Origins?

[M. J. Young]

Just yesterday someone was pressuring me to commit to appearing at Origins, and it suddenly occurred to me that I don't recall anyone here ever saying anything about selling games or running demos at that other major game convention. Is there a practical reason why GenCon is so significant in the minds of Forgites but Origins goes practically unremarked? Or have I just missed the Origins talk?

--M. J. Young

[Brennan Taylor]

I think most folks expend their energy toward GenCon, where most of the activity is focussed. I am going to Origins representing IPR, along with Clinton and Michael S. Miller, and we will be running a 10x10 (booth number 751) and doing demos, but nothing like the scale of GenCon. Origins is definitely a smaller con, though, and you probably can't make as many sales as you can at GenCon.

[Valamir]

Origins also is still (or was as of a couple years back) heavily flavored as a wargame con vs. RPGs.

For alot of years I was an Origins regular (pretty much since they permanently set up shop in Columbus) playing a pretty full schedule of Avalon Hill and monster mini battles and spending hours playing free board games in the exhibitor hall. 

Rio Grande and Mayfair had the all day on demand game demo thing going at Origins long long before the Forge Booth and successfully sucked scads of my dollars away...I mean how can you not play Tikal or Tigris and Euphrates on huge giant oversized game boards and not buy a copy...

I love Origins...I like it better than GenCon, but since I can't afford the time to do both and the Forge booth is at GenCon I haven't been there for the last 3-4 years.

[Mike Holmes]

GenCon is a synergy thing, and there's nothing to start it at Origins. Now I'm sure that if somebody started it...

Anyhow, send me a line, Mark, I'm always at Origins as well as GenCon, and it'd be nice to meet you face to face (we haven't, have we?).

Mike

[Dav]

I usually swing through Origins for a day or two and drink heavily... so, basically, the same treatment as GenCon.  As some sort of business/gaming thing, I dunno from nothing.  Origins is, to my mind, more entertaining than GenCon, but GenCon is closer, so I usually opt for more time at the latter than the former.

Dav

[Lisa Padol]

Origins has a very different flavor than GenCon. Usually, I'd pick GenCon over Origins, but we're doing Origins this year, and probably not GenCon.

This year's Origins has a nice amount of indie games on the rpg schedule. Hopefully, this will start a trend.

Is this year the last year GenCon Indy will be in Indy?

-Lisa