When I first showed up to Dreamation in 2005 I had played a few indie RPG's but hadn't met that many of you all and if I did, it was at a Gen Con and we barely had time to chat.  It has been at Dreamation and Dexcon when I got to sit and chat, talk shit over the totem at Jungle Speed and make friends.  I'd list names but there are really too many.

Too many names of people who if they were in Ithaca, I'd bust my ass to shift my schedule around so that I could invite them to my house to break bread with me, meet my girlfriend and all that.

I saw Jennifer's art at Dexcon last year and suggested that we work together over the Dictionary of Mu.  The dictionary has grown at this con from a little word doc to an edited manuscript to a proof laid out by Luke, illustrated by Jeniffer with a pre-order sheet for players to fill out.  People gave me money.  Wow.

Last year there was an RPG Design Seminar and this year people with games pitched and worked over at that seminar brought their games and they played to full tables.  Primitive, Cups, 1st Quest, The Great Art...none of these games are finished, some might be more ready than others but every damned one has benefited from this kind of in the field playtest.  I know Shawn was re-writing Cups between sessions at the con.

Dictionary of Mu had 3 sessions, two of which were Saturday and Sunday MORNING from 9am to 1pm...every damned seat was filled.  People were coming back to see if they could take another character and play again.  When I left to go to the bathroom, someone was always leafing through the proof that was left on the table.  Awesome.

1st Quest has the procedures but not the text.  This year will be me trying to write so that others can do what I've been doing with this game.  I'm aiming for Gen Con 2007 and I've got a Dreamation tucked in there.

Vinnie and the gang treat us like rock stars.  I have seen Vinnie walk around the RPG room handing out sandwhiches to GM's. 

I'd like the Chocolate Explosion to be the Fruit Explosion but other than that, no complaints to be found.  Oh, no...one more complaint.  The puzzle game on the i.d. badges sucked.  Misspelling people's names who pre-registered really honked me off.  I was Judd Karbman rather than Judd Karlman and my buddy, Robert was Fobert.  Fuck that.

And on the ride home the stimulation to my brain always brings good ideas to the surface on whatever project is in the pole position.  I had to stop in a rest stop to write down notes on 1st Quest rules so I didn't get into a car accident with a pencil and a scrap of paper in my hand.

The con's grown because we've all gone home, told our friends and brought them too.  It is viral.  What was just me and Rob in 2005 has grown to Rob, Jay, Bret, Bob and Jeff when he can make it.

Thank you, Dexcon staff.  This is what the small con experience should be like.

Paka wrote:
I'd like the Chocolate Explosion to be the Fruit Explosion but other than that, no complaints to be found.  Oh, no...one more complaint.  The puzzle game on the i.d. badges sucked.  Misspelling people's names who pre-registered really honked me off.  I was Judd Karbman rather than Judd Karlman and my buddy, Robert was Fobert.  Fuck that.

Let me get this perfectly straight, Jared.

You didn't play anything.

You didn't run anything.

You didn't want to play or run anything at this gaming convention.

And you were saying it sucked?

What the fuck, man.

I love seeing ya and I love talking to ya but why even go?

Don't get me wrong, I had a blast. But it had nothing to do with Dexcon's management, the selection of games, $36,000 in prize money or the Hall o' Sugar.

NewsFlash, Mr. Sunshine:

DEXCON is produced by real people who put a LOT of time and energy into running a great show.  While it might not be your cup of tea, we're more than happy to accept your money when you buy a badge, and we do our best to make sure you ahve a good time while you're there.  In return for the fact that we're more than willing to go out of our way to make it an enjoyable experience for everybody who walks through our doors, we generally expect NOT to get kicked in the balls by somebody who clearly Doesn't Get It. 

I don't know who piddled in your wheaties, but as far as I can tell, you didn't *attend* the con.  And somehow, it was a pile of suck?

Honestly, it's people like you who make for the the most horrifying cross-section of the hobby -- those people who will take a good thing that a lot of people enjoyed and find something nasty to say even without a single fact behind your "opinion". 

