[Conpulsion, Edinburgh] - Indie Games Track

[Malcolm Craig]

Well, the Indie Games Track for the Conpulsion convention taking place in Edinburgh at the end of March is now fully organised, with 10 1 hour indie games running throughout the weekend. You can view the schedule here.

Seeing as this is the first time such a thing has been run at Conpulsion, I'd like to draw on the experience of others who may have had involvement in similar events at others cons. One key thing is to get people involved. I'm aware that many of the games listed are not so familiar to the average con-goer, especially on this side of the Atlantic. Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom in regard to generating enthusiasm an interest in the event? We have great, enthusiastic GMs involved, all of whom want to make it a success. The key will be communicating this enthusiasm to the public. Hints and tips would be most welcome.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Gregor Hutton]

Heh Malc, we need to remember to have a pile of those "Forge" print outs with the games and URLs on them. That would be good for handing out to people passing by or taking part in the games.

[Matt Machell]

I plan on loitering to froth on demand / be rent-a-player / be available to run stuff in case of overflow for some of the first day, and use that as a guide for the rest. 

I notice from the site update that somebody is running Pretender from the Nopress Anthology. Anybody know of other plans for non-track indie play?

-Matt

[Joe J Prince]

Hi everybody

I'm planning on running some of my indie games at Conpulsion too.
Mainly I'll be offering Piledrivers & Powerbombs a hellacious pro-wrassling rpg and Contenders a gritty bxing game born from the Ronnies.

At least I think I am...Malcolm? Shevy?

Indie track looks good, hopefully I'll get to play in some games too!
As for getting people involved- I have little knowledge on the subject but reckon you could
- Form an indie press gang that forces random gamers to play polaris.;)
-Bribe with drinks and pies.
-Spread unnatural enthusiasm.
-Run games in the bar.

Cheers
Joe

[Malcolm Craig]

Heh Malc, we need to remember to have a pile of those "Forge" print outs with the games and URLs on them. That would be good for handing out to people passing by or taking part in the games.

Thats a good point. But one thing I was thinking of is: do flyers actually work? We'll certainly be able to direct people towards the Black Lion stand where they can purchase some of the game they have played.

I plan on loitering to froth on demand / be rent-a-player / be available to run stuff in case of overflow for some of the first day, and use that as a guide for the rest.

I notice from the site update that somebody is running Pretender from the Nopress Anthology. Anybody know of other plans for non-track indie play?

That's very handy. If we could have some 'rent-a-players' (particularly from the IGT GMs) ready to fill space if a game is looking a little light, then that would be a good thing. Also just being able to talk to people before or after games would great.

I'm not aware of Pretender being run. Must investigate.

I'm planning on running some of my indie games at Conpulsion too.
Mainly I'll be offering Piledrivers & Powerbombs a hellacious pro-wrassling rpg and Contenders a gritty bxing game born from the Ronnies.

At least I think I am...Malcolm? Shevy?

Indie track looks good, hopefully I'll get to play in some games too!
As for getting people involved- I have little knowledge on the subject but reckon you could
- Form an indie press gang that forces random gamers to play polaris.;)
-Bribe with drinks and pies.
-Spread unnatural enthusiasm.
-Run games in the bar.

If you'd like to run your games, then that would be great. Shevy is the person to speak to as far as getting games into the general schedule is concerned. If you don't have her email address I can PM you it. Or it's on the Conpulsion website.

I think there will be opportunities for overspill games from the IGT. I've got a good feeling about it so far, we could end up with a lot more players than games available. This is were Matt and his 'hanging around' stance comes in handy! If we have IGT GMs hanging around to be kibbitzing players or stand-by GMs, that would be great. If there's overspill for a particular game, having backups to avoid disappointment would be grand.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Matt Machell]

I think there will be opportunities for overspill games from the IGT. I've got a good feeling about it so far, we could end up with a lot more players than games available. This is where Matt and his 'hanging around' stance comes in handy! If we have IGT GMs hanging around to be kibbitzing players or stand-by GMs, that would be great. If there's overspill for a particular game, having backups to avoid disappointment would be grand.

