....just something that came into my mind, but am i the only one, that would be interested to meet other SR-players in the world for a session during a foreign vacation or an business trip? I think this could be a cool idea to take one day off from your current whatsoever and meet other groups for a little headshot-spellslinger-session. Any comments?

There are inherent risks with meeting online friends. I could be crazy, for all you know. However, there's certainly nothing stopping you from giving a shout-out saying "I'm a 16-year-old female whose p arents don't have my travel itinerary, travelling on spring break to previous Soviet-bloc countries, looking for people who pretend to be assassins and thieves, and perhaps a good beer."

Then, when they come to meet you, you kill them and steal their novahot deck and 1st edition BBB.

Unfortunately I´m no 16-year-old-hot-female and regarding the risks of meeting online-contacts...I got my last 3 girlfriends through the internet....wait...that were my last 3 EX-girlfriends....all psychos....maybe you are right about the "risk"-thing.

I for myself would like to meet people that pretend to play killers, mages, vampires etc....if you go to GenCon you have a whole bunch of them and nobody is going to suck your blood or shoot you in the fact. My question was more general...if there is an interest at ALL. Who you visit and how long you know him in before is another question.

@ nezumi in personal: if you have an actual copy of "running wild" i could play a novahot-16-year-old-girl" for you....but don´t be sad if your visit comes out as a 31 year old male SR-player from germany.^^

I willl be moving down to Helsinki, Finland as of Saturday. Love to have a meet-up, but I suspect that meeting people from online will involve massive amounts of alcohol. I was different when I was sixteen.

-Chrysalis

Not in scandinavia. At my last time in helsinki they really wanted to have 12 euros for a 0,24 ml glass of wine....not a good one. In germany we call it "pennerglück" which could be translated into "squatters-luck". Getting drunk up there is expensive.^^

That's why you go to a hotel room and bring your drinks there. Actually in Finland we often do the drink at home and then move on to the bar for a while and then off to an after party.

I will be living with my mother, so no parties at her place. >.<

Ok, now it depends on where you come from when you visit Finland.^^ If you come by plane, bringing a lot of alcohol with you becomes difficult. ^^

BTW: did you see that we joined this forum at the same day? freaky.^^

Helsinki International does have a tax-free. Besides there is also this thing in Finland called Alko, which still is bkoody expensive compared with Germany, but loads cheaper than a bar.

Really? The last time i entered these strange (for german feelings) national Alko-shops, the prices were incredibly high. And in bars they are even higher? Errrrmm...what do you do in Scandinavia to get drunk? Is there an alternative?^^

Travel abroad. Haaparanta is only 2 hours drive from here. Or then in Helsinki Tallinn.

Of course with things like Ryanair it means I can jump on a flight in Tampere and be in Frankfurt in the afternoon.

How about Amsterdam?? Coffee Houses, red light district, and amazing industrial shows?

-Chrysalis

I'm thoroughly international right now, bound for Australia in a while, and Ireland after that for a bit before returning home to Canada... but I'm spoiled for booze prices. A dollar Canadian a beer, fifty cents a shot, and I live not even a hundred feet from the bar.

Edit: I forgot, we've got a beer machine , too.... God bless the Queen's beer machine.

Do you also have a money-printing-machine? I know Ryan-Air is cheap, but is it that cheap?But If you have a really good payed job...never mind.^^

But anyways, we should think about a SR-session in Amsterdam. Coffee-house with an integrated bar...i think this is a great place for SR.^^

Finland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Even Switzerland is cheaper. Seriously. A weekend in Vilnius with the trips costs bloody less than a weekend going through Helsinki bars.

There is only one coffee shop in Amsterdam that allows you to buy alcohol and smoke joints in it.

I'll bring my laptop if you bring more players.

