007 - Welcome to VoidCon!

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Welcome to VoidCon! Event Info ▲ Comments Is It Wrong To Pick Up Stamps In The Convention?
The registration desk for VoidCon rests at the base of Mt. Silver, looking a bit conspicuous in contrast to the natural cave entrance. Lanyard badges have been laid out across the desk, one for each person that dwells within the Void... although, some will still be unclaimed by the time the convention ends. Above the mountain rumbles a thunderstorm, granting enough power to easily keep the convention space powered for a few days. Even if you’re not interested in the convention itself, you might as well take advantage of the stable power source while it lasts.

Next to the pile of lanyards is a stack of cards, each covered with blank squares and the words “Stamp Rally” written at the top. The instructions can be found on the back, along with a list of goals and activities - not all of them make sense, but as long as you think your interpretation is correct, it seems to count. Each completed goal will be rewarded with a matching stamp, which will simply appear on the card on its own. Get six or more stamps and you get “a prize.” It's not clear what the prize is, but it must be something good, right?

The goals for each stamp are as follows, and can be completed in any order:

1. Sign your autograph on ten different surfaces.
2. Wear someone else’s clothes.
3. Hug lovable arcade mascot Potato-Cat.
4. Find yourself in Kyo’s merchandise booth.
5. Reenact the best scene in the book.
6. Win a round in the holo-arcade with another player's abilities.
7. Eat the BBQ.
8. How much is a currency? Can I have it?
9. Tweet a hash tag into the ley lines about your experience at VoidCon.
10. Share and subscribe to the most liked art piece.

Completing at least one stamp prompt will make your character eligible for the March event bonus. Please see the linked event post for details.

So I’m A Fanartist, So What?
In proper fandom-based convention fashion, a small herd of Brushboys have responded to the call for creativity and settled themselves into the convention space. Some have taken residence in their own stalls as they draw whatever (or whoever) comes to mind, but others will take a more guerilla approach to their art as they walk about in search of their newest source of inspiration - you!

Most art can be observed in the form of prints and postcards that are lying about for public viewing on occupied vendor stalls, but other Brushboys have taken some liberties with their mediums. A lucky individual may find an entire mural painted on a cave wall that’s dedicated to them, or perhaps telling the story of the relationship between them and another character.

Styles of the art vary depending on the individual who has painted their respective masterpiece, but most depictions are compliant to “canon” in terms of their content. That’s not to say that every piece is, however - canon divergence is key in fanworks. Pieces with two characters together may have never spoken a word to each other before, or perhaps the nature of their connection to each other has been grossly misinterpreted by the artist. Whatever the case, each work of art is certainly a conversation starter.

In Another World With My VR Headset
Numerous signs and posters found around the arcade direct attendees to the elaborate VR game set-up, the potato-cat mascot proclaiming in a large speech bubble that “Fun and Excitement Awaits!” followed by an odd little nonsense phrase in smaller writing that is probably meant to be motivational but either comes across as nonsense (“what did you do that did”) or simplistic (“wow!”). The posters are not particularly needed, however, as the set-up takes up a large area, and the bright lights and music likely draw more than enough attention to it.

The interactable and realistic hologram display shows a little piece of another world. It could be a room, or a city street, or a little piece of the outdoors, but every world is familiar to at least someone present. It changes by the hour, with every attendee’s world featured at least once. Each world is presented as a game, and while the game does not always appear relevant to the location it is usually at least playable, and frequently allows for two or more players to either cooperate or compete - it’s better with company! Games include rhythm games, stealth games, monster battles, fighting games, card games and more. The goal of each game will also change with the genre, so you’d best beat it quickly if you want to make any progress.

In this VR world, attendees will find that their existing powers work perfectly in-game, as though an intended feature, even if they don’t seem at all relevant to the game. Furthermore, powers can be unequipped or exchanged for someone else’s powers by accessing the menu, allowing for free experimentation and a chance to see what the neighbors are truly capable of. If you don’t have anyone to trade with, just hit the “randomize” option - you’ll be given a completely random powerset, or you’ll be randomly swapped with another nearby player. The possibilities are endless!

If you manage to reach the end of the game, you’ll be greeted with a large and flashy display of “Congratulations!” along with some virtual confetti, followed by a holographic display of everyone’s high scores… which are a bit confusing to read, since every new version of the game has a completely different scoring system and one player might go through several of these before hitting a proper “ending.” Is a smaller number or bigger number better? Why does a farming game even have a combo score? Maybe it’s best not to think about it.

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Comments

[xblaze]

... Is that so?

[ Es looked at the card again, confusion all over her features. She still had to learn the nuances of language, it seems. ] I didn't know that.