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The Omegathon: Could you handle it?
vid
Hot Dog WizardPDXRegistered User regular
Hot Dog WizardPDXRegistered User regular
For the last few days, I've been trying to keep myself sane while counting the days until Prime. To aid in this, I started going over last year's con guide and watching some of the video of The Omegathon just to get a little bit of the PAX feeling back in my blood, and it eventually resulted in me having a discussion with some of my friends that are going this year about the nature of The Omegathon and if any one of us could handle the pressure of such an event.
If you're on this forums, it seems more than likely that you tick the little "I'd like to be considered for the Omegathon" box when you buy your passes each year. But what happens when you unwrap the Wonka bar and find that ticket? I can only imagine an intense rush of emotions and self-questioning: "Do I have the presence to be on stage for these events?", "What if I don't know any of the games?", "What if they choose my favorite game, and I choke?" - We all wanted to be the little kid in The Wizard, playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on a giant screen for huge prizes, but if you think about it too much, it's scary stuff!
If you accepted that coveted role, what then? Do you want your friends there to support you during the events? Or does the presence of people that you know make you more nervous? Or maybe they've got other panels or events that they want to be at instead, does that disappoint or relieve you.
Let's take it a step further... you're an Omeganaut, you've blown through the first five games, and you're now standing on that grand stage for the final round. Of course, the final round of the Omegathon is also the closing ceremony for the event. You're no longer surrounded only by the people who were interested in the Omegathon itself, but by every single person who has come to say goodbye to PAX. Does that increase the pressure, or have you already surpassed the "crowd threshold" and it's just a number at this point?
I dunno, like I said, this is just a fun line of thought that I started following to help pass time until passes go on sale. Interesting to think about.
What would be your ideal Final Round game? That one game that you're so intimately familiar with, that you would feel like the moment was made just for you? For me, it'd probably be Rez. Two players taking turns at the first stage, trying to score as high as possible through clever patterns and accurate targeting. I think it'd have a bonus effect of getting the crowd even more riled up, since the game is based around generating music as you do well and progress through each stage.
Think it all over. Imagine what it would be like, revel in those feelings swelling inside. We're less than 150 days from Prime, and maybe the next Omeganaut champion could be you!
If you're on this forums, it seems more than likely that you tick the little "I'd like to be considered for the Omegathon" box when you buy your passes each year. But what happens when you unwrap the Wonka bar and find that ticket? I can only imagine an intense rush of emotions and self-questioning: "Do I have the presence to be on stage for these events?", "What if I don't know any of the games?", "What if they choose my favorite game, and I choke?" - We all wanted to be the little kid in The Wizard, playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on a giant screen for huge prizes, but if you think about it too much, it's scary stuff!
If you accepted that coveted role, what then? Do you want your friends there to support you during the events? Or does the presence of people that you know make you more nervous? Or maybe they've got other panels or events that they want to be at instead, does that disappoint or relieve you.
Let's take it a step further... you're an Omeganaut, you've blown through the first five games, and you're now standing on that grand stage for the final round. Of course, the final round of the Omegathon is also the closing ceremony for the event. You're no longer surrounded only by the people who were interested in the Omegathon itself, but by every single person who has come to say goodbye to PAX. Does that increase the pressure, or have you already surpassed the "crowd threshold" and it's just a number at this point?
I dunno, like I said, this is just a fun line of thought that I started following to help pass time until passes go on sale. Interesting to think about.
What would be your ideal Final Round game? That one game that you're so intimately familiar with, that you would feel like the moment was made just for you? For me, it'd probably be Rez. Two players taking turns at the first stage, trying to score as high as possible through clever patterns and accurate targeting. I think it'd have a bonus effect of getting the crowd even more riled up, since the game is based around generating music as you do well and progress through each stage.
Think it all over. Imagine what it would be like, revel in those feelings swelling inside. We're less than 150 days from Prime, and maybe the next Omeganaut champion could be you!
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Regardless of all of the great points of thought you outlined, I AM checking that box. My luck would be that I didn't check it, and every game on the circuit was one that I was at least pretty good at.
At the same time, I will admit there would probably be a period where I was paralyzed with fear and self doubt, but I have good friends. I'm sure they'd help me through that... Probably.
It's hard to come to grips with the reality you're facing. You prepare. You pick modes you think you will be played and fool yourself into believing assumptions about the competition. Then reality catches up with expectation and you wish to any deity that will listen to help you remain calm. It's pretty intense pressure, but then, I don't normally handle pressure in unfamiliar situations well.
