Subject:
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Re: Gaming at AFOL cons
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.gaming
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Date:
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Sun, 24 Feb 2002 17:37:17 GMT
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Viewed:
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1800 times
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"Frank Filz" <ffilz@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:3C77FBB9.FA7EC75E@mindspring.com...
> We had a nice roundtable on gaming at BricksWest, but I thought I'd open
> some of the discussion here.
>
> One thing Steve Jackson asked was based on the response to the Pirate
> Game at BricksWest, was it even appropriate to have gaming at an AFOL
> con.
Yes, but noting your overview of BricksWest in "Frank's Big BricksWest
Adventure" the gathering may need to be longer.
> Of course if the answer is yes, then what should be kept in mind to
> make it go well.
>
> My immediate reaction is yes. Based on the response to the gaming at the
> three AFOL cons I have attended, I think there is definitely a place for
> gaming at AFOL cons. There does need to be some planning to make the
> gaming rewarding to all involved. Some thoughts are:
Planning for events will be easier once our Lego gatherings stabilize around
specific time periods during the year. Brickfest(r) in July, BricksWest(r)
in February, and other gatherings in May? or October? I have to plan my
vacation time a year in advance, so definite dates are critical if I want to
attend a gathering. I can imagine it is important for everyone else too.
> An AFOL con needs a significant amount of unstructured "play" time.
> Gaming events should be scheduled during this time, but also scheduled
> in such a way as to allow those running the gaming to still participate
> in some unstructured play.
Were events at BricksWest(r) held one at a time or simultaneously, or a
combination of the two?
Most gaming conventions run their events on a schedule simultaneously, all
we have to do is sync up the gaming with LDraw, Animation, Train, Master
Builders, seminars, etc. If that is possible.
> An involved game like the Pirate Game or Mike Rayhawk's BricksWest Brick
> Wars scenario really requires the gaming to have a dedicated secure
> space (it need not be independently lockable at an AFOL con so long as
> general security covers the space). This allows setup to occur without
> delaying the start of the game, and allows the game to span multiple
> non-contiguous time slots.
I agree, the problem with most gaming cons is no security for your gaming
set-up so once your game is done for the current time slot, you have to tear
the display down, store it in your hotel room, then rebuild the display and
set-up for the next scheduled time slot for your game. On a side note, I
have run Stephen Gabriels Lego Pirate Wars at several gaming cons and set-up
and tear down is sheer torture for a standard 4 hour gaming time slot. By
the end of the con, my displays deteriorate to the point that I give players
extra treasure for frankensteining the boats and bases to usable condition.
>
> It is worth encouraging some less structured gaming. I think all the
> Brick Wars games at BrickFest have been less involved scenarios which
> could be quickly set up.
Necessary at a gaming convention.
> There needs to be management of expectations for the gamers. Somehow
> Steve was expecting 25 players or so. I hope I wasn't the source of that
> expectation, the 8 we had the first night was a "good crowd" by my
> thinking, though we could easily have had more in a different situation.
> There is a lot of interest in LEGO gaming, but there are so many other
> things going on to draw people's attention away. There is strong value
> in broad advertising of the gaming, especially if a well known person
> like Steve will be running the game. If you attract a few gamers who
> aren't particularly AFOLs then you have a dedicated player base which is
> not dividing their attention.
Large games may not be possible if people want to participate in all the
activities available at a gathering. Lets face facts, for me personally, I
would end up with split personalities because of participating in all the
events and seminars. I would block off a considerable amount of time to play
games though.
> I would also like to see a dedicated LEGO gaming con. One way to do this
> might be to have it in conjunction with a normal SF or gaming con. Such
> a con would have a full track of LEGO gaming (including a panel or two).
> It would be really nifty if such a con could be convinced to have a
> separate LEGO gaming only admission, but if the overall con registration
> is low enough that needn't be an issue. One must realize that at any con
> with any sort of diversity at all, all the registration fees are being
> pooled together, and re-distributed to bring in a variety of guests and
> provide venue space for a variety of activities. If done well, it can be
> done for less than a very targeted con since there tend to be volume
> discounts for hotel space, and of course a multi-faceted guest can be
> shared among many tracks. For example, a con which books Steve Jackson
> primarily to run the Pirate Game the whole weekend, could still schedule
> him onto say one panel and one autograph session, and not overly burden
> him.
