| |
In lugnet.loc.us.nj, Frank Filz writes:
> Chris McCaully wrote:
> > Is there any age limit of how can come and play, because i am fifteen and i
> > want to come. If we have our own fleet can we bring it? Thanks.
If you are capable of paying attention and being nice (at least as nice as any
other scurvy dog, that is), then I don't see what age has to do with it. You
would be most welcome.
> Chris Weeks will have to answer if there are any age requirements for
> the event in general. For the game itself, all that is required is that
There aren't. In the past at these events there have been e.g. Pokemon
tournaments that were geared for (I guess) 8-14 year olds, so the events
themselves are fairly kid friendly.
> players be sufficiently mature to play the game. I expect most 15 year
> olds would fit the bill (we had Shiri's younger sister, Inbal, playing
> at Brickfest 2000, and while she was a little too young to understand
> everything, we were able to accommodate her in the game).
Agreed. She payed sufficiently little attention that it would have gotten old
to have her playing for 20 hours, but for the few hours that she was there it
wasn't a problem at all.
On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
(including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
planning.
Chris
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Christopher Weeks wrote:
> On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> planning.
I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
It does suggest we don't want to pay for Steve Jackson to come (however,
if he wanted to come on his own, that would be cool). I'd love some more
opportunities to run the game, and 6 players would be enough to at least
have a game. We would just be changing the focus of the event to either
a general gaming event (with perhaps some Brickwars thrown in). I
suspect that if we had the game going, that we would get some drop ins
from the gaming crowd. Note that Steve Jackson has run the game very
successefully at SF and Gaming cons with almost no LEGO fan base. Of
course getting 20-30 players from a 500+ member con (not sure about the
sizes of the various cons) is a lot easier than getting 10-15 players
from a 50-100 person gaming event.
Another factor is that many folks don't start committing until about a
month or so before an event like this (how many people were signed up
for Brickfest 2000 by the middle of March?).
Of course another factor is that we are awfully close in time frame to
Brickfest. Perhaps it would work better to do it in the fall (and to
some extent, for Lindsay's new found friends on the other side of the
pond, I would be inclined to reccomend they come to Brickfest over
Piratefest, I think if I was buying a ticket to Europe I would want to
be going to a fairly general type event, though of course a very
specific type event would also be good).
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> In lugnet.loc.us.nj, Frank Filz writes:
> > Chris McCaully wrote:
> > > Is there any age limit of how can come and play, because i am fifteen and i
> > > want to come. If we have our own fleet can we bring it? Thanks.
>
> If you are capable of paying attention and being nice (at least as nice as any
> other scurvy dog, that is), then I don't see what age has to do with it. You
> would be most welcome.
>
> > Chris Weeks will have to answer if there are any age requirements for
> > the event in general. For the game itself, all that is required is that
>
> There aren't. In the past at these events there have been e.g. Pokemon
> tournaments that were geared for (I guess) 8-14 year olds, so the events
> themselves are fairly kid friendly.
>
> > players be sufficiently mature to play the game. I expect most 15 year
> > olds would fit the bill (we had Shiri's younger sister, Inbal, playing
> > at Brickfest 2000, and while she was a little too young to understand
> > everything, we were able to accommodate her in the game).
>
> Agreed. She payed sufficiently little attention that it would have gotten old
> to have her playing for 20 hours, but for the few hours that she was there it
> wasn't a problem at all.
>
> On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> planning.
>
> Chris
Count me in i will be there, I just need directions to the store, I live in
cherry hil.
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On Fri, 9 Mar 2001, Frank Filz (<3AA8DE15.398@mindspring.com>) wrote at
13:43:49
>
> Of course another factor is that we are awfully close in time frame to
> Brickfest. Perhaps it would work better to do it in the fall (and to
> some extent, for Lindsay's new found friends on the other side of the
> pond, I would be inclined to reccomend they come to Brickfest over
> Piratefest, I think if I was buying a ticket to Europe I would want to
> be going to a fairly general type event, though of course a very
> specific type event would also be good).
I'll stick my head over the bulwark at this point.
It struck me as a great wheeze to jet over, pirate around, and jet back,
and avoid jet-lag by playing at strange times of the day.
The timing in June is not good for me, though, so I've kept quiet, as I
don't think I can make it.
I've never played, but getting it from the horse's mouth seemed like a
good idea :-)
--
Tony Priestman
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> planning.
>
> Chris
Hi,
I would attend but we return from honeymoon just before that weekend (Jun
8-10) and I am
needed around the house.
I just checked and Brickfest 2001 works out, yippee....
-Erik
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> In lugnet.loc.us.nj, Frank Filz writes:
> > Chris McCaully wrote:
> > > Is there any age limit of how can come and play, because i am fifteen and i
> > > want to come. If we have our own fleet can we bring it? Thanks.
>
> If you are capable of paying attention and being nice (at least as nice as any
> other scurvy dog, that is), then I don't see what age has to do with it. You
> would be most welcome.
