine-directory/

So the National Harbor Area is a bit of an upscale area. There are a lot of restaurants within walking distance of where MAGfest is being held. Since it is upscale, many of the sit down restaurants may be a bit pricey for some people but they are all pretty good food wise. From past experience Cadillac Ranch and Public House had good options. I have also been told that the Thai restaurant is also pretty good. There is a newly opened Granite City Brewery (never been there) location that is 2 blocks away from the Gaylord National. There is a Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Subway, Chipotle and an Elevation Burger if you don't want a sit down restaurant type of setting. There is also a McDonalds 15 mins walking distance away from the Gaylord National as well.

The Gaylord National also has 2-3 restaurants located inside it. I never went to them but they're also an option

Food delivery options aren't that great in the area since it is isolated from surrounding areas. The most common and only option I know of is Pizza.


Big Tip: All food locations become packed during usual Lunch and Dinner hours. Be prepared to wait awhile if you plan on going during those times. For instance it took about an hour+ to order at Elevation Burger at say 6pm.

What I tend to do in an effort to keep food costs down and not rely on the immediate area is food shopping beforehand. This is probably the best tip I can give you because you will save yourself in many ways here. I usually bring things to make sandwiches, fruit, breakfast items (cereals, oatmeals that you can make in the hotel room coffee pot) and snacks. Having snacks on hand will save you in soo many ways. Staying hydrated is also highly important. Thankfully there are water coolers located all around the show floors but drink plenty of water regardless.

Not everyone will be traveling by car and are able to bring groceries. This is where the local CVS (Regional pharmacy and food mart) and Potomac Gourmet Market http://www.potomacgourmetmarket.com/ come in. Anything I mentioned above can be purchased in those places.

But like I said, stay hydrated and snack often. You will be burning calories like crazy at MAGfest so staying well fed and energized and eating correctly will keep your immune system (for obvious reasons) up so you can stay up all day/night playing games.



Alcohol:

MAGfest is famous for its drunken parties and massive amounts of room drinking parties. My friends and I usually bring mass quantities of beer. I will be bringing my homebrew and if it's around long enough, people are welcome to try it. Otherwise the Potomac Gourmet Market ( http://www.potomacgourmetmarket.com/ ) is the BEST place to purchase beer and alcohol in the area. You can build your own six pack or just buy cases of different beer. You can also get wine and regular alcohol there as well. The MAGfest staff will not let you enter any of the venue areas with alcohol. In the past they're pretty lax about it but they've stepped up more lately. The hotel is fine with you bringing in alcohol but not openly drinking it (in other words use common sense).


Parking:

If you're driving to the show and staying at the Gaylord then parking will be included in your final bill with the hotel. MAGfest has a deal with the Gaylord for discounted parking for attendees. In the main parking tower of the Gaylord it's $18 a day. There are also other parking options around the area and you're encourage to reserve a spot in the open lot nearby. I've never used it but apparently it's cheaper if you reserve it now. http://magfest.org/traveldirections/gaylord-national

Keep in mind that if you move your car during the show you have a very good chance of losing that spot (especially in the parking tower). If that happens then you may have to use the other open lots in the area.


Elevators:

Depending what floor you're on (if you're staying at the Gaylord) you may be waiting a bit for elevators at times. If you're on the lower floors its better to just take the stairs. Be mindful during late at night because people have been known to throw late night Elevator parties. MAGfest staff plans on cracking down on them this year.


If anyone has any questions about anything I will be happy to help. I'll post something in the next day or 2 as far as planning a meet up goes.


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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 5:21 pm 
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SHUT THE FRONT DOOR, THERE'S A CLUE VCR GAME SCREENING/Q&A??!?!?!?! I'LL BE THERE

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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 6:26 pm 
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Not only do I own VCR Clue, I own VCR Clue 2!

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 Post subject: Re: VOG at MAGfest 2016
 Post Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2016 11:21 pm 
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Hey all,

So in less a week we'll be at MAGfest having an awesome time. I have been checking the weather every other day and it seems like we'll be ok (still knocking on wood).


In terms of an official VOG meetup, I don't know what is best because all ideas I can come up with are potentially good. Like meeting up and playing games together in either the arcade, console checkout or board games room. I guess this will primarily depend on everyone's schedule and availability. I'm also open to other ideas and suggestions.


Since the show is running 24 hrs Thurs-Sun I'm sure we can find something to do late at night. Either way I am looking forward to seeing VOG people and I will be arriving sometime Weds (2/17) afternoon and staying until Sunday morning/noon/checkout time. The show is small enough where I know we'll see each other at some point.


If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, questions feel free to throw them out.


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