[DexCon 8] Schedule of IGE Events

[TonyLB]

Well, first, I'm not sure whether anyone is going to be there wednesday, and I know for a fact that many people won't be there until friday (including Michael, Kat, Luke and Thor).

Also, these slots are not all created equal, in terms of drawing people to play.  I know you played in every slot (and we all love you for it!) but the midnight and morning slots are just not very big in terms of drawing power.  Since my goal is to get people who need to get publicity for their game the ability to get players exposed, I value the "prime-time" slots more than the off-peak.

[Luke]

Does that make the purpose of this particular schedule clear?

Crystal.

That said, I only need slots for Friday 8-12, Saturday 8-12, and Sunday 12-4. I'll run the rest of my demos from the booth.  

Thor rocks.
-L

[Andrew Morris]

I hear what you're saying, Tony, but are you sure that it's cool to run a "track" if not all slots are filled? I assume you checked, but I just thought I'd mention it, in case not.

Also, I'm don't know if having time slots run without an alternate indie game is a good idea or not. I know I'm not the average convention attendee since I'm going only for the indie games, but looking at that schedule, I'll be doubling up on two or three games, and tripling up on one or two.

Are there no seminars or discussions at this convention?

Oh, and yes -- I'll be there Wednesday through Sunday, and gaming in every slot.

[TonyLB]

Okay, I've rearranged the schedule for what is hopefully the last time.

Andrew, once I looked at the schedule with an eye toward "How much variety can I get, grand total, if I play something every single session?" I immediately saw your point.  Sorry about that, it was an artifact of two factors:  (1) Many designers aren't going to be there wednesday and thursday and (2) Everyone wants a piece of the prime 8-12 friday/saturday slots, which draws them further away from other slots.

I have tried to shuffle the games that were being over-booked in places that nobody else wanted the slot (particularly Capes on our relatively empty thursday) to other places.  If you can take a look over the new version and see whether it is more in line with what you want, I'd certainly appreciate that.

EDIT:  Light blue means that I have gotten confirmation from the people involved that they like the slots they're in.  If your slots (any of your slots) aren't in light blue, you've probably got either a PM or an email from me awaiting a response.

[Andrew Morris]

Damn, I'll still be doubling up on games. Well, I can bitch as much as I want about how it doesn't work for me personally, but that's not really the important factor. I'm sold on indie games -- no need to lure me into it. What matters is how the schedule works in general. So, here are the items I thought should be noted, or areas of concern (in no particular order):

1. There are only 15 different games running. There are 31 sessions for 48 available slots, leaving 17 unassigned slots. Also, that's not enough to even provide a single track with a different game in each slot (for which you'd need at least 16 games).

2. Of the 6 games that have only 1 session, 2 of them conflict (MLwM and TSoY). While I like "hard choices" in my games, I don't want to have to make hard choices about gaming.

3. The 12-2 p.m. slots for Pulp Era means no lunch for anyone planning on going to it and any game starting at 2 p.m. I need lunch, and so do other gamers.

4. None of the three tracks has every slot filled.

5. The Thursday 8-12 Polaris/Ganakagok option, paired with Polaris and Ganakagok each having a slot where they're the only indie game running, automatically means doubling up on one or the other, if you're going for as much indie-ness as possible, like me. I don't mind doubling up on Ganakagok, because I like the game, but I know nothing about Polaris (other than that it was an IGC game).

[TonyLB]

(1) Yes, because most of the designers coming here want to pitch their own games, it being their livelihood and all.  While many designers have jumped in to run other games, most of our variety comes from non-designers who I drafted rather forcibly.  We just don't have enough of them, sad to say.

(2) Yep, and that's fixable.  Good catch!

(3) This is beyond my control.  Dregg scheduled independently of us (for which I don't blame him, given my delay in organizing).  I'm just listing him.

(4) Yeah, that's true.  It's because I can count on the fingers of one hand the folks I know will be present to run games on thursday, and on the fingers of one finger the folks I know will be showing up wednesday.   I can't move people's games from friday to thursday when they won't be there thursday.

(5) When is Polaris the only thing running?


I'll tell you what has made the schedule even vaguely possible... it's the folks who are not designers, but are showing up for most of the convention and are willing to run games.  To whit, Rob and Judd.  If I had one or two more of such people this schedule would look a lot more robust, both in terms of slots filled and in terms of variety of games being run.  We could get some Conspiracy of Shadows, Fastlane, Mountain Witch, Paladin, Donjon, Dust Devils, HeroQuest and the like.

That would rock!  Unfortunately, I don't have the people to do it.  Seriously, seriously, people... if you are attending DexCon, and you have any vague notions of wanting to run an Indie Game on wednesday or thursday, do not wait to be asked.  The only people I know are interested for certain are the game designers.  If I haven't tried to draft you, it's not for lack of wanting folks under our banner.

[Andrew Morris]

Oops, it's not. I missed that Ganakagok was running in the same time slot.

[TonyLB]

Okay, yet another schedule update.  Closing in on the last chance to get anything in, folks... we're just fiddling at the edges here.

Andrew, this will (I hope) address many of your concerns.  With the inclusion of Paladin (which I've wanted to run for a while anyway) you can now go from one end of the convention to the other without hitting any game twice:

Wed: DitV
Thu: Ganakagok, Capes, Polaris, InSpectres
Fri:  Paladin, Sorceror, Bulldogs, PTA
Sat: Burning Wheel, NPA, Pulp Era, TSoY
Sun: WGP, Universalis

There is some hope that we will also get a thursday session of TSoY, which would give you choices.  Other than that, and the plaintive hope that somebody will volunteer to run wednesday or thursday games out of the blue, I believe this is the final schedule.

Folks who have not gotten me descriptions of their games, please start work on that.  I'd like to finalize this formally with DexCon by end of day tomorrow.

[Andrew Morris]

Seems fine, but MLwM and TSoY still conflict.

[TonyLB]

Yep.  As I said, I'm hoping to get a Thursday TSoY slot added on, but that's still in negotiations.

[Helvetian]

The full schedule of events for DEXCON 8 has now been posted, and you can find it at www.dexposure.com/d8sched.html.  :-)