Joint booth with Projekt Odyssee at Spiel in Essen/Germany?

[Paul Czege]

Hey Martin,

Given the nature of Forge style games I think people would look forward to  being able to play a game rather than just have a 15min example of play.

I have to say, I'm with Ben. What the Forge is about is empowering people to have fun gaming. There's no doubt in my mind that folks would queue up for slots in full three hour games at the GenCon booth if we decided to do them, just the way the queue up for full games run by PrO in the dealer room at Spiel. And there's no doubt in my mind that many of the folks who played in the games would consider them in retrospect to be the high point of their convention. But...we'd have done these gamers a disservice.

When I released My Life with Master on the first Thursday of GenCon in 2003, Ed Heil and his friends bought the game and played it that evening. They came back to the booth on Friday and raved about the experience. You can't think of the 15 minute demo as "just an example of play," as an unsatisfying hors'douvre when what you need is a meal. The 15 minute demo is the scent of awesome gameplay that creates appetite for the full experience. And it creates confidence that the experience isn't out of reach. One problem with running full games is that they send the opposite message, the message that great gaming experiences are had by travelling from your home and playing with a GM and players of uncommon skill. Forge games are about breaking that cultural perception; you absolutely can have awesome gaming with the talent you have laying around your own home base. The second problem with full games is that they fully release the enthusiasm that would otherwise drive a player to achieve an awesome gaming experience of his own making.

Other than the games themselves, the fifteen minute demo is the best gift we can give to a gamer. Because the awesome self-made gaming experience is more incredible and more energizing than a great game at a convention.

Paul

[Blankshield]

I'm absolutely on-board with the rest of the forge crew about short demos.

One of the best game experiences of the last year for me was Prime Time Adventures.  I ran it, because I hadn't ever tried the system before.  If I'd played it at Gencon, I would never have pulled it off my shelf.

I would have taken that two hour con experience - which would have been fun, I'm sure - and used it as an excuse not to play the game at home, for a full run of 5 episodes, over a couple months.  That's a lot of fun I would have cut myself out of.

The short demo culture works.  Don't worry - I'm sure Ron et. al. can assure you that it was new to Gencon when the forge started doing it, and they got "Thou shalt ne'er succeed!" predictions of doom, too.

thanks,

James

[Justin D. Jacobson]

I realize that I'm incredibly late to these proceedings--but hopefully not too late.

If possible, I'd be willing to pony up for a share as well. My thought is to submit Dawning Star: Operation Quick Launch, which is a campaign setting for d20 Modern/d20 Future. Does this pose a problem either (1) because it's not in keeping with the spirit of the indie-game badge, or (2) because d20 is anathema to the German gaming experience.

As others have mentioned, I'd be doing this more for PR purposes, but I don't want to detract from the experience of others.

[Eero Tuovinen]

If possible, I'd be willing to pony up for a share as well. My thought is to submit Dawning Star: Operation Quick Launch, which is a campaign setting for d20 Modern/d20 Future. Does this pose a problem either (1) because it's not in keeping with the spirit of the indie-game badge, or (2) because d20 is anathema to the German gaming experience.

For (1), it's not a problem per se; I'm myself very curious about D&D and fiddle with it occasionally. Might even publish something for d20 one of these days.

The problem surfaces in the demo and sales department. A campaign setting, can it be demoed? If not, then you of course need not buy a share for that. Can it be sold, then? I fear that the only market for it will be die-hard d20 fans who don't want to consider anything else, unless your setting is completely different from what I imagine. It's possible that your setting might be ran over in this setting by products with rules and a clear target markets, unless there's some clear and strong pitch that justifies pushing it instead of something else.

So if you think that your product can compete, I'm willing to try selling it. I'm just not very optimistic about it's sales numbers, unless there's lots of d20 fans in Germany. Of course, you'd have to give us a preview PDF or sales material of your own, so we'd be prepared to push it at the convention.

[Justin D. Jacobson]

Thanks. So I guess my tardiness in and of itself is not a problem? Excellent.

As for the inherent issues with the product, it seems worth the effort. As for demo materials, I'll figure out something that will work. Wost case scenario, I've done a small part to support small-press publishing abroad and given myself a good excuse to get some product overseas. Once we have the details about the booth, I'll publicize it on my site.

If it matters, I've sold a pdf of the book to someone in Germany. :-)
(I'll make sure to keep my stock relatively low, since it's a bit bigger/heavier than most of the other offerings as well.)

[Brennan Taylor]

I'd like to get the surface shipment off by the end of next week. Everyone who is an IPR member, let me know how many books you'd like to send. Everyone else, get your books to me by June 15 so I can put the package together in time. Contact me by e-mail or PM for the address.

Any books that arrive after June 15 will go in a more expensive air mail package closer to the convention date.

[Eero Tuovinen]

I'd like to get the surface shipment off by the end of next week. Everyone who is an IPR member, let me know how many books you'd like to send. Everyone else, get your books to me by June 15 so I can put the package together in time. Contact me by e-mail or PM for the address.

Uh, do you know where you're shipping? Frank? I'm a bad choice, as it's quite a trip to Essen from here.

[Brennan Taylor]

Uh, do you know where you're shipping? Frank? I'm a bad choice, as it's quite a trip to Essen from here.

That's another necessary detail. Frank, are you the destination? Send me the correct address.

[Zoombot]

One short comment:

There is no (!) free space to play at the fair. The German publishers alltogether (!) have at most five tables to play - not more. So the Odyssee booth has been unique the last years....or - in other words - indie.

Greets

Stefan

[Zoombot]

Heja,

some good news and some bad news.

The bad one first: Last friday (The date of the deadline we set for authors to touch base) a big German publisher booked a booth with 80 sq.m. After that booking there was only one free booth left: A 10 sq.m. corner-booth. Ten publishers and exhibitors on a waiting list had to trash for it.

The good one: Luckily I got phoned by the orga of the fair short after that: We've won the fight. So now we have only one booth, but we have it. Frank and I will meet in a pub within the next days and make a new conzeption for the booth itself (Maybe no bar but shelves, etc)

Greets

Stefan

[oliof]

Hey Stefan,
maybe you'd want to invite me to the meeting at the bar as well.

Regards,
    Harald

[Daniela Nicklas]

Hi,

as already stated in the thread, the week after Spiel in Essen there is a smaller game fair in Stuttgart (~400 km / 250 miles south of Essen). Its a mixed fair with (mainly board) games, model making, handicrafts and computer and electronics, 26.-29.10.2006

This year, Nexus coordinates a rather big booth there (~150 qm) with a LARP tavern, three to four tables for P&P-demoing, creative demonstrations (sewing, painting, yarning, ...), together with an other gaming club presenting board games and table tops (Blood Bowl etc).
This fair is rather a devoloping country for role-play games, so we mainly plan to present the hobby itself.

However, good news for left-overs from the Essen booth: we have the OK from the fair organization to sell small amounts of role-play books (even if we do not pay for the booth). And we have the space to do lots of demos (if we can round up some players :-))

So, if anybody from the Essen staff wants to stay longer in Germany and come to Stuttgart, you're very welcome! We'll find free or cheap acommodations here, give you tips for sightseeing and would be happy to have you at the booth.

Also, we can try to demo and sell left-overs from the Essen fair.

If you are interested, please let me know.


   Daniela, Nexus e.V., Stuttgart (dani@miracle-solutions.de)