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Post by robkuntz on Dec 8, 2017 14:41:14 GMT -5
Lots of news to tell, but Nathalie and I both have Convention Crud Colds!
I'll update more later on the events and such.
But a few primers: 17,000 in attendance (+2000 from previous year); signed well over 200 autographs; DMed the first D&D adventure at Athenscon ever; much fun have dozens of photos and great fans sending more; visited the Acropolis and Museum (tour paid for by the Con organizers); great food, excellent services; great Con; met lots of Industry people and made instant friends with some; business prospects x3!; big announcement forthcoming for next year's show; the chief convention organizer very impressed with the excitement showed by RPG fans for my visit, their words: "Massive presence"; all of it was very excellent.
BTW: A vast majority of the population in Greece speaks English!
More Later!
Ciao!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2017 15:21:43 GMT -5
No, Ciao is Italian, not Greek.  Glad it was a good con. |
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Post by robkuntz on Dec 8, 2017 15:28:08 GMT -5
No, Ciao is Italian, not Greek. Glad it was a good con. But CHOW is always good. Good Chow Greece and lots of it! YUM! |
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Post by robkuntz on Dec 8, 2017 15:29:51 GMT -5
Oh! I can see the Italian shoreline form our perch on the mountain, so CIAO it is...  |
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Post by Admin Pete on Dec 8, 2017 17:50:29 GMT -5
Great to hear that you had a wonderful time (aside from the colds). Also great to hear that you got a warm welcome from the fans. You would not be the first talented American to be more appreciated overseas than at home.
As it is written, "Now He Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country." I am sure that applies to more than prophets alone.
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Post by robkuntz on Dec 9, 2017 10:30:33 GMT -5
Great to hear that you had a wonderful time (aside from the colds). Also great to hear that you got a warm welcome from the fans. You would not be the first talented American to be more appreciated overseas than at home. As it is written, "Now He Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country." I am sure that applies to more than prophets alone. Awh, man, the cold has kicked into double time today. Must have caught it at the Rome airport. Too much politicization of gaming today, lines drawn in the sand, coupled with PC attitudes has stifled actual discourse on design, that and a concentration on the entertainment only aspects of the RPG concept specifically. I find board game and miniature game designers, in general, more open to new and far-ranging concepts when compered to RPGers. It's interesting that this very mode was the establishment when TSR was being pushed back against with their RPG concept at the beginning; and now this same attitude has rooted somewhat as the new establishment, the new status quo. The Italians and Greeks, so far as I've found from both Lucca and Athenscon, are open to new ideas, but that might have to do with their comprehensive approach to gaming wherein board games rank just as highly if not higher than RPGs. Many American gamers have divided into distinct camps and even schools of thought within those camps, and that does not bode well for progressive thoughts regarding design. |
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Post by Admin Pete on Dec 9, 2017 16:56:11 GMT -5
Awh, man, the cold has kicked into double time today. Must have caught it at the Rome airport. Too much politicization of gaming today, lines drawn in the sand, coupled with PC attitudes has stifled actual discourse on design, that and a concentration on the entertainment only aspects of the RPG concept specifically. I find board game and miniature game designers, in general, more open to new and far-ranging concepts when compered to RPGers. It's interesting that this very mode was the establishment when TSR was being pushed back against with their RPG concept at the beginning; and now this same attitude has rooted somewhat as the new establishment, the new status quo. The Italians and Greeks, so far as I've found from both Lucca and Athenscon, are open to new ideas, but that might have to do with their comprehensive approach to gaming wherein board games rank just as highly if not higher than RPGs. Many American gamers have divided into distinct camps and even schools of thought within those camps, and that does not bode well for progressive thoughts regarding design. Sorry to hear that you are having a rough time with the cold. In college we did not stop playing cards, board games and sports when we were playing D&D and I still play all four when I have the opportunity. As kids we played cards, board games and sports. The new things were added, nothing deleted. |
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Post by robkuntz on Dec 10, 2017 5:08:48 GMT -5