I am running Lego Pirate Wars at Egyptian Campaign 2002 on April 12, 13,
14. The entry fee is $15 for three days and hotels are cheap at
approximately $50/night. If you game master 3 of the 8 time slots you get in
free. I think most gaming conventions are similar in cost and events to this
gaming convention. We always share rooms to reduce costs. I do it to save
money to buy Lego.
The potential for larger Lego conventions is enormous. I always get a crowd
of people playing pirates and the news crew always stops by the table to
take pictures. Doug Mikkelson ran the event last year and the organizers
placed his gaming table up front by the entry door. Doug's pirate game table
placement was not by chance because Lego is a big, colorful , and most
gamers have probably played with Lego. And you guessed it, you already know
it, an incredible draw for kids and the curious. You look through a doorway
and see huge pirate ships, monkeys flying, and people laughing and screaming
because a captain scuttled his ship taking everyone and every treasure with
him down to the briny deep then you realize fifteen minutes have gone by.
One year we were moved around because too many people were watching the game
and blocking the fire exit.
I believe a BrikWars or Pirate Game would be successful in most gaming
conventions.
I am running 3 slots of Pirate Wars and I wouldn't mind playing BrickWars,
so if any of you out there are coming to Carbondale, IL and want to play,
email me. We can battle, trade pieces, drink beer, and play Save Dr. Lucky.
I used to play BattleTech, Magic, and Warhammer but I came to the
realization I have always loved Lego and I still play with Lego and I
finally decided to limit myself to my plastic addiction. So I sold the rest
and kept the best. An interesting price comparison is Lego is no more
expensive than buying thousands of dollars of Warhammer figures or Magic
cards. Just don't tell my NLSO where the profits from my sale of gaming
materials disappeared to.
I have thought about a train set-up but there is limited space and I am not
sure how well it would go over at a gaming convention. And with that point,
the best reason to have a Lego based convention.
> I do suspect that AFOL cons are not yet big enough to have a significant
> number of paid guests and this is something for con organizers and
> potential guests to consider.
My earlier point bears repeating, schedule the gatherings a year in advance
or more. Advertise and ask Lego.com and Lego Direct to add a convention
listing to their web sites and even the Shop@Home catalog. Once a definite
schedule of gatherings emerge, people like me can plan which conventions to
attend and block out vacation time. I would have blocked out vacation time
for BrickFest(r) but someone senior to me took the July the 4th week.
Grrrrr...only fair but still inconvenient. If BricksWest is going to be held
the same time next year, I can actually make travel plans now. Hugh had
suggested a gathering in St. Louis but I do not know the extent of
pre-planning or event dates.
A symbiotic relationship exists between convention attendance and the
sponsor. I would love to see a Lego dealers room where they sell bulk bricks
by the pound and sets.
I'm not sure that Steve Jackson draws
> enough additional con membership to buy an airline ticket, meals, and
> hotel room (input from Matthew and Steve would be appreciated here). The
> good news in the case of the Pirate Game is that there is also a strong
> fan base which is capable of running the game. Also, Steve is an AFOL,
> and having now attended one AFOL con, may feel more comfortable in
> attending as a fan, who also happens to be the author of the Pirate
> Game.
I would be happy if Steve Jackson came as an AFOL, gave an impromptu seminar
on gaming, and then dropped by the Pirate game to offer pointers on game
play. He would appreciate the vast world conspiracy of recruiting pirate
disciples to GM pirate games to an international audience.
> Frank
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Gaming at AFOL cons
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| (...) Definitely. (...) Yes, a fixed yearly schedule helps. I rarely think about this because my vacation time tends to be pretty flexible, and inflexibility occurs on short notice. (...) BricksWest had a "professional" two-track (with appropriate (...) (23 years ago, 24-Feb-02, to lugnet.gaming)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Gaming at AFOL cons
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| We had a nice roundtable on gaming at BricksWest, but I thought I'd open some of the discussion here. One thing Steve Jackson asked was based on the response to the Pirate Game at BricksWest, was it even appropriate to have gaming at an AFOL con. Of (...) (23 years ago, 23-Feb-02, to lugnet.gaming)
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