"Now dear, play nice with the other scurvy dogs."
> On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> planning.
Just a thought: We still haven't had a !highlight! announcement.
If that appeared we might get more interest. I'm not sure when
Steve would need to know before he could fly out, or how much it
would cost, but I think the observation that people will be much
more into it come late April or even May is a valid one. My jaunt
to BrickFest last year wasn't assured until only three weeks before
the day!
Is the hobby shop yet promoting anything? Are they signing folks
up for the Pirate Game? What's the state of the planning ball in
play?
I'd be happy, btw, just getting together six to eight folks for
a weekend of pizza and soda (or beer if you prefer) and Pirate
Gaming, if we get shrunk out of our current planned venue. The
trick would be finding a place big enough for the ships and islands.
As far as flying Steve out, that does as Chris noted depend on the
size of the gathering, when the decision must be made, and whether
we'd be willing to commit to taking a loss if that's necessary.
It may be required to collect deposits before we can buy even a
Galley Slave/Steerage Class ticket for Steve.
best
Lindsay
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> planning.
I would *love* to go to this. I would be tripping all over myself to drive
down to Jersey to play- especially with Steve Jackson coming. I've always
wanted to play the fabled Pirate Game since the first time I heard of it
('93/4?).
Unfortunately, this is not a good time for me. Between Todd and Suz' wedding,
my high school reunion, and a family issue, I've taken a lot of time off work
recently. Between the travel expenses involved in those things and the
expenses involved in a class I'm taking, I'm pretty much tapped out of cash.
I've been very disappointed that I won't be able to come. Which doesn't help
you to get more players, but I would hope you don't think it's for lack of
interest.
eric
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Lorbaat wrote:
>
> In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
>
> > On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> > (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> > out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> > planning.
>
> I would *love* to go to this. I would be tripping all over myself to drive
> down to Jersey to play- especially with Steve Jackson coming. I've always
> wanted to play the fabled Pirate Game since the first time I heard of it
> ('93/4?).
>
> Unfortunately, this is not a good time for me. Between Todd and Suz' wedding,
> my high school reunion, and a family issue, I've taken a lot of time off work
> recently. Between the travel expenses involved in those things and the
> expenses involved in a class I'm taking, I'm pretty much tapped out of cash.
>
> I've been very disappointed that I won't be able to come. Which doesn't help
> you to get more players, but I would hope you don't think it's for lack of
> interest.
Two thoughts:
1. We should start thinking about a venue for the fall (or even late
summer - not Labor Day weekend though).
2. The Pirate Game will also happen at Brickfest in July (and Steve
Jackson is more than welcome to come to Brickfest - I hope he does, he
was thinking about it last year - I know he is interested in hooking up
with other AFOLs - his LEGO interests are not limited to the Pirate
Game).
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> > In lugnet.loc.us.nj, Frank Filz writes:
> > > Chris McCaully wrote:
> > > > Is there any age limit of how can come and play, because i am fifteen and i
> > > > want to come. If we have our own fleet can we bring it? Thanks.
> >
> > If you are capable of paying attention and being nice (at least as nice as any
> > other scurvy dog, that is), then I don't see what age has to do with it. You
> > would be most welcome.
>
> "Now dear, play nice with the other scurvy dogs."
>
> > On the other hand, I'm considering chucking the whole idea since I have
> > (including this new poster) only six people who would be playing. If anyone
> > out there wants to play, but hasn't spoken up, let us know, we need you for
> > planning.
I will be there, one of my friends might come. We want to know if we can
bring sleeping bags and sleep in the game shop? I would be willing to take
guard if you need me to.
>
> Just a thought: We still haven't had a !highlight! announcement.
> If that appeared we might get more interest. I'm not sure when
> Steve would need to know before he could fly out, or how much it
> would cost, but I think the observation that people will be much
> more into it come late April or even May is a valid one. My jaunt
> to BrickFest last year wasn't assured until only three weeks before
> the day!
>
> Is the hobby shop yet promoting anything? Are they signing folks
> up for the Pirate Game? What's the state of the planning ball in
> play?
>
> I'd be happy, btw, just getting together six to eight folks for
> a weekend of pizza and soda (or beer if you prefer) and Pirate
> Gaming, if we get shrunk out of our current planned venue. The
> trick would be finding a place big enough for the ships and islands.
> As far as flying Steve out, that does as Chris noted depend on the
> size of the gathering, when the decision must be made, and whether
> we'd be willing to commit to taking a loss if that's necessary.
> It may be required to collect deposits before we can buy even a
> Galley Slave/Steerage Class ticket for Steve.
I was just looking and it is about 220 bucks for a round trip ticket from
texas. If steve is coming we should start collecting the money in april so
we can buy him a ticket.
best
>
> Lindsay
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In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> Two thoughts:
>
> 1. We should start thinking about a venue for the fall (or even late
> summer - not Labor Day weekend though).
