2014 Feedback

[MonkeySloth]

I would think more things should be available for the auction, so everyone can use theirs, and since I've learned that con goers can donate things If I'm able to go next year I plan on bringing somethings I know people would like.

 

I would be nice if there were a procedure for this for approval on what you'd want to donate.

 

I'd like to make a comment about the newbie painting classes as well.

 

If reaper were to want to do these, and not tie up the experts, maybe have the cost of the classes include the new LTP kits and ask us here on the forum if we'd be willing to run them.  We all aren't pro painters but with a lesson plan and supplies we can easily teach the basics and the LTP kits have both.

Edited April 28, 2014 by MonkeySloth

[Inarah]

Venue: great hotel. Nice rooms, great staff. Good breakfast. Liked how the con was laid out, though it did bottleneck a bit there by the elevators/registration.  Only peeve was the coffee. Normally free in the lobby 24/7, they removed it on Friday and started charging $2 for it in the con area. 

 

Missed the Meat n Greet, had not planned to be there, but ended up arriving early. Found out _afterward_ that tickets could be had at the door. Not a big deal.  Got one of the boxed lunches Thursday, it was pretty good. Dinner Friday was good, too. I hesitated to to buy more meals because sometimes hotel food can be lousy, but all the catered food was good and next year I will definitely be buying more meals.  One issue Friday night, we had trouble figuring out when and where dinner was. People we asked didn't seem to know and it wasn't in the program booklet. Had to get the info off the web site. 

 

The Reaper store was doing booming business and you could get about 90% of what you wanted there, and if they did not have it they would have it delivered from the factory later in the day.   I thought the "mining" table was a little tight, it could have been moved out into the room a few feet. 

 

There was lots of space for painting or just hanging out, and that was great, but it felt a little too spread out with the round tables, IMO.  Didn't socialize as much this year because of that, the energy levels seemed lower to me. 

 

Names on badges.  I'm surprised by the number of people who found me with no name.  I had no idea who most people were. 

 

AC issues... not surprised really. It was 50 in the morning and 85 in the afternoon and anyone who works in a large building knows they heat up fast and have to be iced down to keep it from becoming unbearable. 

 

Auction... Didn't see anything I wanted to take home. 

 

Liked the new spacious layout for the competition. You could get in and look around and not feel like you were going to knock something over. 

 

I know there was some pre-con talk of a non-Reaper metal trade, but I didn't see or hear anything about it on-site. 

 

I'm sure I'll think of more later. Overall, we had a good time. 

[Pole]

I will post a full review in the near future, but I think the only thing that really peeved me were drink prices throughout the con.  $3 bottled soda was ridiculous!!!  If there is any chance of bringing in a snack/food vendor of your own, please do so.

[DixonGrfx]

<----  First time ReaperCon attendee..

 

I had a fantastic time that was far beyond my expectations. My favorite quote from opening day standing in registration by a fellow attendee was, "ReaperCon is the family reunion that your want to go to and actually enjoy." RIGHT ON THE MONEY!!  

 

It should be noted that, to my understanding, ReaperCon is not a for profit endeavor in and of it's self. I am pretty sure that the Reaper peps put on the show mainly to celebrate minis and gaming as a hobby. To gather Artists, and enthusiasts in one place so we can geek out and shower appreciation on each other.  I am sure that it is beneficial for marketing in the long run.

 

The Hotel:

LOVED the venue. THANK YOU REAPER!!!!! The hotel venue had to be a huge added expense compared to hosting at your facility. You didn't have to, and I appreciate that you were willing to take ReaperCon to the next level.

 