I'm praying my staff skips this post -- they don't deserve what you posted after having worked ahrd for 5 days to make everybody else who showed up as happy as possible.

--Avonelle Wing
Senior Vice President
Double Exposure, Inc.

Hi, Avie.

As one of the organizers of the Indie RPG Explosion, I wanted to reiterate what Judd said at the top of the thread:

Thank you, Dexcon staff.  This is what the small con experience should be like.

I had a blast at DexCon. I got to playtest my two games (The Great Art and Unistat) and received great feedback that will be invaluable in finishing them. I found out that TGA is not as close to completion as I'd thought, and that Unistat is essentially done -- I just have to update the download to the most recent version of the rules.

I had a real scare when I looked at Mortal Coil. The concept seemed similar to TGA, the artwork was just what I was looking for, and Brennan even used the artist I would hire if I had the money. He even had illustrations of two of the spirits in TGA (the Blue Lady and Bloody Mary). I found out later that we'd simply used the same source material, but wow....it still put a real fright into me for a moment.

Ganakagok has quickly become one of my absolute favorite games, right up there with Dogs in the Vineyard, Capes, and Universalis. I'm glad I had a chance to play it again -- the new Ganakagok Tarot looks awesome.

Meeting all the nice folks I've met here is always a treat, as well. Having people like Judd, Tony, and others at your table is scary in a good way, because you've got to be worried that your game is capable of handling their sheer awesomeness and creativity as players.

I'll be posting several actual play posts as soon as I can get my thoughts together.

And Jared...comments like that make me embarrassed to be associated with the Forge. You didn't really attend GenCon, you just hung out with people that did. Saying that the con sucked for you because you didn't care about the con really isn't useful for discussion, in any way, shape, or form. If it didn't meet your wants or needs as a gamer, fine. Point out the issues so the organizers can be aware of them. If not, go put it on a blog or something and rant away. The Forge is supposed to be about theory and useful discussion, not empty ranting.

Jared is usually this negative, and it usually gets ignored, but I'm going to go ahead and drop a little moderator action here.


Jared, the above comments were inappropriate and was purposefully posted in order to be disruptive. You, of all people, should know that is poor form for any forum and especially the Forge. Please do not intentionally act disruptive again.

This thread is not closed, but I ask that discussion of Jared's comments be closed from here on out.

Michael wrote:
Hi, Avie.

As one of the organizers of the Indie RPG Explosion, I wanted to reiterate what Judd said at the top of the thread:

Thank you, Dexcon staff.  This is what the small con experience should be like.

I and numerous others have appreciated all the effort and hospitality that Vinnie, Becca, and the rest of the DE staff have extended to us Indie folks over the past few years. The time and energy DE invests into its conventions is stunning and most of us are glad to be a part of it.

Vinny, Avie, Judd, et omnes,

Clinton has already commented on Jared's post. Please do not respond Jared's post or attempt to defend yourself or the con. Jared is entitled to his opinion, as are you, but no good is going to come in this thread from responding to his post. Just leave it be and move on.

Yes, I'm a mod.

abzu wrote:
Vinny, Avie, Judd, et omnes,

Clinton has already commented on Jared's post. Please do not respond Jared's post or attempt to defend yourself or the con. Jared is entitled to his opinion, as are you, but no good is going to come in this thread from responding to his post. Just leave it be and move on.

Yes, I'm a mod.

I will be collecting forum threads, AP threads of games that went on there, blog and livejournal posts about the con right here.

Paka wrote:
I will be collecting forum threads, AP threads of games that went on there, blog and livejournal posts about the con right here.

Just to be clear, Judd, are you asking that people put a notice about relevant posts/links here, so you can update that page? Or something else?

I have started my own thread-of-posts for my DexCon AP experience.

Andrew wrote:
Just to be clear, Judd, are you asking that people put a notice about relevant posts/links here, so you can update that page? Or something else?