I did however make some awesome friends and supported them and wished them well even as competitors. We were all in the same boat. Sizing up each other like it was a reality show really was not the way things went. You acknowledge quickly that we are all gladiators before the throngs of digital Romans, doing battle as we have naturally trained ourselves, and with that comes a gladiators' brotherhood. The croud screams for blood and they reward guts and precision.
I wish the experience on anyone who checked the box. Just be ready for your trip to be wrecked... In the best way possible.
Also, nothing quite crushes your ego than your pre-teen kid telling your Mario Kart partner that he's the driving force because you really suck at the game. :-/
I took each round one step at a time. Initially, I just hoped we'd get past the first round (Bomberman) and then after that I didn't particularly care what happened. Bomberman was really the only game I practiced some once they told us the games less than a month in advance. I hadn't played Bomberman or NBA Jam (the second round game) ever before; I think that actually helped take the pressure off because I wasn't going in trying to prove I was good at either game. If it was something like Mario Kart where I play it all the time, I think I would've been more prone to choke because my expectation levels of my performance would've been higher.
For the second round, I didn't expect we'd have a chance of winning until the two of us sat down and played two games about an hour beforehand and won both. Even then though, I still saw the Omegathon as a fun side event to PAX and my thoughts were basically, "woo! playing games is awesome!" However, once we won NBA Jam and someone pointed out to me that I was the only female Omeganaut left (and no female Omeganaut had won at either PAX then), that's when the pressure hit me. Not to sound overly dramatic, but now if I lost, I felt like I'd let 50% of the population down, not just myself. It was both bad and good that people would come up to me to say they wanted me to win -- it increased the pressure, but it also helped knowing that people were cheering me on. I definitely appreciated having friends in the crowd supporting me, and even complete strangers.
The hours before the final round were the worst. I was kind of in a daze the entire day and felt a bit lightheaded, which I wasn't sure if it was because of nervousness or dehydration. Once we got backstage though, I felt better because of everyone's excitement. It reminded me that we still were just there to have fun.
The fact that the PAX East Omegathon is a team event also relieved the pressure a little bit. There was some stress when I didn't want to let my teammate down, but at the same time, I also knew we had each other's backs (or legs/arms, with duct tape). As for the giant crowds, I tried to block them out. For the Jenga round, it helped to simply listen to Mike/Jerry's awesome commentary. For the final round, I was just super excited to be playing a game with Khoo and Erika. As for the final round game choice of Spaceteam, I'm glad it was something none of us had played before. Also minus the technical problems, it was just a silly and fun game that wasn't too stressful.
The Omegathon definitely eats up your PAX time, but considering you can go to PAX again any other year but really only have one shot at being an Omeganaut, it's definitely an experience not to be missed if you get the call! It can be insanely stress-inducing, but you can also look past that. Realize that it boils down to you playing games, and that's something you already love to do.
we totally meant that in a 'if there's anything we can do to help you win that you can't have traced back to you, let us know' *innocent whistling* type of way. heh.
my time as an omeganaut was... strange. i ended up out in the second round, which was zip-it... the only one of the announced 3 i thought i'd have any luck at. first round i was out (due to not understanding a mid-event rule change, until i was out of 'competitor mode'... but the gods smiled on me and i was able to get a second chance. back issues meant i pretty much counted myself out at dance central regardless, and as zip-it went decently (12 out of 13 possible rounds, first to seven won) i was quite happy with my performance.
i remember having anxiety pre-rounds 1 and 2, and disappointment after i was told i was out... but only mildly. about the same level of disappointment i'd feel if i lost an expo floor raffle for something. the first time (x-men) there was also a bit of beating myself up, because i realized that i had lost due to me not listening well >.<... but while playing? i remember exactly... nothing. i went from sitting down to start the game (or getting up on stage in the case of round 2) to being done.
anyways, it's the omegathon, where the rules are made to screw with you, and the games don't matter. it's all about the friendships and awesome people.
PAX East 2012 Omeganaut. Awesomest. Time. Ever.
Ray, when Tycho or Gabe asks if you want to be an Omeganaut, you say, Yes! Honestly though, it can seem incredibly overwhelming and stressful if you let it. It's particularly bad before the schedule is announced, because you don't know what any of the games are. Once you learn the games, and can feel like you can practice a bit, it takes the edge off because at least there's something you can do.
If not support, then you definitely want someone along whose job it is to take photos, videos, and hold your stuff if need be. During the Omegathon rounds, you'd be tripping balls on adrenalin, and it'd be sad to miss capturing those memories. As far as people you know making you more nervous is concerned, even at the early rounds there will be hundreds of people there you've never met, so I don't think that a few more makes much difference.