It's the first time Reaper has held all the events and functions off site. Although I have never been to a ReaperCon at the factory, I have been there and attended other events. Had it been at the factory, it would have been very cramped. With gaming and classes in the same place, it was much easier to wander from class, to game, to paint'n take, to vendors, competition showcase, panels, registration, hotel room (if I was staying at the hotel), just hang out and socialize. That's a huge plus, and I heard it mentioned several times by out-of-towners that it was less stressful preparing for the day knowing that if they forgot something, it was no big deal to get back to your room. Things Reaper killed it on, just about everything. There could have been more decorations and auction prizes, but if the trade off was dropping the hotel venue, I'm glad they opted for the hotel over decorations and prizes. That said, there are things to improve upon. Curtained classrooms.....  ***sigh***  Good in theory, not so great in reality. The size didn't bother me, but I am a small guy. What did bother me was the noise, it wasn't awful, but I could tell that attendees with hearing disabilities really struggled with the noise and it was distracting at times. Bless them for trying at the last minute to remedy the poor lighting in the cubicles, but it helped little in some and nothing in the others. I used my cell phone as a flashlight a great deal during the classes. And then I made sure that I had my Otlight for classes with hands on participation (which isn't a bad idea anyway). With the rooms the hotel had to offer, it wasn't a bad setup considering there were no rooms that could be used like a classroom. I've tried to figure out a better solution and failed. So kudos to Reaper for making the best of what the hotel had to offer and trying to resolve the issues as they came up. With a year to plan for next year, a more elegant solution may arise. Overall, it's my opinion that the hotel venue was a smashing success. (I also like the idea that production at the factory doesn't stop, I want my KS2 minis ASAP)

 

Badges:

They were pretty. It would have been nice if there had been a label printer at registration that printed out a sticker we could apply to it once we picked up our swag bag. Forum names added to that, even better. Forum avatars as well and my mind would be blown! Again, balanced against the expense of hotel venue, I'm happy. The ribbons were amazing fun! What a great ice breaker. "What is that ribbon for?" "I want one of those!" "How did you get 'The Hat'?" The ribbons were genius!

 

I'll comment more later.

Edited April 28, 2014 by DixonGrfx

[vutpakdi]

I will post a full review in the near future, but I think the only thing that really peeved me were drink prices throughout the con.  $3 bottled soda was ridiculous!!!  If there is any chance of bringing in a snack/food vendor of your own, please do so.

Hotel and convention centers often seem to have "your attendees can only buy food onsite from us" clauses in the rental agreements. Supplemental food sales is part of how the venues make their money.

 

Ron

[Sanael]

Second Rcon...My brief bullet point comments:

 

Hotel was great. I loved the factory, but more general space was better.

 

More general space was better, but classrooms felt smaller. If more curtains can go up, I rarely saw evidence that dropping three or four tables from the free-gaming space to make two classrooms there would be a terrible thing.

 

The auction was a blast. I suspect some of the items that would normally be at auction (HD paint sets, LTPKs) were moved into the raffles for the banquets, which was pretty fun.

 

Banquets were great!

 

A few more folks (volunteers, I would guess) manning the CAV and WL tables for pick-up demos would have been great. Vince was great about getting a demo game in with me, but I never happened by the CAV tables at a time when it looked reasonable to ask for one.

 

On the whole, I had a great time, and am very glad I was there!

[chefevild]

The reality of the auction is that if Reaper set out to see to it that everyone got something the auction would be like 6 hours long. And perhaps become cost prohibitive. This situation would only get worse as attendance increases each year and the auction would likely stay the same. 

 

 Generally speaking there's only 3 outcomes I can think of for someone at the auction:

 

1 You win something. Thus spending your Reaperbucks.

2 You freely give away your bucks or pool with a group to win something. Thus using your bucks.

3 You bid but don't win anything or 'can't' win anything because you only have a small amount. Maybe there isn't anything there that you like, you don't join in a pool because maybe you're just a lone wolf type or you're new to the con and don't know people, but for whatever reason the auction is over and you have a pile of unspent Reaperbucks.

 

 The way I see it the only situation that needs to be addressed by Reaper, if at all, is number 3 and if the auction does not expand every year to account for larger attendance then this issue, if you want to call it such, will grow.

 

 In my opinion there could be a way to allow those who fall into #3 a way to liquidate their Reaperbucks in a way that is meaningful to them. And I'll pretty much quote myself from a previous thread on the topic from a few months ago:

 

 I would suggest, in addition to the regular auction, a raffle held at the end of the auction for perhaps 1 2 or 3 'big' items. A paint set, a large mini, a unique item, DYOM (if it happens again), etc etc. Raffle tickets cost 100 Reaperbucks each or whatever and must be purchased before (or after?) the auction starts. Attendees would have to make a hard decision about going all-in into the raffle or holding out for the auction.This would do several things as described below:

 

 -Would allow attendees with only a few amount of bucks a small chance but at least a chance at a 'big' item.