OK. Would this be in lieu of the June gathering, or an
"official" date to combine with an "unofficial" or smaller
June gathering?
Regardless of which it is, new concerns come to the fore:
*Colleges may be in session as early as the last week of August
*High schools, ditto
For those of us who attend (or, in a couple of cases, teach)
this really affects the issue. For the K-12 crowd, it may be
affecting the 8 June date as well; I don't know how late you
go into the summer, but I remember a few 22 June last-days.
Oh, and aren't most companies' vacation-time calendars based
on the fiscal year...?
> 2. The Pirate Game will also happen at Brickfest in July (and Steve
> Jackson is more than welcome to come to Brickfest - I hope he does, he
> was thinking about it last year - I know he is interested in hooking up
> with other AFOLs - his LEGO interests are not limited to the Pirate
> Game).
I was sad he couldn't come to the *last* BrickFest. But in any
case we need to start planning how we'll do it this time around--
if we can hit the ground running everything will be smoother.
I know that with the size of last year's BrickFest, we're liable
to start seeing timed events with signups...
best
Lindsay
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > Two thoughts:
> >
> > 1. We should start thinking about a venue for the fall (or even late
> > summer - not Labor Day weekend though).
>
> OK. Would this be in lieu of the June gathering, or an
> "official" date to combine with an "unofficial" or smaller
> June gathering?
I was wondering about this too.
Chris
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|
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In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
> It does suggest we don't want to pay for Steve Jackson to come (however,
The venue I had in mind was open to us because it would be worth it for the
shop to host the event if we were bringing Steve Jackson. Without His
presense, we may not have a location. When I was closely affiliated (grad
student, full-time staff, committee member, etc.) with the University of
Missouri, it would have been trivial to obtain playspace. Is anyone out there
so affiliated and able to grab up space (even if they're currently on another
continent...hint...hint)?
> if he wanted to come on his own, that would be cool). I'd love some more
> opportunities to run the game, and 6 players would be enough to at least
> have a game. We would just be changing the focus of the event to either
> a general gaming event (with perhaps some Brickwars thrown in). I
> suspect that if we had the game going, that we would get some drop ins
> from the gaming crowd. Note that Steve Jackson has run the game very
> successefully at SF and Gaming cons with almost no LEGO fan base. Of
> course getting 20-30 players from a 500+ member con (not sure about the
> sizes of the various cons) is a lot easier than getting 10-15 players
> from a 50-100 person gaming event.
Which is why we need to line it up in advance.
Another thing for us to consider is whether we're willing to speculatively
gamble that we'll get enough players. Some smallish group of us could fund
Steve's participation, thus opening the original venue, and be "paid back" out
of the revenue from the event. If we set it up this way, I suspect that the
shop (keeper) would participate in the gamble.
> Another factor is that many folks don't start committing until about a
> month or so before an event like this (how many people were signed up
> for Brickfest 2000 by the middle of March?).
Maybe so. But unless someone is willing to fund it at a risk, how do things
happen? It must be planned in the next couple of weeks, or let go. The
important shop folks are in Las Vegas for the GAMA trade show, I'm on vacation
to Ohio for half of April, and by then time will just all be gone. Plane fare
will increase, Steve's calender may fill, more notice to potential players
means better ability to commit, etc.
> Of course another factor is that we are awfully close in time frame to
> Brickfest. Perhaps it would work better to do it in the fall (and to
> some extent, for Lindsay's new found friends on the other side of the
> pond, I would be inclined to reccomend they come to Brickfest over
> Piratefest, I think if I was buying a ticket to Europe I would want to
> be going to a fairly general type event, though of course a very
> specific type event would also be good).
I think it depends on their goals. It will be hard to get 30 hours of
piratefesting in at Brickfest because there will be so much other stuff to do.
I know a couple who fly to London for dinner once a year. My mind boggles at
the conspicuity of the consumption, but whatever. My point is that for some,
flying to the NYC area isn't that big a deal. Another option would be to push
it back even closer to Brickfest so that visitors could make a longer vacation
of it. I'm not sure how that works for the rest of us, but it might actually
be better. (eg Frank, you could do Piratefest, head up to Boston for a few
days, and back down to DC for Brickfest.)
Oh, and the carpet is that short dense commercial stuff in a neutral color...it
isn't blue.
For a less formal thing, we could meet at my house and sail on the lawn!
Actually, that's a dumb idea for a pirate game. But our property (1.7 rocky
wooded acres) has great terrain for land-based brickwars type events. Hmmm...
Chris
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
>
> > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
>
> If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
>
> > It does suggest we don't want to pay for Steve Jackson to come (however,
>
> The venue I had in mind was open to us because it would be worth it for the
> shop to host the event if we were bringing Steve Jackson. Without His
> presense, we may not have a location. When I was closely affiliated (grad
> student, full-time staff, committee member, etc.) with the University of
> Missouri, it would have been trivial to obtain playspace. Is anyone out there
> so affiliated and able to grab up space (even if they're currently on another
> continent...hint...hint)?
