Origins Day by Day
Series By: Pugilist
Sunday June 29
Aside from some confusion on my part with the dates, since corrected, everything went great on Sunday. We'd only scheduled two (2) interviews and I did not plan to add any additional. We did get one (1) request so we accommodated it mainly because it was people we had interviewed in the past. We'd coordinated with Origins to send all exhibitors a note letting them know we were scheduling interview slots and scheduled any who contacted us prior to Origins. During Origins, we were more selective as we had a schedule to meet.
So on Sunday we caught up on some writing, submitted a few things, walked around the Exhibit Hall a bit and generally took it easy. We did get an invite to join the Slugfest, Smirk & Dagger, and Firestorm-Ink crews for dinner, which we gladly accepted. All of that falls under the "none of any-one's damn business" category but we can say we had a great meal, great and entertaining conversation, and a excellent time. It was the perfect end to a great show.
Of course we saw a lot of odd things and perhaps the most interesting conversation I heard but steadfastly refused to engage went something like this:
"Well, you don't actually have to drink . . ." From the Party Hard Corps as they were selling drinking games. I admit, I don't play drinking games and do not see their appeal. When I desire to drink, I drink. Oh I understand a beer round or game where the loser BUYS a drink for others, but drinking games are lost on me.
They seemed to be doing a brisk business, however, so I suspect they had reached a desirable demographic.
Origins is an easy show to attend and cover. Not only does the Origins staff do everything to make certain all attendees have a good time they really go out of their way to accommodate the press. We go to a lot of shows and it is amazing how many hoops i have to jump through in order to get badges for my folks. I understand the links to articles and corporate information. All of that is fairly standard and any decent organization should be able to provide it without pause. What boggles the mind is the other requirements, the limit of one (1) press pass per organization, the month ahead deadline, the limited access, etc.
We filed 12 stories while at Origins. We'll follow-up with another 10 or so. Most of these stories are with individual exhibitors at Origins with whom we spend time, review their reasons for attending, provide a write up and make certain they have the link to use for their own publicity purposes.
All of this helps add value for the exhibitors and we could not do it without the Origins staff going out of their way to be helpful.
As a case in point, on Monday the 23 I sent a note in to Origins letting them know that I needed to swap out one reporter for another. The reply?
"No problem, the Press Office will take care of that on-site."
I was floored.
There is a reason Origins keeps winning the Best Show Spewgie. It's the best show and they do their damnedest to prove it each and every year.
So, why weren't you there?
Saturday June 28
Up and into the mix once again. This is the busy day for the exhibitors so we try to stay out of the way, mostly. We’d had our two (2) scheduled interviews but did not press for additional slots. Now, if an exhibitor wanted to talk with us either because of the PRESS ribbon hanging off our badges or because they’d been given a good report of our work (don’t look so surprised, it happens) then we’d try to make time.
Me, I spend most of the day with a pounding headache that just would not abate no matter what. As I don’t normally get headaches I can be quite the wimp about them and I was more surly and short than is normal even for me.
Because of the reduced interview schedule I did get in a couple of games of Hill 218 by the Your Move Games, we’ll have a full write up of this excellent pocket game that takes under 30 minutes to play, but this quick note should give you an idea of how we viewed it. I can report that I am undefeated in the game and even more, I played four (4) games before retiring for the day to let the less competent try to gain the skill required to challenge me.
OK, I did win four games but at least two of them were squeakers, one was taking advantage of a blunder, and the last was my superior strategy, cunning, and opportune use of an airstrike.
My youngest and I also stopped by Edhellen Armoury for a continuation of our grudge match with their boffer weapons in the arena they had set up. I’m not horrible with the sword and shield and I did pretty well even though my 16 year old has a longer reach. He cheated in the last match, however by using first a tactic I was going to use. I thought about making him walk back to the hotel but relented when folks pointed out that I was whining.
We decided to cal it a day early on Saturday and head back to the hotel, order Chinese food, and play Cutthroat Caverns, Say Anything, and Red Dragon Inn. It was a good and relaxing end to the day.
Friday June 27
Up bright and early . . . OK, not even close but we did, by some miracle of the space-time continuum make it to the convention hall in time for our first interview at 10:30 AM. The rest of the day was spent walking around, catching up with folks with whom we’d not scheduled time, demoing a few games, squeezing in some writing at odd moments, and generally having fun.
Origins is great for the fun part as there is always something going on and there is always something to do and, if all else fails, you can go to the FREE gaming library and check out a game to play. It’s a great time and I am surprised that you, yes you, did not show up and school us in your favorite game.
Seriously, when else will you get the chance to interact and demonstrate to the world your superiority in [INSERT FAVORITE GAME HERE].