Ahaa...so i finally met somebody who knows the coffee-shops in Amsterdam very well.^^ That was too much information for an public internet-forum. Muahahaha... but players shouldn´t be a problem... but to bring them to Amsterdam...more difficult.^^

Edit: Wait...laptop? hey, it´s called "Pen & Paper".^^

Yeah, but a laptop means I can bring all my files and books with me without paying extra for for over-weight. Besides i sold all my SR4 books.

I will have to draft Emiel to come and play since he knows Amsterdam well.

Ok, that is a reason. ^^ Who makes the GM? And WHO ELSE wants to join? Maybe somebody from the US of A?^^ Come on, nobody is going to play "hostel" with you. We are just some serious SR-comrades...no killing intentions...harr harr....*do you think they believe us?*^^

No one will be playing Hostel in some generic European country. Not all foreigners from the old country are like that. Besides they would just confiscate all my sharp objects at the airport, or if I am flying with Lufthansa would find my luggage shipped to Abu Dhabi.

But I guess rubberbands, pliers, chopsticks, and car batteries can be found everywhere.

I'd like to travel a broad, however I am married.

Thank you, thank you very much. Don't forget to try the soy and tip your waitress.

I played a doomed minigame called Clan War. Several times we had meetings and games with guys coming to the San Francisco Bay Area for tech conventions. Not once did it involve alcohol but that's only because we got in some serious gaming. It never ceased to amaze me that some of these gamers lived in countries with no other players , yet they still really knew their game.

More and more I look to arrange triangle play dates, gamers with me, scifi-fantasy nutjobs with wife, kids playing in the yard or living room. At the very least, the parents can all slitch about the challenges of parenting.

BlueMax

BlueMax, I'm so there with you. Gah, those Europeans are organizing games in bars with drinks and smoking things that are illegal here, and we're finding playdates for our kids...

You American old people with your walkers

This sounds like a great idea! I wish I were travelling to Europe sometime soon.

My wife and I, and two dogs, are taking a 3500 km road trip this July to get from where I live in Whitecourt, Alberta (a town stuck in the woods 2 hours northwest of Edmonton) to our cottage on Georgian Bay in Ontario. At least ideologically, that will be like a change of countries!

Once there, I will be able to run a few games for cottager friends from Canada and the U.S., but I have had little luck finding players along the way. Oh well. Just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

Unfortunately I don't travel much at this stage in my life, and when I do, I don't have time for meeting people. I have, however, offered to meet people coming through my area and help them get settled in. Mostly players I've known for a long time online, however.

I don't do SR4 (which may be a contributing factor to my knowing online people for such a long time).

I liked your idea of stuffing the kids into the oven during your "Cookie baking" SR eavesdropping sessions.

These things are illegal here, too but if you find a proper babysitter, you are all welcome to join us for a cup of coffee and a nice game setting. I really have to plan something like that...seriously. There are so many SR-players worldwide but they are so wide-spread that it´s a pain in the ass to find a proper group. this is something we really should change. Hmmm....I have to think about this.

Coffee is also acceptable. Any place you recommend in Germany?

I have a lot of friends in Germany. Most of them are even alive!

-Chrysalis

The easiest for me would be in our location near stuttgart. But i don´t think that many of my group could/would join us because we would have to play in english. Simultaniously i am active in a german SR-forum called "Shadowrun Archiv" and they usually have a whole weekend-session once a year. Maybe we could combine this with each other?

Sure,

I would be happy if it was in June. Since I am leaving for parts unknown by July.

EDIT: If I do go, I would like to see an industrial show, go to a bar and if there is a LARP going on that does not cost half of my monthly wage I would be willing to go to?


-Laurie

Too bad. You should have visited Feencon in Bonn. But you might make it to Hamburg next week. However that's of no help to you if Machiavelli won't be there.

Yeah, that is the problem. Because of my job and girlfriend, I´m not as flexible as i want to be.^^ But I am planning one and as soon as the date is fixed (i will take a wider duration so that you can all choose when it will fit best) i will inform you immediately. Is that ok for you?

That could be fun.
With my players we'd like to go to Hamburg someday, since our 'Lebt Im Schatten' campaign takes place over there.

