Chicago Game Day planning thread planning thread

[buzz]

Well, folks, it's almost sorta kinda getting to be that time... to plan the planning for the next Chicago Game Day!

In talking briefly with thalmin, it seems that tradition has June as a Chicago Game Day month. It may also be an option to postpone the event until after the Origins-GenCon season, possibly moving CGD to a twice-a-year event instead of four-times-a-year.

So, I want to hear your thoughts about scheduling and frequency, as well as suggestions for events or any other comments about how CGD is run. Seeing as this is my first time as a planner, I can use all the help I can get.

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

As far as I can remember, the CGD seems to have been a 3-times per year event. I've quite fond of the rotation, as it gets people with perhaps different schedules more chances to come to one of the gamedays. Not to mention more gaming per year is much better in my book... I love the gamedays since they're actually one of the few times that I can play games during the school year, and I can also get a chance to play new and different games.

I'd say let's keep the current rotation which i believe has worked itself out to be June-ish -- Octoberish --Februaryish

And let me be one of the first to volunteer to GM a slot of... somethign...

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

They've been 3-a-year, but that doesn't mean we can't change it to 2 or 4 or 52....

I think June is a great month for a gameday (folks away at college might be in town for the summer and more likely to attend), summer vacations haven't started yet for those with "real" jobs, etc.

As for the other months, I would stay away from August/September (school starting for some, Gen-Con in late August (this year, anyway) is bad, plus the general "vacations interfering with gaming" problem. ) Other than that, I don't think it really matters. Just stay away from major holidays, and run one or two gamedays.

I like having three a year, so if I miss one I can still get to two others. But if we scale back to two a year, maybe we'll have to take a road trip to crash the next Detroit Gameday, or you can come up to a Milwaukee Gameday.

 

[buzz]

Three it is then, unless more people post to the contrary. Now we just have to figure out when in June. thalmin has been pretty busy of late, but hopefully he'll chime in or contact me directly.

Any dates in June better than others for people?

 

[Painfully]

Three gamedays a year
I don't think we should do more than three a year. The way it is now, we have some breathing room to relax between gamedays before having to setup the next one. As far as I know, nobody has mentioned changing the format before this thread. Chicago does seem to have the most consistency and longevity when it comes to gamedays, and I'd certainly like to see that continue for as long as possible.

DM Roundup
I wonder if planning might be smoother if we round up DMs prior to allowing players to sign up. This way, we actually offer a full menu of choices to players, and can "open" the player sign-ups once the DMs are firmly commited. It also gives the DMs a more equal chance of having a full table, rather than one popular game filling up very early. It won't prevent a game from being more popular, but it will give the less popular games an equal chance to gain players.

More d20
I think the gamedays have drifted away from d20 games for a while. That's certainly not a bad thing. Everybody needs some variety in their gaming. I certainly enjoyed the home rules game system I played in at the last gameday. But, if we can admit that EN World is focused on d20 games (and D&D in particular), and then we offer only one or two d20 games at the gameday, it can diminish the attractiveness of the gameday to many other EN Worlders who might otherwise attend.

Of course, and I must emphasize this, we can only offer what DMs want to run. While there have been some very popular non-d20 games at gameday, I think we need to remember that d20 is the staple that really attracts EN Worlders. My point is that when I speak with EN Worlders I know who have stopped attending the Chicago gamedays, what I hear the most is, "where are the d20 games?" The result, I hope, is to ask DMs to "think d20" first.

 

[buzz]

I wonder if planning might be smoother if we round up DMs prior to allowing players to sign up.

I agree with this. I know that I often wait to sign up until late in the planning simply because I want to know all my options before I commit to anything. I also don't want to be tempted to switch, which is just not kosher.

But, if we can admit that EN World is focused on d20 games (and D&D in particular), and then we offer only one or two d20 games at the gameday, it can diminish the attractiveness of the gameday to many other EN Worlders who might otherwise attend.

Guess I'll hold off on that HERO Sidekick demo until next time.

Good suggestions, everyone. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Mark]

Stick with three, please (Feb., June, Oct/Nov-ish).

Shake it up, Buzz. Find a way to rekindle the Gameday fires!

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

...

Shake it up, Buzz. Find a way to rekindle the Gameday fires!

Hire some extra staff at Games Plus for the gameday and have them wear chainmail bikinis while serving pop from the machines. We don't have to pay them. They'll be paid by the pleasure of our wonderful company

C'mon, you all know you want to see thalmin wearing one...

 

[buzz]

C'mon, you all know you want to see thalmin wearing one...

I CAN'T SEE! I CAN'T SEE!!!

 

[buzz]

Shake it up, Buzz. Find a way to rekindle the Gameday fires!

Any shakage suggestions?