There were a few odd moments on Friday though and not all had to do with folks walking around in clothing that, I am certain, they were hoping to use as a venue to display their physical assets. I won’t speak to the wisdom of those decisions as I have a rule: “If I’m not paying for it, it’s none of my damn business.” I will, however, note this. Why is it the people with the best physiques are rarely the ones who choose to display the most flesh?
It’s something I’ve notice quite a bit over my 47 years and I do not have an answer that is in any way satisfactory.
But the oddest thing I saw and the most questionable decision was when I witnessed a young man in his twenties enter the bathroom in the Table Top gaming hall in his stocking feet. Seriously, take the extra minute to slip on your shoes for although I am always careful when I use the facilities I see the evidence that this is not the case with everyone and it only take the one inattentive or uncaring individual to illustrate exactly why stocking feet in a bathroom is such a poor decision.
The rest of the day was good. We talked with folks, we had some good interviews, and we play-tested the Flat Acting prototype family game from Eye Level Entertainment, of which we have a review/recap up, and took a look at red Dragon Inn 2 as well as More Kung Fu Fighting (utilizing team rules) and High Noon Saloon all of which are upcoming games from Slugfest. We’ll have a recap on those in the next few days.
Another good day at Origins, of course, which ended in a poor decision.
It was late when we left the convention center and we made a call to give the McDonald’s near the hotel a try. The lobby closes around 10:00 PM but the drive through is open 24 hours. In years past we have had nothing but problems. Each year we hope against hope that they can actually get an order correct. Each year we are disappointed.
This year it was the extra large fry we ordered that threw them.
What we ordered:
What we got:
Yes I realise it’s not a huge deal and yes I realise the sandwich is higher value than the fry but I’m simple person and, really, all I wanted is what I’d ordered.
Alas, another failure.
Cure you Clara Street McDonalds for killing my dream!
Thursday, June 26
Once again we prove the Spewgilist.com is not only ahead of the curve but is a trendsetter of epic proportions. Why this time? Well, we've noticed an influx of high-falootin folks staying at our hotel. Spewgilist.com stays at an off-site hotel a whole 7 minutes away from the Convention Center. It offers a free Continental breakfast, 24 hour coffee and tea, and free Internet.
Who have we spotted this year staying at our hotel of choice? None other than the fine folks from Slugfest, makers of the 2008 Game of the Year, Red Dragon Inn.
More about how amazing we are later, let's move on to the show.
We'd given ourselves a light preset interview schedule this year to give more time for the walk-bys and general things that catch our eye. This is working out pretty well as we are having more time to investigate the smaller companies which is were we play best and where our coverage can make a difference.
There were some challenges, of course. We found out one of our interviews had to cancel participation in Origins and the space was occupied by another company. I'd left a note for the original interviewee on Wednesday and stopped by on Thursday to catch up only to find a new set of folks.
No worries, I reset and joked about them being free to ignore my note and asked them if they'd like to set up an interview. "Well, not now, we're busy. Come back later and we might have time for you." Was the response.
Now, let's be completely honest. Spewgilist.com is a mid-sized site, we make no claims otherwise, but we do provide entertaining content and we're polite and we never get in the way of folks conducting business. The chances, however, of us begging to conduct an interview with anyone is zero.
We reserve begging for the important things in life and an interview will never fall into that category.
And then there was the table issue. We always set up shop in the Table Top Gaming hall. We get a table near the Gaming Library with the support and approval of the Volunteer staff and drop our literature and give-aways on it and use it as a base of operations and meeting place throughout the show. We're on our 3rd table because there was a mix-up in the whole table assignment process and, apparently, a shortage of round tables. By mid-day Thursday everything was kosher. It's on the "just let me know what I need to do" scale, not the "I'm getting annoyed" level.
And then we have our Presidential Poll. We've printed postcards for each of the candidates and we put out a number of them each day. For each card that disappears we count it as a vote for that candidate. This is stated on front of the card and in more detail on the back.
Apparently this is not enough.
We'd noticed the Obama cards disappearing and we suspected what was happening. Some moron was taking the stack and throwing them away. This was about 95% confirmed when we had a moron show up at our table and say:
MORON: "Let me ask you. If I HATE one of these candidates and I take all of his cards and throw them away, what happens?"
PUGILIST: "Well, you've just voted for that candidate a lot. You see, vandalism is a reward for the candidate being vandalized."
MORON: "Oh. Y'know, you should put that on your card, it's not clear."
PUGILIST: "Really? We'll look into that."
I wonder how these people dress themselves.
But, as a whole, the day was a success. We published some good interviews, we talked to some old friends, and then headed back a bit early to the hotel to eat and play our own copy of Red Dragon Inn. I'd like to note that I dominated at the game but that would not be factual so I will have to conclude the game mechanics must be faulty since I should have won.
You can ask me.