NerdFest 2k+1 (Full Report)

by Guru Mike

Introduction
NerdFest, for those who don’t know, is a monumental epic event. NerdFest is always a marathon. Marathon of what? Well it’s a marathon of any video game that takes at least 10 plus hours to complete. Nerdfest requires the contestants to finish the game or at least try.

History of NerdFest
NerdFest One, (yes there was a NerdFest one), was a tournament for secret of mana on the SNES. It was a 2 teams battle to see who could finish it first. Team Player One (the first player that ever existed) consisted of Brian Pei, Guru Mike, Dark Ice, versus Team Fred Savage, which had Stu Pei, Liston (Randy Savage), and Etheral. Now I’m not going to do a report on that, because there was video footage of us being zombified. In the end Team Player One prevailed and took the championship. Shouts came out from the stands and a victorious parade was held for the triumphant down Main Street.

NerdFest 2K+1
So how do we top the first? Well, this time it again required us to defeat evil, crush our enemies and so on and so forth. The game was Diablo 2, hardcore characters only. The eight player game, unlike the first NerdFest was not a competition. This time it was a test of skill, stamina and mental stability. The eight people who joined in this insanity were, Tommyboy, Dark Ice, Backstab, Etheral, Stu Pei, Paranoid Lunatic, Liston and , Yours Truly Guru Mike. To further the challenge, we had to take random classes. We at Polaris and others competing are not insane Diablo 2 players so random classes is a big deal. This how everyone ended up

Paranoid Lunatic - Paladin - Died Act I to a room full of Afflicted in the Catacombs. He was the highest level at the time but he got trapped and thus got raped.

Guru Mike - Sorceress - Died to a group of desert creatures in Act II (Dry Hills if you want to really know) because I walk into Etheral’s portal. Tommyboy walk in first, but he was a barbarian so he survives but I’m a sorceress so that is an instant and rather stupid death. I still blame Etheral for my death. Also I’d like to add that sorceress suck, at low levels it is insane and not worth it IMO. (I’m normally a paladin)

Tommyboy - Barbarian - made it to near the end of Act II but got killed by the Summoner. A rather surprising death, because Tommyboy didn’t really come close to death until that point.

Backstab - Barbarian - With the team losing 3 so far, another Barbarian died in Act III to a cloud stalker. Now Backstab was out of his element, he is normally a sorceress (why is beyond me). This death was kind of weird because of the next death that occurred right away.

Dark Ice - Sorceress - In Act III we lose another to the same cloud stalker. Funny because Dark Ice was also out of his element. He is normally a Barbarian. This was probably one areas that shows how hard random character classes can be.

Etheral - Paladin - Some where in the middle, Etheral doesn’t die, but gives up and just stops playing. He was already really bored with the game so he gives up. Oh well.

Stu - Necro - Dies in Act IV at the door of the Chaos Sanctuary to an Oblivion Knight. Stu, being the normal hero paladin he normally is, jumped into to save Liston, who was being a foolio and screw around with bone wall and bone prison. Well Stu dies and Liston doesn’t.

Liston - Necro - Doesn’t die but doesn’t win because he just quits the game and calling an end to the insanity. Diablo survives yet another day.

In Conclusion
In the end it is pretty much a loss for us all but Liston who lives the longest. We started at 1 pm and played until 3 am. That is a total of 14 hours
Thus ends NerdFest 2K+1, see you next time we get a crazy mofo of an idea.