Origins 2008

[Whiterook]

Well, I fly out to Origins Game Fair tomorrow morning!

I'll be away for a week, and enjoying 24 hour a day boardgaming and mniatures....well, truth be known, I probably won't be gaming 24 hours a day, though there are those that do! You see them passed out here and there, and a little on the "aromatic" side. I pretty much start each day around 7 AM and finish up around midnight-1AM...that's crazy enough for me!

I was planning on bringing my laptop with me, and maybe giving a blow-by-blow of the event, but decided against it, as I'll have enough to deal with in all the gaming and seminars. I will, however, take plenty of pictures, and give a good write-up when I get back. If I can figure out my new phone's web capabilities, or find a computer, I'll try and check in. Meanwhile, I'll leave it to you lads and gals to keep the Gaming Forum busy and fun.

Have a good week everyone!

[TRDG]

Thanks buddy, I hope you have a great time there, and many victories on the games you get to play hopefully. Yes, please get TONS of pics, and may I ask for some from the game systems we play, or MAY play here in the future please also. I know you will cover A&A very well and your other main game, but maybe some Flames of War and Advanced Squad Leader if they do that as well there maybe........

Cheers, good luck again, and I guess we will behave, but just until you get your butt back here ya know!!! (BIG EVIL LOL and GRIN)

Tom

Almost forgot, keep your eyes open for any games that we could do here as well on the net and in "The Zone" as well!!

[Hagen]

Have a great time Em, can't wait to hear of all the fun you had.

[KG_Panzerschreck]

Have fun, i wish i was going with you!

[Whiterook]

I'm just (literally) back from the Origins Game Fair, and am thoroughly exhausted! Had lot's of fun, and spent way too much....but it went a little astray in some ways, as well.

My main event of participation sank like the Bismark! The Axis & Allies Slugfest, that was supposed to take place over 4 days, never happened! Only one other fellow showed up with minis to do battle, which was a disappointment for not only me, but the game host as well. It wasn't in the game area I thought it would have been in, and the Origins Event Staff were clueless to when and where the Slugfest events were to take place. By the time I found it, the other fellow was long gone. Drat! And I have to say, honestly, the Event Staff and Organizers could have done a better job in a lot of respects...and actually being quite rude (even once is too often in my book...and they were rude many times, due in no doubt to problems arising from their own ineptness) and totally oblivious to what was going on or needed to be done way too often; which I tried to give a lot of slack concerning such things, knowing that the majority of the staff are Volunteers; but still, I was annoyed way more often that I should have been. Many of the games I wanted to play either had no-shows, or were overbooked by folks desparate to play "something". The experience was night-and-day from last year, and I'm not sure what happened. There seemed to be a lot less gaming going on this year, and the crowds seemed smaller. Are people being hit too hard from the costs of travel, gas, economics? I don't know. What I do know is, I left very much unsure of whether I'd be back next year (it's a very expensive trip (money and time-wise), and thinking GENCON may get my business next year, instead.

The Dealer's Hall was fantastic, and saw most of my time (and money). Some of the main players in the Gaming industry were missing: Days of Wonder, Lock 'N Load, Wizards of the Coast, and many more. But there were a lot of new companies there, which was refreshing. I was disappointed that the Flames of War folks didn't have their diorama modules set up to demo their game (which I was looking forward to), just sales; but, I did get a 12 pack of tan DAK dice, and the dealer knocked off 20% due to their being discontinued. I garnered substantial savings with the Avalanche Press folks, talking with a designer at length, and picking up modules with my Gold Club Members Discount (I highly advise joining that club if you want to pick up a lot of their products). I met with the game designer, Uwe Eickert, of a new company called Academy Games, for a new game called "Conflict of Heroes -- Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-42", which is somewhat along the lines of Advanced Squad Leader, without the huge binder of rules! He brings this amazing game to Origins for the first time, and yes, I bought one! I believe he said he is in talks with the United States Army War College to provide the game as a training aid. The game is set about the time of Operation Barbarossa, and is a beauty! It even has solitaire rules!!! This is the first game to be published by this new game company, and the first of an intended series to span through modern day conflicts. My other major game purchase was Fantasy Flight Game's Tide of Iron expansion "Day of the Fox", which brings the Afrika Korps to life in the ToI universe. I was flying full tilt to their booth the day the Dealer Hall openned, and they sold out very quickly...after I snagged mine, of course! I bought some amazing Tee Shirts from Bell & Blade, and will get plenty of wear.....good quality stuff, as my purchases from last year are still going strong! I also picked up some Axis & Allies Miniatures to suppliment my OOB, including another Tiger I and Messerschmidt Me110 (alternate paint scheme), and a couple Rangers; as well as some I didn't have, such as the Canadian VC 17 Pounder tank, and a Jagdpanzer.

