MACE, High Point, November 10-12

[David Artman]

It's a *little* early, but I am pinging the forums now to see if someone is already planning to promote indie gaming at MACE this year.

If not, I'd be willing to commit eight hours each day to running indie games as a "envoy" of The Forge. I figure half hour to hour long demo session, rotating through all games present (i.e. if I am envoying for ten games, then every five to ten hours I would have "looped" through the whole list).
I figure all I'd need is one copy of each game to be demoed, and sell sheets or business cards with contact info to go buy the game direct/online.

Of course, if others are already planning to go, perhaps this thread could be useful to organize and coordinate our activities. For instance, if others are able to attend and willing to demo, then perhaps we could specialize in certain games, and thus run more demos throughout the con? Or if there is already plans for a dealer booth, then perhaps I could get on the bandwagon and run stuff for you?

Thoughts?
David Artman

[Luke]

Dave,

Jason M and I are planning on being there. Clinton can't make it. I think Remi and Adam Dray are coming, too. It's going to be a fun time.

-L

[Remi Treuer]

Eric Provost has coordinated a big Indie Gaming track at MACE this year. It's going to be awesome. Not quite the demothon you had planned, but more traditional 4-hour blocks. I believe Jason is going to running his crazy Aztec TSOY.

That said, I'm on fence about attending. It really depends on where I am in November. I'm hoping to go. I had a great time at MACE last year.

[David Artman]

That's what I get for not using The Power of the Internet.... :-)
MACE's Gaming Schedule has several indie games slotted, though I couldn't find a particular reference to a "track" or collective (other than Jason's round-up).

So, I guess that means I am slightly modifying my above offer: If your game is not already well-represented at MACE, then I offer to be an envoy as stated above, running half- to one-hour demo sessions of each game I receive, in rotation, for two slots (eight hours) on both Saturday and Sunday. Please reply to this post to "register" your game into the rotation. Once I receive, say, four games (which would allow for up to four hours of demoing of each game!), I can register with MACE as a GM. If I get only three or four submissions, then I will switch to running full sessions for each one, rather than flipping through them every hour. Basically, I need enough to be able to viably offer MACE three slots worth of GMing.

I figure I'll leave this offer on the table until early October. Then, if there is not enough traction, I will approach Looney Labs about being an envoy for pyramids, as it seems they only have a card gaming focus so far, this year. I'm gonna GM something outside of the mainstream! :-)

Let me know soonest, folks!
David

[Eric Provost]

Hiya David,

That's an awesome offer you've got going on there.  Anyone who's not going to be represented at MACE should really jump on the offer. 

You might be interested to know that Ron McClung of MACE is running out of RPG tables very quickly.  If you really want to have a place to run demos on the offical convention roster, you should really drop ol' Ron an email as soon as possible. 

-Eric

[Jason Morningstar]

Rock on, MACE people.  I'll be in there swinging with Cold City and TSOY.

Also of note:  The Iron MACE design challenge.

[David Artman]

OK, I just submitted a request for all day Saturday and Sunday, with a table near to the other indie games (you guys are on 8, 9, and 10, it seems). I also mentioned it might be necessary to be near a wall or enough space to mount/setup a stand for a banner... so I guess we gotta come up with a banner. :-) I was just going to do something with the game art, once I had my submissions, but maybe there's something you'd like, too, if I end up on a table near you?

I also (tried to) let them know that I might switch over to pyramids, if I don't get enough bites here by October 1st. Their online registration system isn't *quite* setup for optional planning. :-)

I guess we ought to decide here and now if we are going to present a "unified front" at the con (akin to GenCon) or wing it as soloists. If the former, we ought to decide on branding/affiliation soonest, to allow for banner art, updating game registrations at MACE, and coordinating common contributions (ex: making sure everyone has sell sheets for all products?).

Any more thoughts?
David

[David Artman]

Also of note:  The Iron MACE design challenge.

And their hint says it will be an RPG. Right up our alley! With two weeks to design it, I expect someone from this group will win hands down.