I thought about this possibility, but space at RU is so horribly
tight that it's hard to get anything less than 6 months in advance,
and even then, they make you *pay* for it (even if the money is
coming from the University, you have to pay). Even academic
functions have to do this, so we're kind of FUBAR on that score.
> > [Time issues, appeal issues, Steve coming, etc.]
>
> Which is why we need to line it up in advance.
>
> Another thing for us to consider is whether we're willing to speculatively
> gamble that we'll get enough players. Some smallish group of us could fund
> Steve's participation, thus opening the original venue, and be "paid back" out
> of the revenue from the event. If we set it up this way, I suspect that the
> shop (keeper) would participate in the gamble.
I can't gamble much--I'm currently locked in battle with BMI
over $200 they want to charge me for a ticket they mislaid.
That, and the other $20K...
> > Another factor is that many folks don't start committing until about a
> > month or so before an event like this (how many people were signed up
> > for Brickfest 2000 by the middle of March?).
>
> Maybe so. But unless someone is willing to fund it at a risk, how do things
> happen? It must be planned in the next couple of weeks, or let go. The
> important shop folks are in Las Vegas for the GAMA trade show, I'm on vacation
> to Ohio for half of April, and by then time will just all be gone. Plane fare
> will increase, Steve's calender may fill, more notice to potential players
> means better ability to commit, etc.
Duly noted and in the think-pipe.
> I think it depends on their goals. It will be hard to get 30 hours of
> piratefesting in at Brickfest because there will be so much other stuff to do.
> I know a couple who fly to London for dinner once a year. My mind boggles at
> the conspicuity of the consumption, but whatever. My point is that for some,
> flying to the NYC area isn't that big a deal. Another option would be to push
> it back even closer to Brickfest so that visitors could make a longer vacation
> of it. I'm not sure how that works for the rest of us, but it might actually
> be better. (eg Frank, you could do Piratefest, head up to Boston for a few
> days, and back down to DC for Brickfest.)
Not a bad thought, really. I'd do that. But then again, I'm
just altogether too agreeable.
> Oh, and the carpet is that short dense commercial stuff in a neutral color...it
> isn't blue.
Neutral is good. It can be muddy.
> For a less formal thing, we could meet at my house and sail on the lawn!
> Actually, that's a dumb idea for a pirate game. But our property (1.7 rocky
> wooded acres) has great terrain for land-based brickwars type events. Hmmm...
Oh, man. Back home we used to hold 1/35 scale tank battles
(Axis vs. Allies) on such a plot, and it was excellent. But
the Axis always won--they had three times the equipment! I
had the only real chance as the collector of Soviet armour--
the only thing that scares a guy with 4 King Tigers and 4 Panthers
is the guy with half a dozen T-34/85s and a trio of JS-IIIs...
That wistful longing aside, I'd play Brickwars too if that
became the function. I could crank out some funky Mechdom
or Tankdom. Wow, I'm entirely noncommittal, aren't I? But
in the end I definitely want to play the Pirate Game.
Has anyone considered a two- or three-person "Fleet Action"
type of Pirate Game? With blue and red Imperial squadrons?
After all, I finally have enough flags!
best
LFB
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
>
> > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
>
> If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
>
> > It does suggest we don't want to pay for Steve Jackson to come (however,
>
> The venue I had in mind was open to us because it would be worth it for the
> shop to host the event if we were bringing Steve Jackson. Without His
> presense, we may not have a location. When I was closely affiliated (grad
> student, full-time staff, committee member, etc.) with the University of
> Missouri, it would have been trivial to obtain playspace. Is anyone out there
> so affiliated and able to grab up space (even if they're currently on another
> continent...hint...hint)?
>
> > if he wanted to come on his own, that would be cool). I'd love some more
> > opportunities to run the game, and 6 players would be enough to at least
> > have a game. We would just be changing the focus of the event to either
> > a general gaming event (with perhaps some Brickwars thrown in). I
> > suspect that if we had the game going, that we would get some drop ins
> > from the gaming crowd. Note that Steve Jackson has run the game very
> > successefully at SF and Gaming cons with almost no LEGO fan base. Of
> > course getting 20-30 players from a 500+ member con (not sure about the
> > sizes of the various cons) is a lot easier than getting 10-15 players
> > from a 50-100 person gaming event.
>
> Which is why we need to line it up in advance.
>
> Another thing for us to consider is whether we're willing to speculatively
> gamble that we'll get enough players. Some smallish group of us could fund
> Steve's participation, thus opening the original venue, and be "paid back" out
> of the revenue from the event. If we set it up this way, I suspect that the
> shop (keeper) would participate in the gamble.
I would be willing to lend some cash to buy a ticket, if we are doing it i
will need to know soon.