I played quite a few games I have never played, including a new version of Shogun, coming in second place. I played my favorite game Memoir '44, coimng in first place. My most surprising experience though, was discovering how much fun I was having in the Miniatures Hall; I hadn't really expored this section too much last year, but I was truly amazed at the dioramas there, and how the games play out. Flames of War had a small area all to themselves, and the layouts were nice. But there were diorama layouts for 1/72 scale units that blew me away! The detail was incredible. The one I enjoyed the most, however, was this amazing d20 game of Stargate SG1.....I kept going back day after day to watch this one play out, and unfortunately, was always filled to capacity for players.

I'm looking forward to some homecooking...there are pretty much NO restaurants in the area, save for a small food court which got real old real quick. Subway only goes so far, you know? And I desparately need some sleep!

So my Con rating, on a scale of 1 to 10: 5

Pictures will be forthcoming.

[TRDG]

WOW, I'm prety shocked by your time and experience thee my friend, kinda glad I did'nt have the time to make it there!! So you did'nt get a chance to play FoW, that is to bad, I was looking forward to you testing it out....

Damn, I'll just have to up my time to get a digital camera so we can run a game here in the near future!!!

I'm very sad to herar that you did'nt get to play your fav game, but you got first place in your "other one" great job there, was there a lot of players and were they any good?

So a "5" out of 10, are you still glad you wnet, or go on vaca elsewhere. I will check on the FoW site and se what those guys did, not the greatest table set-ups you think, I always thought they were prety good, but I will check the pics and give ya my opinion here sometime, you could be right as rain there depending what battles were played there!!

Cheers, glad to have you back!!

Tom

[Hagen]

Welcome back Em

Sorry to hear your experience was only so-so, I figured there would have been lots of A&A mini's about!!

Nothing like a nice table setup of miniatures is there? Hope you're going to stop by the 'Den' and tell me how I'm doing with the troops.

[TRDG]

Hey Emmery, your pics and battle reports when you have a moment or two please, others as well as I are very interested here, as you may know....LOL

Cheers, thanks you sir.

Tom

[Whiterook]

Thanks guys! Nope, I'm still glad I went, and don't view it as a wasted week, as anytime away from work is a good week; and after a few days to rest and dwell on my experience, I'm still not sure what went "wrong" (in my opinion, of course) with the show this year. The "wrong" centers mainly on a few things, which I'll highlight below...but first, a brief explaination on how the whole gig works:

• There is a Dealers (or Exhibits) Hall, where vendors sell games and LARP (Live Action Role Playing) paraphanalia, and other items such as tee shirts and apparel, DVD's, a battle area where you can sword fight (with foam armaments), and have a Blood Drive Area. You can also DEMO games, often with the designers themselves, and participate in Beta Testing.

• There is an Event Hall where you can pay for Event Tickets to secure a seat in a specific game, or pay Origins Tokens to buy your way into a game. If there is an open seat after 10 minutes after the game is scheduled to commence, you pay to get in, on a first come first served basis. Event Tickets will trump buying your way in on site. For instance, there was a RISK game played a couple nights in a row; the first night I checked didn't go off, and the second night had a full six players. These six players had purchased Event Tickets to the game in advance to secure the seats. If you know there is a specific game you want to play, and it's on the schedule in the Event Hall, then buying an Event Ticket is the best way to secure a seat, if it goes off.

• There is a Miniatures Hall whereminiatures are played, such as Flames of War, SG1, Axis & Allies Miniatures, Star Wars, etc., and all manner of hybrids are played. This runs the gamut from small layouts to some that are 10-foot square and larger! Truely amazing battles go on here. Again, you can secure a seat with an Event Ticket, buy your way in with Origin Tokens, or I believe in this area, use a HOT Ribbon (Historical Oriented Themes? ...I'm not quite sure what HOT stands for, and as I haven't played in here before, I'm not entirely sure as to it's mechanics).

• There are games and miniatures happening in the main concorse areas, and a few nooks and crannies. Mayfair Games, for instance, has a section of the concourse all to themselves.

• There are seminars going on in numerous small rooms. Military specific seminars are put on by the Origins War College, and a seat at which can be secured by with an Event Ticket, buy your way in with Origin Tokens, or with the purchase of a War College Ribbon. Event Tickets trum Ribbons, Ribbons trum tokens...in decending order. Some seminars are free, and first come first served.

