Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Adepticon after action review

Adepticon is over.  It was an exhausting few days in the nirvana of wargamerdom and I’m counting the days until the next one (361 if you’re counting). 
So what is my big “lesson learned”?  My first is to stop making damn plans.  No I didn’t get my 12 games vrs 12 opponents in.  Eight was the best I could do.  It wasn’t for lack of trying, stuff just kept coming up.  The podcast was a huge factor in me not getting in all 12 games.  It wasn’t that I spend all that time recording, we actually did very little recording. I went from booth to booth talking to third party suppliers trying to schedule some future interviews for the year, chatting with fans, talking with people about the differences between games (later update on that), checking out armies, scheduling tournament winners for interviews, and partying. 
That last one is new.  In previous years Adepticon and other table top wargame conventions were far more about games than anything.  For the vast majority of gamers it still was about the game and only the game but for the first time I noticed that the “con party” crept into the mix.  While it’s nothing like the party scene of more famous cons like ComicConthe party atmosphere of Adepticon is growing and will only get bigger. 
I can credit the internet for this one.  I met dozens of people who previously were little more than forum names.  Meeting the flesh and blood person is much better than their digital avatar.  While previously I had to type fast to communicate now I only had to look across a table in a bar while sharing a beer.  It’s a far different experience.  Even those people I bumped into briefly on the game floor were a pleasure to meet.
There are also the people I rarely get to meet.  I’ve often compared the Bunker to the Cheer’s bar on TV.  It’s where everyone knows your name and is glad to see you.  The problem is that not everyone is there every Friday night for 2 years straight like I’ve been.  It gave me an excellent opportunity to say hi to people I only meet once or twice a year.  Some people I haven’t seen because of their health reasons and I wish them well in the future.  Others, like Karrick, may live in the area but are still too far away to be regulars.  By the way, Karrick isn’t abrasive in person like he is online and is much more entertaining to have a conversation with.  I’ll even go as far as calling him brilliantly opinionated. It’s a goodthing, he is more opinionated in person than he is online.  Having a game with him was an education in how to beat a tri-land raider list by taking advantage of it’s major weakness (to be covered in a future episode). 
The party con aspect was very small and unplanned.  Nobody planned it, it’s just what happens when people who don’t get to see each other finally get together.  We get some beer, we start talking, we hang out and then we go out on the town.  Well, we did plan on Hooters and I’m glad that it came out well.  I’d hate to think of what would’ve happened if we posted something about it at the con. 
I’d love to see the Adepticon organizers would consider making official party plans for attendees.  It wouldn’t be hard, put up some signs, post a schedule online, and warn where we’re going.  Yes it would be that easy.  People were looking for something non-game things to do.  The Weston Hotel where the event was hosted had a good bar, Miller’s Ale House was across the street, Hooters was a little bit farther down the road, and a quick jump on the expressway took you straight into the city to some real party places.
So it’s over and I still have GenCon and Games Day to go to complete my wargamer trifecta. 

No comments:

Post a Comment