>
> > Another factor is that many folks don't start committing until about a
> > month or so before an event like this (how many people were signed up
> > for Brickfest 2000 by the middle of March?).
>
> Maybe so. But unless someone is willing to fund it at a risk, how do things
> happen? It must be planned in the next couple of weeks, or let go. The
> important shop folks are in Las Vegas for the GAMA trade show, I'm on vacation
> to Ohio for half of April, and by then time will just all be gone. Plane fare
> will increase, Steve's calender may fill, more notice to potential players
> means better ability to commit, etc.
>
> > Of course another factor is that we are awfully close in time frame to
> > Brickfest. Perhaps it would work better to do it in the fall (and to
> > some extent, for Lindsay's new found friends on the other side of the
> > pond, I would be inclined to reccomend they come to Brickfest over
> > Piratefest, I think if I was buying a ticket to Europe I would want to
> > be going to a fairly general type event, though of course a very
> > specific type event would also be good).
>
> I think it depends on their goals. It will be hard to get 30 hours of
> piratefesting in at Brickfest because there will be so much other stuff to do.
> I know a couple who fly to London for dinner once a year. My mind boggles at
> the conspicuity of the consumption, but whatever. My point is that for some,
> flying to the NYC area isn't that big a deal. Another option would be to push
> it back even closer to Brickfest so that visitors could make a longer vacation
> of it. I'm not sure how that works for the rest of us, but it might actually
> be better. (eg Frank, you could do Piratefest, head up to Boston for a few
> days, and back down to DC for Brickfest.)
>
> Oh, and the carpet is that short dense commercial stuff in a neutral color...it
> isn't blue.
>
> For a less formal thing, we could meet at my house and sail on the lawn!
> Actually, that's a dumb idea for a pirate game. But our property (1.7 rocky
> wooded acres) has great terrain for land-based brickwars type events. Hmmm...
>
> Chris
|
|
| |
Christopher Weeks wrote:
>
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
>
> > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
>
> If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
Does anyone have a large living room or family room which most of the
furniture could be moved out of? For 6 players or so, a 15x30 living
room would probably work decently (the space we were in at Brickfest was
probably really only about 20x30, perhaps a bit larger).
It may also be worth finding out what the cost to rent the store space
would be. If it was 200ish dollars, 6 people chipping in $30 or so each
would basically cover it (and we can skip the free pizza etc). Perhaps
we could split the cost of the space with the store, and the store owner
can get various traditional games going in one half, and we run the
pirate game in the other half. Then, if Steve Jackson could be enticed
into coming on his own, that would be super cool. The other possibility
would be to have Steve run an GURPS or other Steve Jackson Games game
for a session or two, and then charge everyone who attends the mini-con
$5 or so, and then an additional $25 for the Pirate Game. 50 people at
$5 plus 8 people at $25 would be $450 which might be close enough.
What we're basically fighting is the fact that a FAN SF or gaming con
can not really fund guests just by charging admission for the events
featuring those guests. The reason a con can get folks to pay is that
they are willing to pay for a weekend of fun with a large number of
fans. The panels or game events are an important draw, but they
generally don't pay for themselves. In other words, cons mostly only
work using the socialist model.
Now a media con (Star Trek or whatever) can make itself pay, but that is
largely because the fan base is MUCH larger than a literary SF con or a
gaming con.
> I think it depends on their goals. It will be hard to get 30 hours of
> piratefesting in at Brickfest because there will be so much other stuff to do.
> I know a couple who fly to London for dinner once a year. My mind boggles at
> the conspicuity of the consumption, but whatever. My point is that for some,
> flying to the NYC area isn't that big a deal. Another option would be to push
> it back even closer to Brickfest so that visitors could make a longer vacation
> of it. I'm not sure how that works for the rest of us, but it might actually
> be better. (eg Frank, you could do Piratefest, head up to Boston for a few
> days, and back down to DC for Brickfest.)
Closer together in that time frame is probably bad for me. We have a
product release in the July time frame. Well separated weekends should
be easy to take, but two weekends back to back might not work too well.
> Oh, and the carpet is that short dense commercial stuff in a neutral color...it
> isn't blue.
The carpet need not be blue of course.
Another venue might be a local high school or so, though we probably
couldn't get all night access, and they would probably still want some
money.
Perhaps it's time for me to check into the possibility of using our
church. Of course that would put the 7 hour drive onto more people, but
it would also mean that my entire collection could be available. There
would be no problems at all crashing at the church. The venue would
still cost money, but it would be a modest amount. Raleigh Durham
Airport is a well connected airport with reasonable cost fares from
anywhere in the country (and I think we have some European flights, or
connecting down from NYC or DC wouldn't be too bad).
> For a less formal thing, we could meet at my house and sail on the lawn!
> Actually, that's a dumb idea for a pirate game. But our property (1.7 rocky
> wooded acres) has great terrain for land-based brickwars type events. Hmmm...