Oddly, the feeling I most associate with the final round is relief. You spend all day Friday and Saturday worrying about the upcoming rounds, what if you haven't practiced enough, what if you lose and are eliminated. Sunday was a great day for me before the final round, because I got to walk around feeling like a total badass, who would be as surprised as anyone else when the final round was announced. It also helped that we knew beforehand that the runners-up would be invited to compete in the Omegathon the following year, so I felt like even if we lost, we still won.
Also, you are stoked to not have to stand in line for the final round of Omegathon cuz dayum.
I honestly don't know the answer to this question. I'll just counsel future Omeganauts now: "It's not the Aggro Crag!" The ideal final round game is really the one you wind up playing. While I'm not sure whether he was joking, Tycho did say that the games they choose for the final round are games that they personally find challenging, thinking it likely that others would as well.
Not likely. The next Omegachamp probably comes from a land down under, where women glow and men plunder.
While I was never an Omegachamp (and my goodness do you wind up prefixing EVERYTHING in your life with Omega), I will say that my experience as an Omeganaut mostly left me feeling incredibly special. I'm not a particularly social creature, so I tend to blend into the background, especially at large events like PAX. Being an Omeganaut dropped me into a little blender, sharing a completely absurd experience with a group of people I've just met, who largely turned out to be completely awesome. (I hope it's not too presumptous to say that I find that makes StripSearch that much more interesting to watch.) I couldn't help but make some good friends in that situation, and got some really excellent stories out of it.
The question I find myself asking is, "if I got the call again, would I say yes?". (I'm told this has actually happened) It's more fraught than you'd think because on the one hand, I'd love another shot at the brass ring, but on the other hand, it would probably mean denying someone else the opportunity to experience something completely awesome and wonderful.
Also, if there are future Omeganauts reading this, remember that if you mess with Travis and SmallLady, shit will get real. They are awesome
haha so true, omegabro.
yeah... those two (along with any minions they may rope in) work so gorram hard to not only make the omegathon interesting for spectators, they try their hardest to make sure *you* as an omeganaut have an awesome weekend. i know (on the east coast at least) messing with them invites not only their wrath, but the scorn of a large yet close-knit group of omegaveterans for bringing shame to the omegafamily name...
*insert colossus roar*
PAX East 2012 Omeganaut. Awesomest. Time. Ever.
There will always be that one event. It might be Jenga. It might be Kerplunk. In those cases, you surprisingly have to be on your toes for that one. If the game seems to be rather random and predestined to be dependant on turn orders and luck, just make your moves and hope for the best. Avoid making gutsy moves that will corner your opponents as those tend to backfire.
Oh, and those rounds tend to invite lots of thinking and observation, resulting in long rounds and the inevitable invoking of Omegalaw: the controversial countdowns and rushing. In fact, a game of russian roulette might be less nerve wracking than getting a countdown while trying to select the right Jenga block.
If this happens to you, please go easy on the Omegatechs. They really don't have a choice, and anything you can do to help speed things up... well... might "help" you lose. If that happens, be Omegamagnanimous. You just helped their job go much more smoothly. If you have mathematically lost, admit defeat with your head held high rather than drag things out.
The Omegatechs work hard to make things as fair as they can, but they usually have very little time tolerance and entertainment value really is the top priority.
And, while this is obvious, you will probably lose. You're still damned lucky that you were selected... srsly, go buy a lottery ticket. Fate has seen fit to induct you into a grand tradition and fraternity. Luck plays a role in this entire process beginning to end, but what you do with that luck, the people you meet and the experiences you have, make being an Omeganaut an enduring experience for everyone.
Make that +2. As a first-round loser in my own Omegathon, I have to second everything that @edgeofblade said (well, keeping in mind that I never got to "that" event. =P) Keep in mind that, even if you wash out of the tournament, you already got a huge win just by being a part of it, and speaking for myself, even after I was defeated and no longer participating in the tourney rounds, it greatly enriched my con experience - you have NO idea how many conversations were started because of the shirt and badge (the, like, half hour chat with Danimal Cannon & the rest of Metroid Metal springs to mind!), plus getting to hang out with the rest of the Omeganauts, congratulating the winners and consoling the...well, let's face it, STILL winners who just happened to have been eliminated from the tournament.
And like @mtolan & @sary said - don't mess with Travis and the Lady of Smalls. They're awesome and deserving of your respect, especially in the pressure-cooker conditions they (willingly, year after year after year) subject themselves to in order to make this thing happen.