My stance is, the worst that happens if I hang around is that I get to play a load of cool 1hr games. I see no problem with this. :)

Given there's a fair few of us, I suspect our schedules won't intermesh with the other games at the Con. So I think a few pick up games are well worth investing in. I'll bring along Aye, Dark Overlord for that purpose.

-Matt

[Malcolm Craig]

I think there will be opportunities for overspill games from the IGT. I've got a good feeling about it so far, we could end up with a lot more players than games available. This is where Matt and his 'hanging around' stance comes in handy! If we have IGT GMs hanging around to be kibbitzing players or stand-by GMs, that would be great. If there's overspill for a particular game, having backups to avoid disappointment would be grand.

My stance is, the worst that happens if I hang around is that I get to play a load of cool 1hr games. I see no problem with this. :)

Given there's a fair few of us, I suspect our schedules won't intermesh with the other games at the Con. So I think a few pick up games are well worth investing in. I'll bring along Aye, Dark Overlord for that purpose.

-Matt

Our ideal situation is to have more players than the games in theschedule can handle. That means we either get to run more of the same, or people canm find out about other stuff that isn't on the schedule. Like yourself, Gregor is going to have 'Best Friends' and '3:16' stuff with him. I'll have some 'Cold City' goings on, Joe will have his games and so on and so forth.

By the way Matt, would you be up for running 'The Agency' as a pickup game if there was demand for it?

Gregor and I have also had a chat (over lunch today actually) about publicising the evnt within the con itself and giving it a greater profile. There are plans for a banner, flyers, handouts and anything we can think of to raise awareness and profile.

Cheers
Malcolm

[Matt Machell]

By the way Matt, would you be up for running 'The Agency' as a pickup game if there was demand for it?

Well, I expect I could rustle up something!

-Matt

[Shevaun]

I'm planning on running some of my indie games at Conpulsion too.
Mainly I'll be offering Piledrivers & Powerbombs a hellacious pro-wrassling rpg and Contenders a gritty boxing game born from the Ronnies.

At least I think I am...Malcolm? Shevy?

You're certainly welcome; if you want to be in the program then send me a blurb. Are you running 3 hour convention scenarios are quick one-two punches like the IGT guys?

Pretenders is being run completely randomly and with no input from me our yourselves, by a GM from ORC, the Open Roleplaying Community (used to be the Ottakars Roleplaying club). They're a great bunch, always surprising me, especially since most of them are too young to drink in pubs.

Look at me, posting on the Forge; I must be a real Indie Gamer now!

Shevy

[Malcolm Craig]

I'm planning on running some of my indie games at Conpulsion too.
Mainly I'll be offering Piledrivers & Powerbombs a hellacious pro-wrassling rpg and Contenders a gritty boxing game born from the Ronnies.

At least I think I am...Malcolm? Shevy?

You're certainly welcome; if you want to be in the program then send me a blurb. Are you running 3 hour convention scenarios are quick one-two punches like the IGT guys?

Pretenders is being run completely randomly and with no input from me our yourselves, by a GM from ORC, the Open Roleplaying Community (used to be the Ottakars Roleplaying club). They're a great bunch, always surprising me, especially since most of them are too young to drink in pubs.

Shevy

Excellent, that sounds great. Would it be worthwhile from the awareness raising point of view to highlight all the indie games being run, including the IGT, as part of some overall promotion? I would say yes, as it would allow us to create some real impact.

In addition, I note that the website now contains a bit about the guests (i.e.: me, Gregor and Matt). Would there be any value in tying this in to the overall indie games theme that the con seems to be developing? Lukes thread on small cons, small press is particularly interesting in this regard. What can we, as guests, do to help promote indie game in an overall sense? Of course we will be running games, getting people involved and generally shouting as loud as we can.

Cheers
Malcolm