Steve has run the game outside, though on an outdoor carpeted area at a
hotel. Perhaps someone could manage to acquire an old carpet. Of course
if we have a rainy weekend, we're screwed, not to mention that I would
have a lot to deal with wrto avoiding sunburn.
Outdoors also has a much higher potential of loss of little fiddly bits.
Frank
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In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> Christopher Weeks wrote:
> >
> > In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> >
> > > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
> >
> > If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> > in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
>
> Does anyone have a large living room or family room which most of the
> furniture could be moved out of? For 6 players or so, a 15x30 living
> room would probably work decently (the space we were in at Brickfest was
> probably really only about 20x30, perhaps a bit larger).
I might have a spot at my dads work he owns 2 factories in moristown over 1
million square feet so i am hopping he we let us play there. It will be free
and we most likly can sleep there we only would have to pay for pizza i will
get a definet answer soon.
>
> It may also be worth finding out what the cost to rent the store space
> would be. If it was 200ish dollars, 6 people chipping in $30 or so each
> would basically cover it (and we can skip the free pizza etc). Perhaps
> we could split the cost of the space with the store, and the store owner
> can get various traditional games going in one half, and we run the
> pirate game in the other half. Then, if Steve Jackson could be enticed
> into coming on his own, that would be super cool. The other possibility
> would be to have Steve run an GURPS or other Steve Jackson Games game
> for a session or two, and then charge everyone who attends the mini-con
> $5 or so, and then an additional $25 for the Pirate Game. 50 people at
> $5 plus 8 people at $25 would be $450 which might be close enough.
>
> What we're basically fighting is the fact that a FAN SF or gaming con
> can not really fund guests just by charging admission for the events
> featuring those guests. The reason a con can get folks to pay is that
> they are willing to pay for a weekend of fun with a large number of
> fans. The panels or game events are an important draw, but they
> generally don't pay for themselves. In other words, cons mostly only
> work using the socialist model.
>
> Now a media con (Star Trek or whatever) can make itself pay, but that is
> largely because the fan base is MUCH larger than a literary SF con or a
> gaming con.
>
> > I think it depends on their goals. It will be hard to get 30 hours of
> > piratefesting in at Brickfest because there will be so much other stuff to do.
> > I know a couple who fly to London for dinner once a year. My mind boggles at
> > the conspicuity of the consumption, but whatever. My point is that for some,
> > flying to the NYC area isn't that big a deal. Another option would be to push
> > it back even closer to Brickfest so that visitors could make a longer vacation
> > of it. I'm not sure how that works for the rest of us, but it might actually
> > be better. (eg Frank, you could do Piratefest, head up to Boston for a few
> > days, and back down to DC for Brickfest.)
>
> Closer together in that time frame is probably bad for me. We have a
> product release in the July time frame. Well separated weekends should
> be easy to take, but two weekends back to back might not work too well.
>
> > Oh, and the carpet is that short dense commercial stuff in a neutral color...it
> > isn't blue.
>
> The carpet need not be blue of course.
>
> Another venue might be a local high school or so, though we probably
> couldn't get all night access, and they would probably still want some
> money.
>
> Perhaps it's time for me to check into the possibility of using our
> church. Of course that would put the 7 hour drive onto more people, but
> it would also mean that my entire collection could be available. There
> would be no problems at all crashing at the church. The venue would
> still cost money, but it would be a modest amount. Raleigh Durham
> Airport is a well connected airport with reasonable cost fares from
> anywhere in the country (and I think we have some European flights, or
> connecting down from NYC or DC wouldn't be too bad).
>
> > For a less formal thing, we could meet at my house and sail on the lawn!
> > Actually, that's a dumb idea for a pirate game. But our property (1.7 rocky
> > wooded acres) has great terrain for land-based brickwars type events. Hmmm...
>
> Steve has run the game outside, though on an outdoor carpeted area at a
> hotel. Perhaps someone could manage to acquire an old carpet. Of course
> if we have a rainy weekend, we're screwed, not to mention that I would
> have a lot to deal with wrto avoiding sunburn.
>
> Outdoors also has a much higher potential of loss of little fiddly bits.
>
> Frank
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In lugnet.pirates, Chris McCaully writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > >
> > > In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > >
> > > > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
> > >
> > > If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> > > in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
> >
> > Does anyone have a large living room or family room which most of the
> > furniture could be moved out of? For 6 players or so, a 15x30 living
> > room would probably work decently (the space we were in at Brickfest was
> > probably really only about 20x30, perhaps a bit larger).
>
> I might have a spot at my dads work he owns 2 factories in moristown over 1
> million square feet so i am hopping he we let us play there. It will be free
> and we most likly can sleep there we only would have to pay for pizza i will
> get a definet answer soon.
That's a definite thought--but of course one does not wish to get
into the logistics of trying to maneuver ships around running
machinery and workers. ;) But if it's possible--or even warehouse
space--that's a thought.
