In Which The Warlock Expounds on Scheduling...

With only three weeks till the show itself, GAMA's finally managed to open up event registration for this year's Origins Game Fair.  I've always tried to be supportive of GAMA, as they're propped up significantly by their volunteers, rather than the full time staff that GenCon benefits from.  Even though I've disagreed with them at times--particularly about this year's date change, they've always been really receptive to receptive criticism and feedback.

But, with the open registration, I'm faced with a greater quandary:  what to do?  what to play?! 

Compared to prior years, there are significantly fewer events on the docket, which restricts ones' options significantly.  After doing the math, there's about 300 less events.  Strangely enough, there are actually 30 more RPG events than last year, though!  Go figure, right?  However, it feels like the variety that we'd always been able to enjoy at Origins seems to be in rather short supply.  Less people means less GMs, which means less variety of events. 

Truth be told, scanning through the spreadsheets of events, I wasn't really jazzed on many of the role-playing options in general.  While I'm eager to sit in on an advanced session of El Willy's "Dingbitt's Inferno" scenario, the only game that I actively sought out was an opportunity for the upcoming D&D Next playtest series.  The PlatinumChick was eager to jump into one of the events held by Matinee Adventures, but our scheduling conflicts prevented her from jumping in as one of the "Birds of Prey".  Many of the less-played systems out there are playing only on Wednesday and Thursday, which precludes our enjoying them, as we won't be arriving until Friday evening.

Where I have found a good degree of interest, however, is in the seminars.  Moreso than in any of the other years we've attended, the seminars at Origins have really come up.  Plus, most seminars have no entry fee, which keeps down our attendance cost!  If my schedule runs out as it stands now, I'll be sitting in on at least three seminars on game design, including one with the dice-master himself: Lou Zocchi.  With my editing and drafting cycle of Cold Steel Wardens approaching so rapidly, I think it'll do me some good to hear as much as I can from the "industry insiders" as possible.

I want to make sure that I get a good deal of time in the dealer hall, if for no other reason than to check out the new releases and see what other indie designers are coming out with.  Plus, trolling for deals at the SJGames booth and other places almost always ends out with me walking away satisfied.  Though, this time around, I'm hoping to manage to pick up the first component for my Man-at-Arms cosplay:  his iconic mace! 

Truth be told, I already miss my annual ritual of prepping games for Origins.  While this has afforded me some additional time for other projects--finishing out Tyrian Horror and doing some new freelancing--I love GMing at convention games, and I'm disappointed to be shut out this year.  That said, there's always next year...

The Warlock's Origins 2011 (No Longer) Live Blog!--Post-Convention Wrap-Up!

Okay, I was remiss in my swag report!  As I was unpacking my backpack and other gaming materials, trying to get the game-room back in order, I stumbled upon the my bargain of the convention!  And, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you about:

Innsmouth Escape!  While roaming through the Dealer Hall with the PlatinumChick on Sunday, we stumbled across the Twilight Creations booth, tucked away in the back right corner of the Hall.  I only really noticed them because they had copies of Dante's Inferno, a game that I picked up at Half Price Books (and still haven't played), and I hadn't seen it anywhere else.  Walking over, I was astounded to see that quite a few of their games--including Innsmouth Escape--were on clearance!  $5 a pop!

Hell's bells, what a deal!  Adventure Retail, who runs the Steve Jackson Games booth, was retailing Innsmouth Escape for $40!  I'll gladly take the game for 1/8th of retail price!  The minis alone are worth it:  Innsmouth Escape comes with 100 Deep One miniatures, in addition to everything else in the game...$5 for 100 minis!  Yes, let's!

A few other thoughts on this year's show, though:

• Running 6 rpg slots is tiring!  I realize that many other gamers ran and volunteered much more time than I did, but wow...six sessions of RPGs are quite a bit.  By the end of the convention, I was dragging!  Sunday afternoon, while waiting for ChaoticKarl to finish up his last Star Wars game--which ran an hour and a half over--I nearly passed out sitting up in the conference room!  While I enjoyed showing off my games and running for some really great gamers, I don't think I'll run this much again any time soon.
• Evaluation of the schedule is needed.  So, when L-Train put in the schedule for our games, the original intention was for the vast majority of our games to go off at 7pm, so that our games would all be in the same location.  However, we ended up scattered throughout the RPGs hallway, which made set-up and tear-down difficult.  Looking at the schedule from our good friends at Rogue Cthulhu, we may want to go with something more staggered, to ensure that we have a room to ourselves.  If we can manage 5 gamers in a slot, we'd have more than enough to ensure that we'd never have to tear down the banners, and could have a Witt-Guild "headquarters" all convention long.
• Gamers' generosity is really high.  I was personally astounded at the generosity of the numerous gamers who donated for the Hutchinson boys, as they prepare for the upcoming bone marrow transplant.  I'll be sending off two boxes of donations from both companies and individual gamers here in the next few weeks.  Spectacular!
• Attendance is up?  Where is everyone?  I'll readily admit that I wasn't around the main halls of the convention center for most of Origins, but while I was out, the halls felt particularly sparse.  Even on Friday and Saturday--the most crowded days of Origins--things felt empty.  However, the overall attendance (according to GAMA) was nearly 1,000 people over last year's!  I'm all right with--more people is good--but it seems a little odd that the convention seemed so sparse, even with more people.
• What to do next year?  I know already that I will not be attending Origins for the full-show next year.  I can't.  Plain and simple--can't do it.  Because of the impending date change, I'll be in my last week of work which, as a teacher, is finals week.  There's no way I could call off whatsoever.  As such, I'm not running games last year, which is a real shame, as my review cards were all overwhelmingly positive and I had several repeat players from prior years.  As of now, I'm probably going to get a full badge anyway--we get half-price badges through the Witt-Guild--then attend Friday night through Sunday.  We'll see, I suppose.
• The Date Change Looms...  The date change isn't just going to affect me.  Dayton Public and Cincinnati City Schools both are in finals week during Origins next year, as are most of their surrounding districts.  The Ohio State University and Columbus Public Schools will be in session until mid-June.  Looney Labs--one of the biggest event draws at Origins--has officially announced their inability to come next year, as the two heads of the group are both teachers.  It's been pretty well documented that public reaction to this date change has either been neutral ("Doesn't matter--I'll go to Origins whenever it is.") or extremely negative ("I cannot go now.  Thanks, guys...).  GAMA has gotten the message from our petition, though, and has set up a poll on their site regarding the date change:

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and vote to keep Origins' dates in late-June! 

Origins Future Dates Poll--GAMA Sponsored Poll!

In Which The Warlock Petitions Your Support...

It's not often I ask you, my few and faithful readers, to assist me with anything, so I'm going to ask now.



Please don't exclude our educators, GAMA!

This past May, GAMA--the organization behind the Origins Game Fair--announced the future dates for Origins 2012 and 2013.  In both cases, the Fair will be taking place the weekend after Memorial Day, during the last bit of May and the first days of June.  This is a massive change, in that Origins is traditionally held during the last week of June, occasionally stretching into the first few days of July.

However, this change comes at the expense of a massive segment of the gaming population.  The project dates of the next two Origins Game Fairs run concurrent with the last week of school for Dayton Public Schools, Cincinnati City Schools, the Ohio State University, and many other institutions throughout the Ohio Valley.  Columbus Public Schools, in fact, will still be in session until June 14th, 2012. 

This shift in date prevents educators, librarians, administrators, and pretty much anyone who works in the education field from attending the next two Origins Game Fairs.  With only limited time off during the year, educators are outright unable to use personal or professional days to take time off during the end of the year.  Further, families with school-age children will be unable to attend, as students are discouraged from missing end-of-year activities like commencement ceremonies, final exams and more.

The date change flies in the face of an amicable relationship between the community of educators and GAMA, as Origins has always held a special track of events specifically to cater to educators.  Similarly, this move is a slap to parents of school-age children, who have previously been among Origins' target audience, complete with "family friendly" tracks and a "kids-only room" run in conjunction with Mayfair Games.

It is my belief that Origins will face a sizable and crippling drop in attendence, as the communities of educators and of school-age families are unable to attend.  I value Origins as a convention--it's been, by far, my favorite gaming convention since I began attending.  Frankly, it both disappoints and even frightens me to think that this may be my last Origins Game Fair, simply because of my profession.  Even if you are not an educator, even if you do not have school-age children, this change affects you:  how many of your GMs or fellow players were teachers?  How many volunteers and vendors have school-aged children?

