How the West was Eaten

[MiniCannuck]

Hi all,

 

I just want to say thank you to all the people who have already signed up for my gaming group's game.  We are working hard to make sure that it is "2 hours packed with fun".

 

This game is set in a fictional western town called Reaper Gulch.  You and a number of other people have been holed up in the town saloon for the past few days hoping that whatever craziness is going on would just go away.  However, food is getting low and, more importantly, you are running out of whiskey.  Your only chance is to make it to the river and escape.  Will you work together or is it every man(or woman) for themself?

 

The game is a revised version of the zombie miniature game "No Room Left in Hell".  It uses a d10 system to resolve actions and role-playing your characters is strongly encouraged.  Prizes will be awarded.

 

So, if you have a few hours to spare and want to see how Canadians play games, come on over to give us a try.

 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  I'm trying to be vague as to not spoil the surprises we have in store for people.  I will post up the player character bios soon.

[MissMelons]

The husband and I signed up for this. It sounds fun!!!

[RouterMike]

This sounds like a lot of fun, but they scheduled classes and talks to start at the even hours on the clock, and your games to start on the odd hours. That means I need an open 4 hour slot to play your game   I'll hopefully be able to jump in on a pick-up game, it sounds great!

[MiniCannuck]

Yeah, I'm not sure why game times are offset from the class schedule.  All the games during the day end up eating 2 class slots.

 

Perhaps that is the point so that there would be less pressure on both streams of events.

 

Either way, if we get a free evening, I'm sure we can run it at that time.

 

The resin river sections I'm sculting and casting for this event look pretty good (even if I do say so myself).  We are doing a series of 6"x6" tiles to create a modular gaming board.  Each is cast in resin and can be rearranged to suit your needs.  I will ask Dan to take some photos and post them up in the terrain section when I see him tonight.

[Dan Goodchild]

Yeah, I'm not sure why game times are offset from the class schedule.  All the games during the day end up eating 2 class slots.

 

Perhaps that is the point so that there would be less pressure on both streams of events.

 

Either way, if we get a free evening, I'm sure we can run it at that time.

 

The resin river sections I'm sculting and casting for this event look pretty good (even if I do say so myself).  We are doing a series of 6"x6" tiles to create a modular gaming board.  Each is cast in resin and can be rearranged to suit your needs.  I will ask Dan to take some photos and post them up in the terrain section when I see him tonight.

 

Actually, photos are on my list of things to do this afternoon, so I may be able to post them before I see MiniCannuck.

[MissMelons]

Sweet!

[Reaperbryan]

Yeah, I'm not sure why game times are offset from the class schedule.  All the games during the day end up eating 2 class slots.

 

Perhaps that is the point so that there would be less pressure on both streams of events.

 

To give people time between games and classes - you have a built-in meal break, restroom break, etc. 

 

Also, class schedule was built with Instructor's scheduled events with Us in mind - meetings, meals, etc.

 

The Game schedule was designed to take maximum use of the space, and keep it full where possible, except that Meal breaks are built in to the game schedule because many events/tables are run exclusively by 1 person all day, all con.  Meal breaks are not included for instructors because they are designed never to run events for more than 3 continuous hours, and thus have individual meal breaks designed in by default.

 

With limited Class seating, it is not possible for all attendees to even have 1 class, let alone multiples.  Mathematically, 50% of attendees have 0 classes, so class schedules have no bearing on 50% of our attendees ability to participate in games (willingness is a variable I have no data for).  For the remaining 50%, most took fewer than 3 classes all convention, so again, classes have a minimal impact on game availability.    Game and Class failure to overlap affects most severely only those attendees who selected 2 or more classes on a given day - statistically, only 10% of our attendees.

 

While it is unfortunate, no schedule arrangement can be made that will always guarantee unfettered access to all desired events.

[RouterMike]

Thanks for the in-depth answer, Bryan. Not having been to Reapercon before, I had no idea things worked out that way.

 

I'm really surprised half the folks attending don't hit any classes at all. It's a fantastic opportunity and $20 is a mighty decent price for two hours of instructor time.

[DixonGrfx]

 

Yeah, I'm not sure why game times are offset from the class schedule.  All the games during the day end up eating 2 class slots.

 

Perhaps that is the point so that there would be less pressure on both streams of events.

 

To give people time between games and classes - you have a built-in meal break, restroom break, etc. 

 

Also, class schedule was built with Instructor's scheduled events with Us in mind - meetings, meals, etc.

 

The Game schedule was designed to take maximum use of the space, and keep it full where possible, except that Meal breaks are built in to the game schedule because many events/tables are run exclusively by 1 person all day, all con.  Meal breaks are not included for instructors because they are designed never to run events for more than 3 continuous hours, and thus have individual meal breaks designed in by default.

 

With limited Class seating, it is not possible for all attendees to even have 1 class, let alone multiples.  Mathematically, 50% of attendees have 0 classes, so class schedules have no bearing on 50% of our attendees ability to participate in games (willingness is a variable I have no data for).  For the remaining 50%, most took fewer than 3 classes all convention, so again, classes have a minimal impact on game availability.    Game and Class failure to overlap affects most severely only those attendees who selected 2 or more classes on a given day - statistically, only 10% of our attendees.

 

While it is unfortunate, no schedule arrangement can be made that will always guarantee unfettered access to all desired events.

 

 

 

Hmmmm...  One might assume that the Con organizers have planed similar events in the past and evaluate what works and doesn't afterwards.  Nahh....  couldn't be that...  we are talking about game nerds. Game nerds can't organize social events...    

[Reaperbryan]

Thanks for the in-depth answer, Bryan. Not having been to Reapercon before, I had no idea things worked out that way.

 

I'm really surprised half the folks attending don't hit any classes at all. It's a fantastic opportunity and $20 is a mighty decent price for two hours of instructor time.

Yes, but that's a factor of attendees vs available seats.  There's 75 non 1-on-1 classes on the schedule, with 6 seats per class total.  That's 450 seats.  There's about 500 or so attendees.  Now factor that the average # of tickets among those that have class tickets is 4.3, and that means that there's really only a little over 100 people of 500 that get seats - although we know this to be false, there's in reality somewhere around 200 people that will consume the 450 seats (not counting seminars and panels).  

[Dan Goodchild]

As promised, some pics of the river tiles:

 

 

[MissMelons]

Very awesome!!!!!

[RouterMike]

As promised, some pics of the river tiles:

 

Those are some great looking tiles. How many are you making up for the con?

[haldir]

I haven't taken any classes in quite awhile. It's not like I didn't enjoy them, just for trying to process the info over the Con & the other things going on I tend to lose what I've learned, even with notes.

 

I did do a class overload one year. Pretty much started at 9 am & ended up finishing up in the last time slot. While it was neat to be in the classes, especially since one was with Werner Klocke, it was way to much for me.

 

I may try for a day of slot thou this year. I've been itching to try something.

 

Still it a great bargain + as everyone has said the artists are available on the floor & are great people to chat with.

[MiniCannuck]

 

As promised, some pics of the river tiles:

 

 

Those are some great looking tiles. How many are you making up for the con?

The games are played on a 6x4 table. Each of our tiles are 6"x6". The river will be 13 straight river tiles, 2 river bend tiles, 1 river opening and 7 water's edge tiles. We are working on the other tiles which will be the old west streets and open terrain.

 

It's lots of fun to make these tiles. I feel like it is becoming a terrain Lego system.