I wish I were still in the house on Lincoln Avenue, we had a huge
basement and plenty of crash space.
best
LFB
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Chris McCaully writes:
> > In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > > Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > > >
> > > > In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > > >
> > > > > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
> > > >
> > > > If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> > > > in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have a large living room or family room which most of the
> > > furniture could be moved out of? For 6 players or so, a 15x30 living
> > > room would probably work decently (the space we were in at Brickfest was
> > > probably really only about 20x30, perhaps a bit larger).
> >
> > I might have a spot at my dads work he owns 2 factories in moristown over 1
> > million square feet so i am hopping he we let us play there. It will be free
> > and we most likly can sleep there we only would have to pay for pizza i will
> > get a definet answer soon.
>
> That's a definite thought--but of course one does not wish to get
> into the logistics of trying to maneuver ships around running
> machinery and workers. ;) But if it's possible--or even warehouse
> space--that's a thought.
There is more than enough empty warhouse space for us at least a30x40 space
but i am not sure if he will let us. He is on a trip and will be back sunday.
I wish I were still in the house on Lincoln Avenue, we had a huge
> basement and plenty of crash space.
>
> best
>
> LFB
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In lugnet.pirates, Christopher L. Weeks writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
>
> > I'm not sure if it's worth chucking just because we only have 6 players.
>
> If we can put something together with 6-10 players, I'm still wildly interested
> in playing. But the nature of the thing changes substantially.
>
> > It does suggest we don't want to pay for Steve Jackson to come (however,
>
> The venue I had in mind was open to us because it would be worth it for the
> shop to host the event if we were bringing Steve Jackson. Without His
> presense, we may not have a location. When I was closely affiliated (grad
> student, full-time staff, committee member, etc.) with the University of
> Missouri, it would have been trivial to obtain playspace. Is anyone out there
> so affiliated and able to grab up space (even if they're currently on another
> continent...hint...hint)?
I am a student and employee at Frostburg St. University in western MD. Would
this be an acceptable location? Frostburg is right off an interstate (68),
but the nearest real airport may be Pittsburgh. Let me know if you guys want
me to look into getting space - I really want this to happen!
-Marc Nelson Jr.
>
> > if he wanted to come on his own, that would be cool). I'd love some more
> > opportunities to run the game, and 6 players would be enough to at least
> > have a game. We would just be changing the focus of the event to either
> > a general gaming event (with perhaps some Brickwars thrown in). I
> > suspect that if we had the game going, that we would get some drop ins
> > from the gaming crowd. Note that Steve Jackson has run the game very
> > successefully at SF and Gaming cons with almost no LEGO fan base. Of
> > course getting 20-30 players from a 500+ member con (not sure about the
> > sizes of the various cons) is a lot easier than getting 10-15 players
> > from a 50-100 person gaming event.
>
> Which is why we need to line it up in advance.
>
> Another thing for us to consider is whether we're willing to speculatively
> gamble that we'll get enough players. Some smallish group of us could fund
> Steve's participation, thus opening the original venue, and be "paid back" out
> of the revenue from the event. If we set it up this way, I suspect that the
> shop (keeper) would participate in the gamble.
>
> > Another factor is that many folks don't start committing until about a
> > month or so before an event like this (how many people were signed up
> > for Brickfest 2000 by the middle of March?).
>
> Maybe so. But unless someone is willing to fund it at a risk, how do things
> happen? It must be planned in the next couple of weeks, or let go. The
> important shop folks are in Las Vegas for the GAMA trade show, I'm on vacation
> to Ohio for half of April, and by then time will just all be gone. Plane fare
> will increase, Steve's calender may fill, more notice to potential players
> means better ability to commit, etc.
>
> > Of course another factor is that we are awfully close in time frame to
> > Brickfest. Perhaps it would work better to do it in the fall (and to
> > some extent, for Lindsay's new found friends on the other side of the
> > pond, I would be inclined to reccomend they come to Brickfest over
> > Piratefest, I think if I was buying a ticket to Europe I would want to
> > be going to a fairly general type event, though of course a very
> > specific type event would also be good).
>
> I think it depends on their goals. It will be hard to get 30 hours of
> piratefesting in at Brickfest because there will be so much other stuff to do.
> I know a couple who fly to London for dinner once a year. My mind boggles at
> the conspicuity of the consumption, but whatever. My point is that for some,
> flying to the NYC area isn't that big a deal. Another option would be to push
> it back even closer to Brickfest so that visitors could make a longer vacation
> of it. I'm not sure how that works for the rest of us, but it might actually
> be better. (eg Frank, you could do Piratefest, head up to Boston for a few
> days, and back down to DC for Brickfest.)
>
> Oh, and the carpet is that short dense commercial stuff in a neutral color...it
> isn't blue.
>
> For a less formal thing, we could meet at my house and sail on the lawn!