• There is a LARP component that transpires all over the place. LARPers dress up a live the lives of everything from Vampires, to Pirates, to Wild Westeners, to Fantasy, to Sleuthers, etc. This can be very interesting!

• And lastly, and an interesting component, is two areas (ball rooms actually) set aside for the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS), called the Board Room and War Room. The Board Room allows you to play boardgames (think RISK)...family games, Euro games, card games, that are completed in short sessions; whereas the War Room allows you to play wargames (think Advanced Squad Learder, etc.), which are the cardboard counter-type simulation games that take place over many hours of days to complete a game. You can purchase a Board Room and/or War Room Ribbon (separately), which allow you to walk in and play 24 hours a day...either sign out a game, join in a game started by someone else, or bring your own game (a lot of people try out new games they've just bought in the Dealer's Hall); or you can buy your way into a game with Origin Tokens. There are no Event Tickets for these areas.

OK...now that you understand a bit of the mechanics of how the Fair works, these are the things I found wrong this year, and hence my rather low rating:

1. The Event Staff (volunteer and otherwise) were generally clueless, which can be forgiven to a degree, and far too many were rude, which can never be forgiven in a customer service vein. Purchasing my Boardroom Ribbon and Event tokens (basically, Origins money-type wooden tokens used to buy your way into a game) onsite, for instance, required a long line to stand in, which was expected, but once I survived my trip to the head of the line, the young woman behind the desk was a not quite all there; while her computer gave her problems, she deserted me to ask a question of a senior member (which I thought related to my purchase, but in fact not related at all!), and by the time she got back about 15 minutes later, she realized she gave me my tokens, but not the Ribbon I paid for (of which I thought she was seeking an answer to "something" on). 15 minutes may not seem a long time...unless you'd been standing in line for well over an hour! While waiting for Miss Seaworthy, I had to put up with Mr. Sunshine, who being a senior staff member, one would expect anything other than being a rude SOB, as he was trying to figure out why I was just standing there...ahhhh, maybe to get MY RIBBON!!!!!!!!!! He backed down after I "educated" him.

2. The game host for the Axis & Allies Miniatures Slugfest did not follow up on his event. He seemed mainly concerned with the Axis & Allies Boardgames (the original, Guadalcanal, D-Day, etc.) tournaments in the Event Hall, and never apparantly checked on the miniature's Slugfest going down properly in the Miniatures Hall. The Event Staff didn't know where the game was being played (and if fact, it wasn't); the miniatures game going on at the tables next to the assigned area (when I asked them if anyone was there) said there were nothing but crickets at the empty tables next to them, and had a couple people ask; and when I asked the Slugfest host what the story was...yup, he was rude. I sincerely hope the Slugfest plays next year, as I'd love to play in it, but I have no high hopes.

3. The games being played in the Event Hall (where boardgames that you've bought Event Tickets to play specific games in) seemed much less in numbers, and a lot of the games from last year were not represented. The was a huge, and I mean HUGE, Pokemon Championship in there....and the ton of little kids was quite annoying. A few of the gaes I was going to try and buy my way into never happened, as there weren't any players, ot were totally booked and had no room. Feast or famin. I guess this is to be expected to some degree...but I simply did not see the numbers of bodies in there that I had seen last year. I had noticed that there weren't as many games on the lists for me to sign up for this year, which reinforced my decision to stick with a Boardroom Ribbon.

4. The seminars were not as good for meas last year...again, to me anyways. Last Year, the War College was hosted by Armchair General, and there a lot of seminars geared toward military history. This year had a general theme geared more to teachers, which is cool, but I'm not a professional teacher. And whereas Armchair General had a hand in things this year, it was a small hand.

5. Last year, the Expo was held around the 4th of July, at which attendees had the opportunity to view a huge parade and fireworks show; and a weekend long foodfest, which supplemented the sad array of dining choices otherwise available. This year, the Fair was held a week earlier. (Note: this year the Origins International Game Expo was changed in name to a Game Fair).

6. Even the LARP contingent was a smaller...and duller.

Well, those are some of the more major issues I had with the show. But let me stress that I did have a lot of fun, as well. But with the price of flying from Massachusetts, and hotel for a week....the thing needs to be firing on all thrusters to make it worth the money invested. Perhaps it was just an odd year. I won't e too quick to pass judgement.

[Whiterook]

Originally Posted by TRDG

Hey Emmery, your pics and battle reports when you have a moment or two please, others as well as I are very interested here, as you may know....LOL

Cheers, thanks you sir.

Tom

I'll post some stuff tomorrow...I have some cool pics to share, and I'll give a lowdown on some of the games I played. I wanted to get the other post (previous) out first.