MD-DC-VA Gaming Day Thoughts and Opinions

[Xath]

Hey guys. It's really important that the TGC gets feedback from the attendees of events so that we can get more funding for next year. So here's our place to document it. What did you like about TerpCon2005? What didn't you like? What could we improve for nexttime? Is there anything else you would like to see? Not see? Let me know, because if I don't know what you guys thought, I don't know what to fix.

Also, the next Gameday is going to be scheduled for a Saturday in October 2005.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I'm really enjoying the heck out of these. Thanks to Xath for organizing and to those that donated the raffle prizes. Also, kudos to Threshel for an awesome game of Mutants and Masterminds. Any time you can squish Nazi's with a thrown tank, you know you're having fun.


I thought that the smaller rooms worked better than the Colony Ballroom from a noise standpoint. It seemed to me like we had fewer people this time, though, so that may account for the quieter atmosphere. And I'm glad to see the wide variety of games -- I don't get to play as often as I like since I usually DM, and it's a blast to get to try out stuff I would never get to do otherwise.

 

[Rasyr]

Xath - I most definitely had a great time! And don't worry, I am sure that Harald the Elder has forgiven you for thinking that he was behind all those murders. He is just such a nice guy that way. I am sure he forgives you for trying to kill him while you were posessed as well.

As Rodrigo pointed out, I think that we did have less people, and I think that a primary cause of this might have been the lack of Flyer until the last minute. It might be an idea to try to get the Flyer ready before putting out the call to GMs if possible (or perhaps have it ready once the date it set, and then releasing it once the sign-up is made available). I have Pagemaker available to me (heh, part of my job, so it requires it), so I can possibly help with that as well.

Yes, the noise level was better in the smaller rooms. Part of this, I think was the smaller rooms being less of an echo-box than the large one was.

When doing the GM sign ups for the next Game Day, perhaps it should be done in a manner similar ot the way sign-ups are done - having the post at the top give a list of the tables available, and then filling that list in as GMs sign up (note: this list need not reflect what table a game will actually end up being at). That might reduce some of the confusion that occured this time about when a game was going to take place.

For example:
Morning Session
Table 1 - Rasyr - HARP
Table 2 - Fieri - Paranoia XP
Table 3 - Tom Cashel - D20 Modern
Table 4 -
etc...

By having this recap list in the first post of the GM sign up, it will help keep down the confusion (like that one morning game that got cancelled at the last minute because the GM had not realized it had been listed in the morning as well - this way he would know before the player sign-up thread started.

Overall, I had a fantastic time yesterday, and you did an great job!

 

[der_kluge]

You'll find no complaints from me here. I enjoyed the convention, although that area is, admittedly, quite a maze, and parking could be better, especially at night, in the cold, cold rain, with the wind. It seemed like I parked forever away.

I enjoyed putting some faces to ENWorld handles, and that's always nice.

I guess my only complaint would be that it might have been nice to socialize a bit more, but then I had to leave earlier, too, since I didn't want to get back home after midnight.

Other than that, I had fun.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I had a great time. Gret GMs, great games, great people all around. No big complaints from me.

I do have different feelings on the rooms than the others who have posted so far. While it may have been quieter than last time in the rooms, I really liked having everything in the ballroom last time. It made it seem more like a big gathering with people spread out around the large room, as opposed to being split among two smaller rooms. The larger room also allows for more room between tables, which makes it easier to walk around without disturbing people sitting (or maybe it was just because I was sitting in the chair closest to the door this time that I had to keep pulling my chair in to let people pass me).

One other thing as we talked about a little, maybe start the mornign games at 10am instead of 9am. That might draw more people to the morning session (and I wouldn't have to leave C'ville at 6am to make it on time...)

And finally, make sure that Looney Labs knows about the game day in October again! It was great to talk to Kristen Looney about their upcoming versions of Fluxx and to see one of the new versions in playtesting. It was really cool that they came by and hung out with all of us gamers and really wanted to know how we felt about their games!

 

[Xath]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, guys! Yes, the flier thing was completely my fault and I apologize. But we'll have it ready for October.

I think we're going to try for the Colony Ballroom again for next year. It's easier to find than Bannaker. But we'll space the tables a little more to lessen the noise.

I think starting the Morning Session at 10 could amp up our morning attendance. Would this make a difference for any of you who didn't show up until the PM? If we do it, should we shift the whole day back an hour, or should we make the morning session a 4 hour set?

 

[Allandaros]

I would suggest making it 9:30, which is still nicer than 9, but allows for a full day of gaming. I wouldn't want to see the con stretching 'till 1 or 2 in the morning.

What might be nice is if the con could actually last a couple of days (though I don't know how feasible that is, I'm just throwing out the idea).

I think that putting both rooms into one would also work better for the socializing aspect. I remember in the Shadowrun game, as our poor street samurai was knocked out for a good part of the game, he was just wandering back and forth in the RPG room. If both rooms were fused together, then it would be possible for people with dead or unconscious PCs to take a small break and hop into an impromptu boardgame or something.

I guess one of the other things I'd like to see is a bit of variety in the game systems. This may just be my hazy recollection, but most of the games that were being run seemed to be d20-based, with one or two exceptions (like Paranoia and Shadowrun). I realize that this is largely dependent on the availability of GMs, and that d20s are quite the common (sigh), but I'd just like to see a bit more variety if possible.

But once again - fantastic con!

 

[Xath]

I guess one of the other things I'd like to see is a bit of variety in the game systems. This may just be my hazy recollection, but most of the games that were being run seemed to be d20-based, with one or two exceptions (like Paranoia and Shadowrun). I realize that this is largely dependent on the availability of GMs, and that d20s are quite the common (sigh), but I'd just like to see a bit more variety if possible.

I don't know how we could get more variety in systems than we had yesterday. While it's true that not all of the games ran (for lack of players), the options were certainly out there.

Exalted, D&D3.5, Paranoia, GURPS, Call of Cthulu, D20 Modern, Mutants and Masterminds, Deadlands, HARP, Capes, and Shadowrun. What sort of RPG diversity would you like to see that wasn't there?

 

[Allandaros]

Well, if I am not mistaken, Deadlands, D&D 3.5, d20 modern, Mutants and Masterminds, and the edition of CoC that was being used were all d20-based.

However, I must have missed the listing for Capes (because I wasn't factoring that in), and I thought Exalted was d20 based (a foolish assumption on my part, apologies).

Based on my earlier viewpoint, six out of ten games were variants of the d20 system. Looking at it again, it's actually five out of eleven, which is, to me, a much nicer percentage. Consider my gripe withdrawn.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Well, if I am not mistaken, Deadlands, D&D 3.5, d20 modern, Mutants and Masterminds, and the edition of CoC that was being used were all d20-based.

Nope, the Deadlands and CoC were the original game systems, not the d20 versions.