Maybe it's high time I considered making something tabletop. ;-)
David

[iago]

It's possible I'll be in attendance, and though I'm not expecting to *run* anything, I'd be happy to step up and help with any promo efforts while there.

[Eric Provost]

I'm not sure we need more indie representation at MACE.  At least, not just for the sake of having indie representation, you know? 

I think what we could really use are more folks excited about playing some indie games.  Last year I had just enough players to keep my games rolling.  It would be great if there were some awesome indie-attitide folks playing along side the folks who just joined in because they thought the title of the game sounded interesting but never played anything indie before. 

I know I plan on being a player in every single indie game I can get my greedy little paws on while I'm there.

[David Artman]

Well, one thing's for sure, Eric: additional representation will depend upon someone taking me up on my offer. ;-)

All in all, I am mainly wanting to run something at MACE. If my indie envoy plans go pear-shaped, I will want to be running pyramids or assisting with running demos: I am a bit "playered out" from recent conventions and my weekly game nights. I also want to bone up on my pitch and promotion skills, which will be sorely taxed come 2007, when I'm pushing GLASS at cons that likely won't permit boffer or airsoft play (never mind paintball!). :-)

So, that said, you folks already planning to demo could just ping this thread and get me onto your demo team for some (or all?) slots--I'm in it for the indie and small publisher, either way; and if I don't get enough bites to handle it solo, I'd help another handle his or her current plans. Six is one; half dozen, the other.

Lemme know....
David

[Jason Morningstar]

David,

My Sunday GM slot is deliberately vague - I set it up as "Indie games roundup", hoping to grab a couple of free GM-types and run simultaneous hour-long demos of whatever people were interested in.  You're definitely welcome to be a part of that.  Ron McClung, the gaming organizer, needs to balance his tables by demand, so we may not get as much space as we'd like. MACE is a small and mellow con, and I think most of us are there to hang out, have fun, and play rather than seriously push our agenda or products.  If your goals are more ambitious than that, rock on.   

[David Artman]

Thanks, Jason... I'll play it by ear. If Ron McClung doesn't want to allocate another whole table to the "indie track" I will certainly get into your round-up. Watching others demo would probably help me as much (or more?) than running my own repeatedly, vis a vis later plans at self-promotion.

Is Sunday the only round-up day, or do you plan to flex some of your other slots to accommodate demand/number of GMs/whatever?

Also, if I lose a chance at my own table, I can just split time between your round-up and, perhaps, Looney Labs's table, if they do not run constant card games. (Hmmm... I ought to e-mail that demoer....)

Like I said above, I just want to get in about 16 hours of solid, fun GMing/demoing, for smaller, cool publishers. I'll go wherever I'm aimed, if it serves that end.
David

P.S. Ron or Luke, will it be alright if I periodically bump this thread, to keep it on the first page and thereby (hopefully) centralize MACE planning? I know that's usually a Forge no-no, but I don't imagine you'd want me to try to reincarnate this offer with new posts every couple of weeks for the next two months, either. Mightn't this be one of those rare cases where a judicious bump would actually help the thread's utility and minimize forum database bloating? Thanks. -DCA

[Jason Morningstar]

I'm running two formal, four hour games on Saturday and I'm responsible for a four hour "Indie smorgasbord" block on Sunday.  I can run my 15 minute Roach demo at a moment's notice, and demo a bunch of other games.  Eric is coordinating the overall mayhem, which includes stuff he's running and stuf Lisa is running and I don't know what all, and Luke's burning up his own sessions and demos.  That's a lot of goodness! 

[Andy Kitkowski]

Hey all, I'm going, and I'll be rolling dizzles with the L-U-Kizzle.

I'm also running two sessions of Tenra Bansho Zero. Finally. These will be the first ever official convention sessions of this game in english. It's gonna be a Ninja Blood Opera, and hopefully, "totally sweet".

David: I've got one session of AGON scheduled. Would you be interested in running it for me, say in return for me picking you up a free lunch or something? I scheduled that one up, but I'm more interested in being a Protagonist this time around. If so, hit me up via email (ziggurat at gmail)

Otherwise, we got some serious fun ahead of us. I hope I don't get too worn out!

-Andy