If you feel as I do, please sign the petition that I've created, hosted here:  PetitionOnline--Origins Date Change. 

Nothing changes unless we, as a gaming community, speak up!

In Which The Warlock Gives His Props...

So, I know that I promised a review of Icons in my last entry. I'm holding off on running a session of it for a week, as Ebbs is heading to North Carolina for the long holiday weekend.
And, for that matter, I have a whole series of observations on AnCon that I need to toss in, once I get the pictures off of my new camera. However, this entry is about neither of them.

The WittKids and I have been attending Origins for the last 4 years. Each year has a been a blast, and we're excited to be finally running events at the Big O for the first time. However, Origins isn't without its foibles.

The most trying, most frustrating of these difficulties tends to come from event registration. Origins has had a hell of a time getting it sorted out over the last few years and, in comparison to its bigger cousin GenCon, it seems disorganized, slow, and inefficient.

Many, many gamers get frustrated at Origins for this aspect. GenCon has its events list up earlier, they cry. GenCon has online registration earlier, they wail. Some even put up the infantile argument of "This is stupid--I'm never going to Origins again!"

To them, I say "Good. More games for me, then. We didn't want you anyway."

People seem to forget that Origins is run by GAMA, a non-profit organization of game manufacturers, while GenCon is run by GenCon LLC--a corporation. GenCon has more funds and more ability at its disposal than GAMA does in putting on a con. For that matter, most of Origins' staff are volunteers--usually unpaid volunteers, who are reimbursed through other manners (free badges, free hotel rooms, free travel, etc.). The actual staff of GAMA works diligently with an ever-changing crew of people to provide one of the premier game shows in the country.

To them, I say "Thank you!" Thanks for putting up with all of the bull pucky that people throw down in their ignorance. Thanks for putting in long hours, fixing server crashes, addressing customer service e-mails, and aiding all of us in setting up a really great time.

So, thank you, GAMA. I'll see you in Columbus!

In Which The PlatinumChick Has a Stroke...of Genius!

So, on the way back from Origins, after going out to O'Charley's with Lionel and his family, Jules struck upon a massively brilliant idea.

After roaming around at Origins, playing the massive series of games there, she expressed a desire to run game again. Jules is the resident Eberron-nut, and she was especially jazzed when she ran "Sharn's Eleven" at WittCon V, but felt a bit frustrated when she had to skip levels of the game, due to the slowdowns of 3.5e.

So, when she mentioned this idea in her car, driving back to Fairborn, it hit me like a bolt out of the blue.

We had 7 Witt-Weggers at Origins this year. Next year, at the very least, we'll have four of us, with at least two more already in the wings.

GAMA, the organization that runs Origins, offers incentives for people who run games at Origins. In fact, the basic incentive is free admission/payment reimbursement for that Origins Game Fair. The Wittenberg Role-Playing Guild, as an organization, is already registered as a GAMA member-organization.

Being a GAMA-affiliated organization allows you certain advantages, such as some flexibility in scheduling events...and choice of rooms. Shoggoth.net, Rogue Cthulhu, Amorphous Blob--all of these have been able to get their own rooms and their own scheduling set up. Why not us?

The vision for next year: our very own Wittenberg Role-Playing Guild room. Maybe not for the entire show, but for at least a few days of it. If we can get each Witt-Wegger to run two games--our badges would provisionally be comp-ed, we can publicise both WittCon VI/VII, and get blind playtesting for both Dungeon Slam! and MOE.

I envision us in something like the Clark room--five tables of games, with each of us at one: myself running Dungeon Slam! or the Cthulhu Dark Ages scenario, "Deus Vult!"; Ebbs running MOE or his "Ninja Nuttiness" scenario; Lionel running Paranoia or his d20 Zombies scenario; Jules running d20 Modern or "Sharn's Eleven"....
...and, coupled with this--the WittCon banner hung for all to see, business cards with the guild-website and contact info, a tack-board with pictures from prior WittCons, and laser-etched dice (cheaper than you think!) with the Guild Shield.

If this works, we could potentially even look at having guests in, as well--El Willy comes immediately to mind, but others too...

Are we on to something here? Could this work? It's time to send some e-mails...