Morningtide Release tournament

Whee, I made Top 4 at the Morningtide tournament. We just split the prizes 4 ways so we could get to food or whatever, which I was happy about since I was getting pretty hungry, and was still kind of tired from sleeping crappy the night before. I also got kind of lucky a few times during my games, and I wasn't sure that would hold out in the final rounds.

( more details, of no interest to non-MtG people )

Ra

We tried Ra this evening, though we did it with the the wacky Cthulhu variant artwork and tile names. I was pleased to see it go over reasonably well. I'd played it against the computer several times, but it's nice to finally play with people. The Cthulhu theme is pretty cool, and my only real complaint is that some of the Site and Tome tiles could be more obviously different from each other, and it might have been nice for Cultists and Altars to be labeled as such, rather than both being called "Rituals." The Egyptian theme in the original is nice enough, but it was great to hear people lamenting desperately "I need more Shoggoths!" I may not have won, but at least at the end of the game I had Shoggoth Supremacy!

Of course, the theme change means we did miss out on one tiny amusement. In the original Ra, the Tomes tiles are Civilization tiles, which are Astronomy, Religion, Art, Writing, etc. The version I've been playing against the computer tells you at the bottom of the screen what a player did for their turn, which led to the amusing status message "Cathy has exchanged a God for a Religion." Way to trade up, Cathy.

GenCon Housing

So, this year I remembered that it was ABSOLUTELY VITAL to sign up the instant housing opened, so I wouldn't get stuck with a crappy hotel 2 or 3 additional blocks from the con...or worse, nowhere near the con at all, or missing the GenCon rate. I booked the hotel I stayed in 2 years ago, since I was quite happy with that one. The price has gone up $10 in the last 2 years, but it was still one of the cheaper options that was less than 1/2 mile from the con. I found myself slightly tempted by a hotel that was even closer and appeared at first glance to be only slightly more expensive, but then I realized 2 things: First, over five nights total and the ludicrous tax on hotels, it would actually come to an extra $83, and second I really, REALLY hated my hotel from last year for all sorts of stupid little things, and there was no reason to chance this hotel having the same sort of things when I could just go with one that I knew I liked. My feet will manage, hopefully.