Going to PAX Unplugged?

by ThomasNo Comments

I’m heading to PAX Unplugged over in Philadelphia in just a few days! That’s a gaming convention that I feel is a whole bunch of companies going to a gaming convention to see what it’s all about, and that’s what it’s all about. From what I’ve gathered, it’s going to be like RinCon, but with a much bigger open gaming library.

So over on reddit, someone asked about what to expect at this, their first ever boardgaming convention. Specifically, should they rush to the expo hall to purchase new games and limited edition items at crazy steep discounts? I wrote a short answer that turned into a longer answer, which turned into something that’s would be it’s own blog post. Ta da!

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#RPGaDAY 2017, Day 30: A Game Everyone Else Likes

by ThomasNo Comments

I know, this day’s #RPGaDAY question is supposed to be about a genre-mashup, but it seems that there’s been a few questions that touch on that and I’d rather talk about Marvel Super Heroes RPG, the first of the superhero roleplaying games that used the Marvel Comics IP.

Whenever I see this game system mentioned, people reflect on it with a sense nostalgia that I never had. I’d be willing to say that you’re thinking about good ol’ FASERIP now with a smile slowly spreading across your face. But for me, this was the game where I learned an important Truth in Gaming: dice tell crappy stories.

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#RPGaDAY 2017, Day 29: Kickstarter

by ThomasNo Comments

For the 29th of last month’s #RPGaDAY entry, the prompt was about the best-run rpg Kickstarater campaign I’ve backed. When I work on layout — and I come under contract before or duing the campaign — I always back the project for one dollar so I can see what communication goes out to the backers.

So far, I’ve only come onto two projects that funded through Kickstarter after the campaign ended: Bluebeard’s Bride and Bulldogs. It’s interesting to see how both campaigns handle communication with backers: Bluebeard’s Bride has everything done publicly — which I think makes it a marketing opportunity for post-KS sales — while Bulldogs has had several that were backer-only. Just because I can see Bulldogs, I’ll use this as an example: why not make that 2016 “Current Print Status” available for anyone to see when they can purchase the game in stores? I don’t know, but some creators like to have backer-only updates. As a person on the creative side, I’d like to see what they’re saying to backers.

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