> Actually, that's a dumb idea for a pirate game. But our property (1.7 rocky
> wooded acres) has great terrain for land-based brickwars type events. Hmmm...
>
> Chris
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"Marc Nelson Jr." wrote:
> I am a student and employee at Frostburg St. University in western MD. Would
> this be an acceptable location? Frostburg is right off an interstate (68),
> but the nearest real airport may be Pittsburgh. Let me know if you guys want
> me to look into getting space - I really want this to happen!
Hmm, that would still probably be a 7-8hr drive for me, and would be a
significant drive for all the NJ and DC folks also. The only advantage
for me is that I could dodge all the cities.
Frank
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
<snip>
> For the K-12 crowd, it may be
> affecting the 8 June date as well; I don't know how late you
> go into the summer, but I remember a few 22 June last-days.
Yes, totally, I'd love to come but I'm not expecting to be out of school
before June 22-ish (depending on snow days). If it were in late June, or
close to the Brickfest maybe, I'd be *thrilled* to come. I also have a good
friend in NJ, so that's a plus (and a potential place to crash).
-Shiri
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Shiri Dori wrote:
>
> In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> <snip>
> > For the K-12 crowd, it may be
> > affecting the 8 June date as well; I don't know how late you
> > go into the summer, but I remember a few 22 June last-days.
>
> Yes, totally, I'd love to come but I'm not expecting to be out of school
> before June 22-ish (depending on snow days). If it were in late June, or
> close to the Brickfest maybe, I'd be *thrilled* to come. I also have a good
> friend in NJ, so that's a plus (and a potential place to crash).
Speaking of the event, are we still on or is it dead for June?
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.loc.us.nj, Frank Filz writes:
> Speaking of the event, are we still on or is it dead for June?
I think that a large event tied to a game party including Steve Jackson is
dead. I would still like to get together with 6-10 people for a weekend of
pirate gaming. I'll try to look for a space, but I don't know if and when I'll
find something good.
Chris
|
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Christopher Weeks wrote:
>
> In lugnet.loc.us.nj, Frank Filz writes:
>
> > Speaking of the event, are we still on or is it dead for June?
>
> I think that a large event tied to a game party including Steve Jackson is
> dead. I would still like to get together with 6-10 people for a weekend of
> pirate gaming. I'll try to look for a space, but I don't know if and when I'll
> find something good.
Ok, sounds good. Of course we can still invite Steve Jackson if he wants
to come on his own (hi Steve!):-)
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > I think that a large event tied to a game party including Steve Jackson is
> > dead. I would still like to get together with 6-10 people for a weekend of
> > pirate gaming. I'll try to look for a space, but I don't know if and when I'll
> > find something good.
>
> Ok, sounds good. Of course we can still invite Steve Jackson if he wants
> to come on his own (hi Steve!):-)
I'm definitely 'in.' So that's three!
best
LFB
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > > I think that a large event tied to a game party including Steve Jackson is
> > > dead. I would still like to get together with 6-10 people for a weekend of
> > > pirate gaming. I'll try to look for a space, but I don't know if and when I'll
> > > find something good.
> >
> > Ok, sounds good. Of course we can still invite Steve Jackson if he wants
> > to come on his own (hi Steve!):-)
>
> I'm definitely 'in.' So that's three!
>
> best
>
> LFB
Count me in i will be there.
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In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > > I think that a large event tied to a game party including Steve Jackson is
> > > dead. I would still like to get together with 6-10 people for a weekend of
> > > pirate gaming. I'll try to look for a space, but I don't know if and when • I'll
> > > find something good.
> >
> > Ok, sounds good. Of course we can still invite Steve Jackson if he wants
> > to come on his own (hi Steve!):-)
>
> I'm definitely 'in.' So that's three!
Me too!
-Marc
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I would be interested in this, Just give me a date and place. I can even
bring some of my fleet.(i have no cutters made, but have plenty of larger
ships!)
-Dan
In lugnet.pirates, Chris McCaully writes:
> In lugnet.pirates, Lindsay Frederick Braun writes:
> > In lugnet.pirates, Frank Filz writes:
> > > Christopher Weeks wrote:
> > > > I think that a large event tied to a game party including Steve Jackson is
> > > > dead. I would still like to get together with 6-10 people for a weekend of
> > > > pirate gaming. I'll try to look for a space, but I don't know if and when I'll
> > > > find something good.
> > >
> > > Ok, sounds good. Of course we can still invite Steve Jackson if he wants
> > > to come on his own (hi Steve!):-)
> >
> > I'm definitely 'in.' So that's three!
> >
> > best
> >
> > LFB
>
> Count me in i will be there.
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In lugnet.pirates, Dan Vogel writes:
> I would be interested in this, Just give me a date and place. I can even
> bring some of my fleet.(i have no cutters made, but have plenty of larger
> ships!)
>
> -Dan
I think that makes a quorum (6)!
best
LFB
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