How so? I've been to the European parties but never to defcon. So I'm wondering how they compare.

You're not missing anything; it's not really a party in the first place. Like one big expo, obnoxious kids (the wrong kind) and they all clap to some nonsense. Outside of select villages, not much diversity anyway. They worship Doctorow and man-babies like him. The same stupid jokes, think Hitchhiker's references, and they don't even do dress-up right :-)

I guess, it's obnoxiously "American," if that makes sense.

It sounds the same as the European non-corporate events tbh. Pretty good. It doesn't sound super American. More just hacker counterculture.

And yes I "worship" people like Doctorow. :)