My bits of advice- get your rest! It was very, VERY hard to keep my hands straight during Kerlpunk, becuause I wasn't able to get that pre-round break/nap/etc. I was counting on due to the room kerfuffle at the Shearton (in fact, I was doubly stressed because after arguing with them all afternoon, they called minutes before the match to say we likely wouldn't be able to check in until 9 or 10 pm. Not cool.)
Secondly, if you do lose early on, don't take it too hard. As much as a part of me wants to say "stupid hotel make me lose my cool! Their fault!" I know it's not the case. The folks I was up against put up a great second run, and sooner or later in Kerplunk, someone gets all the marbles. Just happened to be me. Honestly, just getting selected get you enough attention to be a prize in and of itself- I already felt like I'd won when I got an email from LRR wanting a picture for a gag in their PAX video. Pax hadn't even happened yet!
Don't worry about the prize, or how 'good' you look- enjoy the ride.
Honestly, you just have to say yes. After that, you decide just how seriously you want to take the tournament. I'm an extremely competitive person, and after seeing the game list, I knew I had a shot. Once playing the games, the pressure mounts and you just deal with it or feed of it. For me, the games on the big stage provided less pressure as I felt like I was feeding off the energy of the crowd.
One example was the finish to my second round Calling All Cars match. I had enough points to secure a third place finish and held the robber in my car. My opponents were guarding the police station as I expected, which was perfect, as I had no intention of getting anywhere near it. My entire strategy at that point was to let the time expire and finish in the top 3. I distinctly remember smiling when the crowd roared in delight as they all got what I was doing.
For me, I did the entire thing twice. 2007 I got to the finals and lost in Halo 3, a game no one expected after Pong, Tetris, and Combat in the finals. In 2008, I lost out in the Rock Band round. It was a team event, so my fate was no longer in my hands. Like others have said, the rules aren't always in your favor and you just deal with it.
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So what if I don't win (again)? I'm good with that, because the Omegathon is an experience I will be telling my grandchildren about. If you get that call, just say yes. You might be terrified to get up on stage, but make yourself do it. PAX people are wonderful--they're all our people and, really, most every one is super nice and really wants you to succeed. Until you get that call, support your Omeganauts. It's hard to get up on stage in front of thousands of people just to suck at riding a virtual motorcycle. The key thing is to do it, and cheer on the people who are willing to do it. It's more fun than you can ever imagine.
Also being in the public eye was interesting. During the kerplunk round I didn't drop a single marble. I later found out from my gf that some people were angry because of it. Some people were angry because I didn't drop any marbles, and some were angry that I was smiling after not dropping marbles..... people were angry at me for smiling, I shit you not.
(we hit the stage second at around 2:40 -- also, shoutout to whoever recorded these, you rock)
Being an Omeganaut was AMAZING. And I think part of the reason for that (beyond it being an awesome event run by awesome people) was that every stage of the competition we survived was a huge surprise for us. Just gotta go in expecting to have some fun while being in honestly a pretty goofy spotlight. Tangentia's post explains it really well, I think. It does take up a lot of your time at the con, especially if you make it past the first few stages, but it's totally worth it.
Best of luck to you newest contenders! Just relax and have fun.
Count of Angels wins! Friendship! (Friendship? Again?!?)
balls to that. It needs to be halfway through so you have something invested!
also, If anyone can pull a perfect game in the game of bullshit chance I'll buy you a drink and we can be Ultra Lucky Friends.
There used to be another dice game as the first round back in 05 and 06. Really, a chance round at the beginning is best because it quickly eliminates four. And if you're one of those four, you know you didn't do it to yourself because you fucked up. It was chance that got you in, and it's chance that gets you past the first round.
It would suck to be in a middle round like 3, and go out because of a bad dice roll. At least at the beginning you have all of PAX in front of you still.
That being said, you should _TOTALLY_ sign up for the Omegathon. Best. PAX. Ever.
I really can't blame you for taking the shot. Just about everyone else would have done the same thing. He really made the correct play. You still did a fantastic job and you have my respect for such a deep run. Best of luck next year. :-)
I go to PAX for the community more than for the games - I mean, I can play games with random strangers any time. Or play with myself, for that matter. But having to stick to the Omegathon schedule* and potentially getting all that attention just makes me shudder. I'd rather run around and be free. And meet up with PAX buddies I only see once a year. And drink. And show up at my friends' tourneys to mock them like good geeks do.
*Which is a joke, because I'd be eliminated in the first round.
Other than that, I like to think I could handle the pressure of a huge audience. And I'm confident in my skills in any other type of game. I hope one day to be selected!
Never Forget!
Massive Crystal Cavern!