Gateway 2014 roundup
Sept 3, 2014 10:46:07 GMT -8
Post by plusx2a on Sept 3, 2014 10:46:07 GMT -8
This Gateway was my official one year anniversary as RPG Supervisor for Strategicon. It has been one hell of a year! Gateway is now officially our second largest convention (attendance wise) of all time, barley coming in behind Orccon this year. Over 1800 people attended and the place was a madhouse. If the rate of growth stays consistent, we can possibly break 2000 at Orccon 2015.
Despite some unfortunate cancellations (it seems like a bunch of people had things come up at the last minute) I still had approximately 120 games running this past weekend. I also had over a dozen Games on Demand. The GoD model is still in the prototype stage and I have a lot of work to do to polish up the process and really advertise it as a different option for playing games at Strategicon. As always I am very open to constructive input on the matter, especially from those of you who have had previous experiences with Games on Demand at Gencon and other conventions around the country. What I need to do is set up some kind of mailing list or group to handle GoD requests outside of the Strategicon web site to have some better coordination during con. I also want to set up a Twitter account that is just for advertising Games on Demand in real time with a #GoDOrccon2015 tag for easy reference. I also had some people showing strong interest in late night games. I would love to have more midnight games so if you are interested please let me know.
I am starting to reach a bit of a critical mass on Saturday. I am simply running out of room in the most popular time slots and I will be making an assessment as to expansion after Orccon 2015. Things are already packed pretty tight all over the place so I don’t really know where I might expand into, but it’s definitely something that might need to happen. It’s really crazy since we came into the Hilton for more space, got it and then immediately went on to fill this new space. If I am going to be a victim it might as well be a victim of my own success right?
Mickey Tan and the RPGA guys were SLAMMED with 5th edition madness as well. It’s good to see RPGA get a nice shot in the arm. I got a chance to read through the new PHB and play in a session of 5th and I have to say I was pleasantly impressed by what they have done. The addition of character background and narrative aspects, a smooth uniform system, what seems to be very balanced classes, more class options without adding too many new mechanics and a return to a classic AD&D feel are the highlights of what I experienced. I really hope that oncoming supplements and expansions do not ruin what they have done so far. Third edition had an odd power creep and I would hate to see that happen again. I am curious to see what their production schedule looks like for next year.
Despite some unfortunate cancellations (it seems like a bunch of people had things come up at the last minute) I still had approximately 120 games running this past weekend. I also had over a dozen Games on Demand. The GoD model is still in the prototype stage and I have a lot of work to do to polish up the process and really advertise it as a different option for playing games at Strategicon. As always I am very open to constructive input on the matter, especially from those of you who have had previous experiences with Games on Demand at Gencon and other conventions around the country. What I need to do is set up some kind of mailing list or group to handle GoD requests outside of the Strategicon web site to have some better coordination during con. I also want to set up a Twitter account that is just for advertising Games on Demand in real time with a #GoDOrccon2015 tag for easy reference. I also had some people showing strong interest in late night games. I would love to have more midnight games so if you are interested please let me know.
I am starting to reach a bit of a critical mass on Saturday. I am simply running out of room in the most popular time slots and I will be making an assessment as to expansion after Orccon 2015. Things are already packed pretty tight all over the place so I don’t really know where I might expand into, but it’s definitely something that might need to happen. It’s really crazy since we came into the Hilton for more space, got it and then immediately went on to fill this new space. If I am going to be a victim it might as well be a victim of my own success right?
Mickey Tan and the RPGA guys were SLAMMED with 5th edition madness as well. It’s good to see RPGA get a nice shot in the arm. I got a chance to read through the new PHB and play in a session of 5th and I have to say I was pleasantly impressed by what they have done. The addition of character background and narrative aspects, a smooth uniform system, what seems to be very balanced classes, more class options without adding too many new mechanics and a return to a classic AD&D feel are the highlights of what I experienced. I really hope that oncoming supplements and expansions do not ruin what they have done so far. Third edition had an odd power creep and I would hate to see that happen again. I am curious to see what their production schedule looks like for next year.