Awh, man, the cold has kicked into double time today. Must have caught it at the Rome airport. Too much politicization of gaming today, lines drawn in the sand, coupled with PC attitudes has stifled actual discourse on design, that and a concentration on the entertainment only aspects of the RPG concept specifically. I find board game and miniature game designers, in general, more open to new and far-ranging concepts when compered to RPGers. It's interesting that this very mode was the establishment when TSR was being pushed back against with their RPG concept at the beginning; and now this same attitude has rooted somewhat as the new establishment, the new status quo. The Italians and Greeks, so far as I've found from both Lucca and Athenscon, are open to new ideas, but that might have to do with their comprehensive approach to gaming wherein board games rank just as highly if not higher than RPGs. Many American gamers have divided into distinct camps and even schools of thought within those camps, and that does not bode well for progressive thoughts regarding design. Sorry to hear that you are having a rough time with the cold. In college we did not stop playing cards, board games and sports when we were playing D&D and I still play all four when I have the opportunity. As kids we played cards, board games and sports. The new things were added, nothing deleted. Yes. Same here. The cold is starting to subside as of late last night. It was just a bit aggravating due to the fact that when you return from a major con, any con really, you are hyped, reenergized by all of the positive events and people and designers/writers like me want to get right back to work. I've done some bits here and there, but now onto some serious stuff! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 11:40:01 GMT -5
This division into camps is something we've noticed too. 35 years ago the U of MN gaming group would have RPGs, board games, miniatures wargames, non-military board games, card games, and everything else going on in a single evening. Now we have the infinite segmentation of the marketplace.
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Post by Admin Pete on Dec 10, 2017 14:10:10 GMT -5
Once upon a time getting 30 people together to do something fun, anything fun was a snap, now I cannot imagine doing that! Was it just because I went to college in a small town or a generational thing or something more profound?
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Post by robkuntz on Dec 10, 2017 14:42:42 GMT -5
It has something to do with a more stridently creative period in the past whereas creativity was then supplanted by the market of productivity cycles, with the rise of favorites and less inclusion due to that. Even Hasbro today still maintains that creative angle with their board games even in concert with the market whereas its small D&D brand is quite the opposite as it seems stuck specifically to a market repeat and rinse cycle that TSR adopted (and ultimately failed under). I've given lots of thought to this and the niche wargamers hobby where the DIY ethic manifested. It appears that Wargamers were the penultimate in GAMERS, they liked all sorts of games, period. The same cannot be said for, lets say, card players of the time, so Bridge players were not guaranteed to like or to want to play all forms of card games, etc. There is also the fact that the rise of FRPG created a new class of gamer specifically oriented to RPGs only and their affiliated fictions and comics and other related medias. This last point is the one I have concentrated on in tracking the philosophical and societal differences between gamers of the past who originated RPGs (the Arnesonian era gamers) and gamers of the present who have, to a greater extent, descended into the aforementioned camps.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 15:39:24 GMT -5
Once upon a time getting 30 people together to do something fun, anything fun was a snap, now I cannot imagine doing that! Was it just because I went to college in a small town or a generational thing or something more profound? When most of us lived on campus it was a lot easier. |
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Post by Admin Pete on Dec 10, 2017 22:59:23 GMT -5
Once upon a time getting 30 people together to do something fun, anything fun was a snap, now I cannot imagine doing that! Was it just because I went to college in a small town or a generational thing or something more profound? When most of us lived on campus it was a lot easier. True, if makes a different when it takes you a few minutes to walk to the game versus driving 30-40 minutes across town to do it. On the other hand I remember being part of a group of 90 some guys coming from all over Indianapolis (when I lived there) about 30 years ago driving an hour southeast of the city to a 10 acre wooded area to play paintball in two large teams. I hadn't thought about that in years, it was a real blast. I've played paintball indoors and out and for my money give me the outdoor game. |
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