Anywhere but Ontario... I know it's super convenient for staff, but I just can't stand the place.

I have nothing to back up my argument, this is purely my own bias.

I had a blast at NASA. But if it was just me and my speedpals sitting in the Boston Pizza parking lot for a week I'd probably still have a blast, so I will try to separate that from my feedback on the event itself.

Lurk already knows much of my feedback since we discussed it at length yesterday, but here's a few points.

1. NASA needs to decide what exactly it wishes to achieve. Does it want to be a legitimate speedrun event, or does it want to simply be a friend reunion? Because right now it's somewhere in the middle, leaning more towards the latter. I heard many people express the view that "I don't need to practice, it's NASA, who cares if I beef it". GDQ, for all its faults, still has some kind of prestige associated with it, and people want to do well when showcasing their game. NASA has a casual, party atmosphere, which is fine for attendees but if anyone tunes in to see informative and skillful speedruns, they may leave disappointed.

2. Make it clear what kind of behavior won't be accepted at the event. At this point, NASA still seems to be very much associated with 4chan-ish shitpost culture. By no means do I want NASA to become some kind of heavily-moderated "SJW" (for lack of a better term) event, but I also fear that being so close to the other end of the spectrum is off-putting to a lot people. I don't mind this kind of stuff online, but it should stay online. I think most people will agree that the "happy pride month" meme got a bit out of hand, for example.

3. More stuff like the Dragster tournament. This was my favorite part of the marathon itself, and I'd love to see other content that breaks away from the usual marathon format. The stream room was sparsely populated for much of the event, and Dragster was a good incentive to fill up the room.

4. As far as location, I don't think this one was bad, but definitely felt more inconvenient than last year's. Transportation was the key issue, I flew into Hamilton which is about 30 mins from the hotel, but most people flew into YYZ which is over an hour's drive. Last year we had the option of taking the GO Train which was extremely convenient. This is a personal note, but I would be happy to have next year's event somewhere other than Ontario. To me, Ontario is like the epitome of dull, being surrounded by car dealerships and Cash 4 Gold stores is purgatory. I'd be happy for a slight change of scenery.

Overall, good stuff, but I think next year is going to be key in determining whether NASA can continue to succeed in the coming years.

I'll be arriving at Hamilton Airport about 9:45pm on the 2nd. Quite a long shot, but if anyone is gonna be there around the same time, perhaps we could carpool an uber or something?

For what it's worth, I liked this year's venue. The food options weren't fantastic but I liked the hotel and it was convenient that it was so close to the train station.

Given how salty I was about losing my coveted Zoo Race record 30 minutes after achieving it, the times have been burnt into my memory.

Thanks! I appreciate the help.

Hey there,

As far as I know, myself and my friend Duke_Bilgewater have the two highest times in Zoo Race. Duke has 11:06 and I have 11:13. We both achieved these times while practicing for our race at AGDQ 2014.

There was some technical trouble and Duke ended up going solo, however this run is already faster than those posted on this site.

No footage exists of our PBs, but I would like to submit them here, for posterity. Duke can attest to these times, and the linked video is evidence of his Zoo Race skill. Right now I can't submit my own time because a video is required.