Anyone who did not go to Dexcon, I'll tell you what it and its evil twin Dreamation did for me: my love of gaming might be the fuel for my sputtering game design engine, but Double Exposure is dumping in a fat dose of rocket fuel. It's a crowd of great people, some fun-as-hell gaming, and a laid-back atmosphere that lets you sit back and shoot the shit and talk games and game design without any pressure. I walked into the con with two game ideas: one was mostly done but needed some oomph and the other was a half-baked concept that I'd done barely any thinking about. I walked out with two games ready to playtest. And I didn't even attend the roundtable, this was just from conversations with Tony, Bill, Shawn, and Brennan.

If Gencon is the furious sell-sell-sell, Dreamation and Dexcon are where I'm going to recharge my batteries.

I cannot say enough good things about DexCon.  Everyone knows I'm a fan, and many of the things that I would say have already been said by others.  They're all true.  I'm going to latch on to one thing I noticed that may have been overlooked:  the things that didn't happen, for which I credit the con staff.

The elevators did not break down.  The hotel staff wanted us to be there.  There was never an unmanageable line for anything, including registration.  The games ran on time, at the places they'd been scheduled, without interruption and with all the resources needed for the slot.  There was adequate margin for error in everything.  By taking advantage of the staff suite I was always nutritiously (if blandly) fed.  Information about every single event was centrally posted and unfailingly accurate.  Every time I wanted to know something from the staff I found out the definitive answer within five minutes.  I observed no fights, no confrontations, no gamers getting pissed at other gamers or calling people names (excepting always Jungle Speed).

This convention worked so well that you didn't even notice how well it was working.

Now, personally, this DexCon was a radical departure for me from my behavior at Double-Ex events in the past.  I made a conscious effort to avoid spending all my time at the booth.  I played in many game slots ... perhaps more than half of the slots, though I haven't toted up the numbers.  I wandered the halls.  I got pulled into a LARP.  I want to extend my heart-felt gratitude to the many folks who manned the booth and made that possible for me.

It was a hoot ... a little bit because of the sense of freedom, but a lot because it involved some really extremely good gaming.  Certainly far and away the best convention gaming of my life.  It's hard to say how it compares to the gaming I get at home, with people I know inside and out.  I haven't decided yet.

There will be AP posts, rest assured.  Most slots I gamed in raised important questions of theory that I fully intend to address.  I want some answers, and I'm gonna lean on all you big brains until you give 'em to me.

Oh, and I brought home hardware.  I qualified for and won the 2006 National Jungle Speed championship.  I have the trophy to prove it.  Those who protest that at the time I won it, the roleplaying room was rockin' to the skills of Luke Crane, Nathan Paoletta and other people who would have cleaned my clock had they been available ... well, those people are absolutely right, but I've still got the trophy, so NYAH!

Oh, and did I mention the attendance of our games?  Has anyone mentioned that?  They were freakin' packed.  I've never seen anything like it.

We had, what, seven indie games running on saturday night?  I'm pretty sure that most of them were at the point where they were turning away people.  Remember a year ago when we were carefully scheduling just a few tracks, because we were terrified that we only had a tiny pool of interested folks, and if we spread them too thin with too many games we'd run the well dry?  LOL.  Good times, good times.

I know that I was turning away people at my Wednesday night slot ... the night when people are classically not at the con yet, and I had so many people that I filled not one but two tables.

There's something happening at these Cons, year over year.  I don't know quite what it is, but I'm glad to be a witness.  Some day in the future I get to say "Man, yeah, I was there."

Yes, there is some incestuousness in terms of attendance but there were plenty of non-ringer-types too.  At least in mid-state New Jersey, the Indie word is spreading.  I think I only saw 3 games fold for lack of players and I saw plenty of games where people had to be turned away.  Even pickup games got lots of attendance.

I agree, Tony. The convention is well-run. I had a few logistical problems related to the Iron GM contest (I wasn't informed about a mandatory pre-meeting, and then our game was rescheduled twice), but these were relatively minor bumps in the road.

One thing I would really like to see is more vegetarian options in the staff suite. Maybe it was just that my timing was off, but all I could ever eat was a bannana here and there, coupled with some hummus and pita. I did once manage to get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but that's it. I had to leave the con several times to get enough food. I don't know if there are enough vegetarian GMs and staff to make it worthwhile, but I'd certainly appreciate it. Next year, I'll bring a backup of foodstuffs for myself and my crazy eating habits.

