It seems odd to think that being based in Texas, the Reckon Crew has never been out to QuakeCon. I know, I know, we’re horrible people. Fortunately, the newest addition to the Reckon Crew, photog extraordinaire Jim Brown, made it his personal mission to get us there.

Now we’re kind of sorry he did.

Not because it wasn’t awesome. Seriously, with the computing power in the BYOC, we probably could have opened a portal through time and space and wireless streamed games… from the future.

And it wasn’t that there wasn’t a lot to see. Between the keynote where John Carmack got on stage and demonstrated to us that his brain was considerably larger than our own and getting to get our hands on Rage (only four hours of playtime), there was plenty of firsts for us.

It wasn’t that we didn’t fit in. Honestly, if there were ever a place where the Reckon Crew fit in, it was the liquor drenched halls of the Hilton Anatole where QuakeCon 2011 was held.

Ventrilo ponied up a sweet looking truck (worth a measly $70,000) in a drawing. The entire weekend, people competed in the events id was hosting for a chance to get into the drawing.

There was the small glitch in scheduling that had us sharing a floor with cheerleaders from all over the U.S. And not the cool kind of cheerleaders where you can stare for a few minutes and just be normal for checking them out but the young kind (prostitots as one of Jim’s friends advised us they were called) with their creepy little faces done up in makeup and with only the energy that someone that the young can have without being put on medication.

But even that couldn’t mar the satisfaction we felt at finally making it to the premier Texas gaming event.

However, I am fairly certain that small bits of our soul and spleens were left in Dallas after having to come back home.

This is the sort of thing that can make you realize that you aren’t alone out here in the gaming world. It’s a reminder that no matter what you enjoy playing, there is someone out there who would love to throw down in the game with you, with or against, and you can walk away from that experience a better player and with a new friend.

It’s also a good example that Gamettes exist. Not just on our site but out there in the real world. I watched with no small satisfaction as the ladies were able to put a hurt on the boys there that would do any gamer proud. And yes, the boys (including us, we’re not immune) are still prone to staring and forgetting they’re gamers as well as women. It’s always good to have your point of view so soundly proven in that type of atmosphere.

We were loud, we were rambunctious, we drank too much, we stayed up too late. And all the while, we were amid like minded individuals who were doing the exact same thing.

Somehow, during all of the drinking, cavorting, and ingestion of entirely too much caffeine, I was able to make my way to the IGDA Charity Event and play cards for a good cause. I lost early on but I met some interesting people and tried not to make eye contact with Pedobear when he sat down next to me. No, that last part was not an alcohol induced hallucination. Pedobear actually sat down next to me.

The lovely ladies from Charisma+2 were on hand to offset most of the ugly walking around at the Con… okay, so most of the ugly was me walking around the Con but you get the picture.

Somehow we made it home with our livers relatively intact and despite a mishap with my laptop that prevented me from posting this sooner, we managed to make it home with all of our electronic devices as well. No, the thing that made us regret having been at QuakeCon was that it was over and that it would be another whole year before Dallas would see this type of gathering again.

We’ll be there again next year… with more booze.

We might even challenge you to a drinking contest if you’re (un)lucky.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

All photos contained in this post were taken by Jim Brown and then nearly lost in a game of Strip Battleship to the Editor of this site so as cool as they are, you’ll have to ask for permission to use them.