#RPGaDAY 2016, Day 5: Not Gaming at the Gaming Convention

by ThomasNo Comments

Here’s the thing: When I’ve attended Gen Con, I haven’t gone for the games. Teenage me would be shocked. Teenage me always wanted to attend Gen Con ((Lake Geneva was just a three hour drive away!)), but I never made it out there. Four days of gaming goodness and I, at most, play three different games.

So these last times — and I’m not counting the time I was doing booth duty for a Mayfair Games offshoot project — what do you do at a gaming convention when you’re not gaming?

Mainly networking. Continue reading →

#RPGaDAY 2016, Day 4: Future Convention Plans

by ThomasNo Comments

In the past #RPGaDAY events, the four days of Gen Con had questions that revolved around game conventions. This year, there aren’t any. So for the next four days, I’ll be covering topics about gaming conventions. The one “official” prompt I’m interested in pursuing from this time frame will show up on the 8th.

Today, in question form: What are your plans for conventions in the future?

While I enjoy Gen Con, I don’t see me attending again unless I’m there as part of a company. It’s grown too large for me to handle. Last year on Day 14, where the topic was “Should I attend Gen Con?”, I wrote a bit about an episode of Ken Hite and Robin Laws’ podcast discussing that convention. The takeaway line from that was Ken saying, “I hate to say it, because Gen Con used to be great one-stop shopping for freelancers… I would find it amazing if a freelancer was able to get two words of quality time, edgewise, with a busy booth owner.”

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#RPGaDAY 2016, Day 3: A Character Moment You Are Proud Of

by Thomas2 Comments

Often we play long campaigns that don’t have a stopping point in mind, and so the pace of the game can be quite casual. My preference is for short-run campaigns, or campaigns where there’s a time limit. No time to haggle over the price of blue-fletched arrows. There’s a sense that we’ve got to get to the meat of the story if we only have five or seven game sessions.

We’re playing Lady Blackbird. ((Get it at http://www.onesevendesign.com/ladyblackbird/)) Last year, I said we had five sessions, but I think we really had eight. But we got to some good points in the game. One of my favorites was Amy’s last scene in the game.

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