The indie party did have some nice veggie foods, which probably saved me from passing out midway through the convention.

I can’t say enough good things about Dexcon. Last January, I realized that my “roleplaying” with my home group is actually just socializing. I go to Dexcon/Dreamation to really roleplay cool indie games with great people.

I went to this Dexcon with the added intention of playtesting my game, 1 Night (formally called CUP), with people other than my regular gaming group. I was blown away at how useful it was. I did a rewrite Friday night, only to have Rob and Fred [of Evil Hat] show me all sorts of new cool things in our Saturday morning game. I will put all the details in a playtest tread.

Of the 11 games I was in, only 2 were duds. One was one of my playtests, which was actually more useful than a successful game. The other one was a simulationist(?) railroady thing (not my favorite flavors), which Tony and I were freeform playing Breaking-the-Ice on top of. So, even the duds were good.

I am going to Gencon for the first time this year. I hope it will be as good as Dexcon and Dreamation have been.

Shawn  wrote:
I am going to Gencon for the first time this year. I hope it will be as good as Dexcon and Dreamation have been.

Andrew wrote:

Shawn  wrote:
I am going to Gencon for the first time this year. I hope it will be as good as Dexcon and Dreamation have been.

Depends on what you're looking to get out of a con. It seems to me that DexCon and Dreamation are great for gaming, while GenCon is good for meeting people and selling (though I have no experience yet with the selling).

It seems like only a few years after I leave the New York/New Jersey area, an explosion of gaming goodness springs up about fifteen miles from my old house.  Are there any gaming conventions in the Southwest U.S. similar to Dexcon and Dreamation that the indie-rpg crowd gets as enthusiastic about?

-Thomas

Thomas wrote:
It seems like only a few years after I leave the New York/New Jersey area, an explosion of gaming goodness springs up about fifteen miles from my old house.  Are there any gaming conventions in the Southwest U.S. similar to Dexcon and Dreamation that the indie-rpg crowd gets as enthusiastic about?

-Thomas

My experience at Dexcon was awesome. This is the second time I've gone and I am just plain thrilled to death that I've found someplace to meet people that are as interested in gaming as I am. Bill White dragged me to Dreamation a couple of years ago to test Ganakagok, but I didn't really do much other than that. Then Dexcon last year and this year...it was totally different for me. I haven't designed games of my own yet, but I appreciate the Indie games tremendously. At this year's Dexcon I got to meet a lot more people and start to branch out and try new stuff and seriously think about the games I want to create. Even though I was sort of on the outside...and at times I felt a bit like Bill's Ganakagok sidekick...I felt welcome and excited to be part of everything. The gaming was some of the best I've ever experienced. I realize that quite a few folks hit the conventions to sell their games...so I can understand it when a small con like this one doesn't help with that goal. But for me...someone who is just getting involved and wants to be a part of this community...this was a priceless experience. I know I couldn't have had this experience at a big con. I appreciated that Dexcon was set up to be welcoming to someone that's new.

Tony's third Capes session was awesome. I agree with Bret who said it was one of the best Capes sessions ever. I had a blast. Rob ran a totally awesome PTA session (Precinct: Fantasyland) that just blew me away. I can't stop thinking about it. And then, of course, is Ganakagok...which I just plain adore. So for me...Dexcon was a tremendous experience. I just wish I didn't have to wait 'til next year for more. You can bet I'll be at Dreamation this year. Oh yes. That's for sure.

Now that I've pulled my head out of the sand from my post-con downpowering...  ;-)

As always, we loved having the Indie publishers so well represented.  To the many of you who participated and helped make DEXCON such a success, thank you so much.  You always add something to our events that makes them all that much more special, and I'm looking forward to Dreamation having our best Indie presence yet.  With it not being between Origins and GenCon, and therefore a little easier for some of you to manage, I'm hoping for quite the party.  With chili, of course.  :)

Becca