 -Would give those with few Reaperbucks somewhere to 'dump' their bucks instead of passing them off begrudgingly or walking home with them or turn them back in after the auction.

 -Would thin the pool of available bucks for the auction thus making it more competitive.

 -Would give small groups and solo auction participants who don't buy into the raffle a better chance at 'small' items in the auction.

 

 Or another idea would be to have a cash-in value for Reaperbucks that could be spent on the Reaperstore. Whatever ratio, 100 Reaperbucks = 3$ store credit.

 

 Of course whenever we talk about the auction we need to remember that it's purely an event run by Reaper out of their kindness and generosity. If they were to completely take the auction away we would not have any reason for complaint.

 

 *feel free to move this post if it doesn't belong here

Edited April 28, 2014 by chefevild

[SloppyPainter]

Lots of great feedback on everything, mostly great and some common themes on opportunities for improvement.

 

To comment on the auction - this year's auction was significantly smaller than last years though attendance was larger. In addition, classes were scheduled on top of the auction.

 

I like the idea of a raffle, but how about using Reaper bucks to buy raffle tickets? Maybe have an auction with some of the usual stuff, even a big item or two, but keep some great stuff aside for a raffle, maybe some of the smaller stuff, too. That way you can either use your bucks in the auction or hold them to buy raffle tickets. That way anybody who wasn't in a pool and didn't have a realistic shot at anything in the auction could still have some hope of taking home something nice.

 

Store credit is a good idea but probably not realistic.

 

The fact is that groups that pool their bucks set the market in the auction, and that's cool. But it's not cool if you are a newb and aren't part of a big group. And as far as the argument "just join a big group" see Hymn's original comments that that is easier said than done. Not because the people aren't friendly and welcoming, but let's face it - the old timers feel a bit "cliquey" and unapproachable at times. Of course it's not on purpose - everyone there is wonderful - but it's still intimidating to newbs and the auction experience this year was very disheartening when it used to be a really exciting "bang" at the end of the con.

 

I don't have all the answers. I'm half inclined to propose just scrapping the auction but that would mean less free stuff and nobody wants that. Auction or no, Reapcon is the best value for your buck in the hobby con world, no doubt about it. It just concerns me that the way the auction played out this year obviously deflated the whole con experience for some newbs and that's bad. And you have to assume that if one or two newbs come to post their feelings here there are probably lots more that don't bother and left an awesome weekend on a disappointing note. My little group had nearly 3000 reaper bucks and walked away with nothing because none of us have an iPhone five or would have been interested in the cases if we did. Last year 3000 was a decent chunk of change. This year it was all but worthless.

 

Also, one more throw in - contrary to what I heard from most people I thought the ribbons were silly. Or at the very least they drew away resources that could have been spent making gaming and other things move more smoothly than running around handing out ribbons.

[Keianna]

Couple quick suggestions with a more thought out review to come later:

Leave a white space on the badge for name writing or stickering.

Put a note on the reapercon website about being able to donate things to the auction or raffles.

[DixonGrfx]

I would also like to point out that a 4 day pass was $40. For my kids birthday, they asked to go to A-Kon in Dallas this year. Pre-registration was $60 per guest for a 3 day event. Family of 4, plus 4 guests, plus 2 hotel rooms for 2 nights. I've spent more on A-Kon already than I did at ReaperCon, and haven't even walked in the door yet. ReaperCon is a huge bargin! With tons of swag!!

[Shakandara]

And you have to assume that if one or two newbs come to post their feelings here there are probably lots more that don't bother and left an awesome weekend on a disappointing note. My little group had nearly 3000 reaper bucks and walked away with nothing because none of us have an iPhone five or would have been interested in the cases if we did. Last year 3000 was a decent chunk of change. This year it was all but worthless.

 

I don't believe that this is true. A small handful of people expressing their disappointment is not a representative sample for the population of the con; attempting to draw conclusions about the success or failure of the auction event from a couple negative comments is poor analysis practice. Add to that the simple fact that there are far less items in the auction than attendees, and you'll have most people not getting something, which will leave them disappointed on some level.