And if you ever come to Paris, you'll be able to try the 'Shadowrun' or the 'Renraku' shots at our favorite bar.

That´s a point.^^

Which bar in Paris is this?

La Bodega, 12 rue Descartes, 75005 Paris.

We (Paris' Shadowrun players) meet there nearly every friday evening. We chose it more or less randomly (it's quite cheap and has tapas, a nice atmosphere and a good musical selection) and it turned out that one of the barmen is a RPG gamer and another one is a SR player.

Aaaaah....SR in french. This could be fun for everybody except me. My french is awful.^^

I'm pretty sure most of the French players I know can manage to play in English...

If they want to.^^ Do your chars. work in france or do you also play in the UCAS?

I would love to do some continental gaming if anyone needs an extra player / GM.

I've been meaning to take a trip back to Europe. I'd love to drop in on a game somewhere. I have a friend at the EU I'm supposed to be visiting in Brussels. I did have a friend in Hamburg but we kind of lost touch after she got married and I was relegated to the category of "people her husband doesn't like her hanging out with."

I might be coming to England and then off to Glasgow next week. I have yet to reserve my tickets as I am having some trouble with my credit card. Actually had to order a new one today.


My whole week is pretty open. Any ideas on what to do? I could even go to Paris for the day, if someone would show me around.

-Chrysalis

So what's in those shots?

@Machiavelli: Most of the time, our one-shot games are set in the UCAS (Seattle and L.A mostly) but we have some campaign or games set in other places (I run a campaign set in Hamburg, played in one set in South Africa and will soon start playing in one set in Corea).

@knasser: don't hesistate to tell me if you ever come to France. We've got a sizeable community here (especially in Paris but also in other places) and we're very open and friendly: most of the forum members will gladly let you crash on their couch even if they don't know you. We joke about it, saying that we spent a lot of BP on this community, as it comes with high connectivity and loyalty rating.

@Chrysalis: I guess I could show you around. Just tell me when you'll come and what you'd like to see.

@ShadowPavement:
The Shadowrun is vodka, caramel, macadamia nut and a drop of chocolate.
The Renraku is vodka, cherry (for the Japanese part) with a hint of bitter orange (for the Slovenian origins).
And we also have a random shot table (to decide among the many flavored vodka the bar has).

Just as a reminder: 5 days left to Feen Con, Bonn, Germany

I'm going to run "Hamburg Missions" for Pegasus Spiele.

I don't do a whole lot of travel (I am essentially a slummer on the economic scale of things) but I have made real life friends through games online before, so my suggestion for regional or international play is that for the first few sessions, treat it like meeting a Mr. J:
- public place with some sort of security authority present and lots of witnesses
- never let your drink out of sight, even place something over it when you are not taking a sip
- pack a means of recording and communication to prove your case if necissary
- use a hidden buddy / bodyguard system if available
- do not become reliant on the Mr. J in any way (food, shelter, transportation, etc)
- in crowded places you will get bumped and jostled, take reasonable steps to protect personal property (ID, Money, Cell Phone) from palming theft
- have a set time to start the meet and end the meet, so if unfamiliar with the location you have time to scout and plan your exit strategies
- trust your instincts, if something seems off from usual back ground noise that you took the time to familiarize yourself with, get out NOW.
- trust your instincts, always carefully observe any new enviroment you enter and if something seems odd, do not enter the trap, get out NOW.
- if confronted with a trap, defend yourself like it was a life or death situation: don't pull your punches and exit the trap area at the first opportunity so you can return to your safe zones aka do not allow your attackers to move you to a battle field of their choosing, don't get captured.

Yes, I am paranoid. I am also the father of a daughter. But I have met some really nice people in real life that I first met online this way, so that later I once I trusted them a bit more I would do things like go over to their place to game or what have you. That reminds me, I wonder how Memphis Jack is doing...

If anyone wants to game around my location and needs another player, send me a PM please.