 

That being said, here are the things that were winnable with 3K in Reaperbucks this year:

 

iPhone cases

blistered rock

HA Chessboard

Any of the t-shirts

Any of the sweatshirts

Resin Nethyrmaul

Pint glasses (per pair)

Mousepads (6 of 'em)

a Nightspectre painted by Corporea

the Artisan Dice pen/dice set

the Alea tools set

basing sets

Red Shirt card game

Eons game

the two sided framed map

any of the blankets

the Skull Ridge banner

the Darkraven music disc

the dead cowboy painting

the Arcadian Rifle squads

 

In fact, there were only 3 items that you were completely out of the running on with $3K; the full MSP set ($15K), the resin master of DDS2 ($8K, IIRC), and the large box of dice from Artisan Dice ($6K).

 

If you failed to get something with $3K in hand, I'm not sure what to tell you.

 

~v

[Hymn]

Point well taken. I certainly didn't expect any massive prize, but I also don't own an iPhone, a computer that would necessitate use a mousepad, etc.. That probably did me in, but again, it's no biggie. There is always next year as you say.

 

 

4) Reaperbucks pooling made the auction nuts. I had a blast bidding, but with so many groups pooling resources I had no chance at an item even after maxing out my schedule. It's impossible to police and it seemed that pooling was even encouraged, so there nothing will likely change here. Still, it was still lots of fun as I said.

 

<snip>

 

8) As someone who is relatively new to playing Warlord, it would have been nice to have a station dedicated to teaching quick start rules as a refresher. So many of the tabled games were R.A.G.E. based that I think a small little 15 minute review would have generated more interest. I know I would have been more inclined to run my own impromptu games had I been given a quick chance to play through a demo or just get a refresher. This is definitely not Reaper's responsibility, though, so it's more of a pipe dream for me.

 

I'd like to address these two specifically.

 

Regarding the auction, there were at least 21 items in the auction that went for less than 1000 Reaperbucks. I know that I personally had nearly 500 just from pre-registration, and I didn't attend a single class, rpg, etc. I think it is fair to say that 1000 Reaperbucks wasn't particularly difficult to earn, and while that wasn't going to get you Nethyrmaul, DDS2, or the paint set, there were a significant number of "low dollar" items available for bidding. It is understandable that it can be a little frustrating to see the bigger items go for so much, but that also requires a lot of people to sacrifice their Reaperbucks entirely for someone else to get the payoff. There are plenty of years when I've taken home nothing from the auction so that someone else could get the cool toy instead, but I got my turn too. Hopefully, you'll get something your next visit.

 

Regarding teaching/demoing Warlord, I am in complete agreement. This is actually something that is on my list to discuss with Reaper post-con, with an eye towards next year. Hopefully, the ideas I have will be welcomed and be a step in providing a better environment for aspiring and inexperienced players to learn Warlord better and become more involved in the game.

 

~v

 

[Hymn]

I'm guessing SloppyPainter's 3,000 pool was put together toward the end of the auction when only the more expensive items were left. I'm sure getting together earlier and being able to see the pool of prizes sooner would do wonders.   Anyway, I don't want to get stuck on this because the Con was such a great success! Once again, kuddos to Reaper for a huge hit of a Con.

 

 

And you have to assume that if one or two newbs come to post their feelings here there are probably lots more that don't bother and left an awesome weekend on a disappointing note. My little group had nearly 3000 reaper bucks and walked away with nothing because none of us have an iPhone five or would have been interested in the cases if we did. Last year 3000 was a decent chunk of change. This year it was all but worthless.

 

I don't believe that this is true. A small handful of people expressing their disappointment is not a representative sample for the population of the con; attempting to draw conclusions about the success or failure of the auction event from a couple negative comments is poor analysis practice. Add to that the simple fact that there are far less items in the auction than attendees, and you'll have most people not getting something, which will leave them disappointed on some level.

 

[Last Knight]

Do Reaperbucks carry over from year to year? That could be handy, but might also be considered unfair.

 

I agree, seeing the items up for auction before the auction would be nice since you could plan your bids.

[Hymn]

Do Reaperbucks carry over from year to year? That could be handy, but might also be considered unfair.

 

I agree, seeing the items up for auction before the auction would be nice since you could plan your bids.

 

I've heard that no, they do not carry over for just the reason you state. :)