Monday, May 07, 2007
The Great Canadian Baycon
Where does gamer stink come from, and why is it so pervasive? It doesn't matter which con you go to, there's gamer stink somewhere.
In Baycon's case, I know why it happened, but I was a little surprised it started happening so early. By lunch time, Rose from Bayshore was walking through the vendor hall spraying orange-scented de-odorizer. It had only been opened a couple of hours. Were the unwashed masses truly unwashed? Ick.
Granted, some of the rooms the con was using could have used some full-blast air conditioning, but seriously -- shower, people!
To be fair, the room that doubled as open gaming and Settlers of Catan tournament playing was somewhat warm. Besides the Settlers crowd, most of members of TABS had huddled themselves in a corner and were playing games together, so there were quite a few people in a room with little to no air conditioning. By the afternoon, it had become uncomfortably warm.
At this point, I'm sounding pretty negative about The Great Canadian Baycon this year, but I honestly had a good time. It wasn't as much fun as last year, but it was easy to quickly point out what bit of fun was missing -- the Looney Labs crew, which really helped to make the con for Logan and I last year.
While there were a few demos being run by publishers (as well as simple salesman propganda), many of the publishers' representatives seemed to be a bit lazy. Logan had to bug the guy from Paizo to set up and teach Mike Selinker's game that will be included in the Stonehenge box. I should note that the game itself was fun, and the Paizo guy did confirm that Andy Looney will be contributing a game to the expansion (so I'm definitely sold now).
The guy from Asmodee was probably the worst company rep I've ever seen. When I first walked up to the booth to find out more about Fire & Axe, he was busy chatting with a woman -- not about Fire & Axe, Cash'n Guns or even Mall of Horror. Nope, he was chatting about World of Warcraft (the MMORPG, not the board game). Logan and I stood there for ten minutes as I stared at the Fire & Axe board.
He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Instead of doing his job and promoting the products in front of him, he was too busy chatting up one of the few gamer chicks.
I finally gave up and walked away. It wasn't until later that I returned to the booth and finally got some information. However, I had to grill him with questions just to get the gist of how the game works.
Again, I say, he wasn't very good at his job. On the other hand, though, it doesn't sound like Fire & Axe is my kind of game.
Thankfully, the Fantasy Flight Games guys were more on the ball. They had quick and succinct answers to my questions, and they were quite happy to run Logan and I through an introductory scenario of Tide of Iron (another game that is kind of neat that I won't buy -- it's like ASL uber-light with plastic pieces). However, I know it will be shipping in July, and I know the Wings of War miniatures will be in retail stores around the end of May.
To the FFG demo guys: Thanks for knowing your shit.
Perhaps the highlight of the day was the Bayshore booth. I'm sure it was a lot smaller than the one they had last year, and the store was busily trying to offload a lot of RPG stock -- d20 crap in addition to more obscure and bizarre RPGs. Logan and I loaded up. We walked away with some cool-looking stuff -- that will probably never hit the table.
By 2:00, Logan and I had exhausted our list of things we really wanted to do. The next event that was of interest -- Limeys & Slimeys -- wasn't starting until 7:00. We had a choice -- amuse ourselves with the few light games I brought or leave. We chose the latter. We cruised out around 2:30 with some souvenir Baycon dice.
Despite my complaints, my overall Baycon experience was positive. I think a few more interesting events are needed. More publishers doing demos would also be nice. Air conditioning in the open gaming room is a must (neither of us could tolerate the mid-afternoon temperature, so even if we had been cool with amusing ourselves for a few hours, there wasn't any place comfortable enough to do so).
It's still more fun and better run than Pandemonium, at least. I'd make the trip again next year.
In Baycon's case, I know why it happened, but I was a little surprised it started happening so early. By lunch time, Rose from Bayshore was walking through the vendor hall spraying orange-scented de-odorizer. It had only been opened a couple of hours. Were the unwashed masses truly unwashed? Ick.
Granted, some of the rooms the con was using could have used some full-blast air conditioning, but seriously -- shower, people!
To be fair, the room that doubled as open gaming and Settlers of Catan tournament playing was somewhat warm. Besides the Settlers crowd, most of members of TABS had huddled themselves in a corner and were playing games together, so there were quite a few people in a room with little to no air conditioning. By the afternoon, it had become uncomfortably warm.
At this point, I'm sounding pretty negative about The Great Canadian Baycon this year, but I honestly had a good time. It wasn't as much fun as last year, but it was easy to quickly point out what bit of fun was missing -- the Looney Labs crew, which really helped to make the con for Logan and I last year.
While there were a few demos being run by publishers (as well as simple salesman propganda), many of the publishers' representatives seemed to be a bit lazy. Logan had to bug the guy from Paizo to set up and teach Mike Selinker's game that will be included in the Stonehenge box. I should note that the game itself was fun, and the Paizo guy did confirm that Andy Looney will be contributing a game to the expansion (so I'm definitely sold now).
The guy from Asmodee was probably the worst company rep I've ever seen. When I first walked up to the booth to find out more about Fire & Axe, he was busy chatting with a woman -- not about Fire & Axe, Cash'n Guns or even Mall of Horror. Nope, he was chatting about World of Warcraft (the MMORPG, not the board game). Logan and I stood there for ten minutes as I stared at the Fire & Axe board.
He didn't even acknowledge my presence. Instead of doing his job and promoting the products in front of him, he was too busy chatting up one of the few gamer chicks.
I finally gave up and walked away. It wasn't until later that I returned to the booth and finally got some information. However, I had to grill him with questions just to get the gist of how the game works.
Again, I say, he wasn't very good at his job. On the other hand, though, it doesn't sound like Fire & Axe is my kind of game.
Thankfully, the Fantasy Flight Games guys were more on the ball. They had quick and succinct answers to my questions, and they were quite happy to run Logan and I through an introductory scenario of Tide of Iron (another game that is kind of neat that I won't buy -- it's like ASL uber-light with plastic pieces). However, I know it will be shipping in July, and I know the Wings of War miniatures will be in retail stores around the end of May.
To the FFG demo guys: Thanks for knowing your shit.
Perhaps the highlight of the day was the Bayshore booth. I'm sure it was a lot smaller than the one they had last year, and the store was busily trying to offload a lot of RPG stock -- d20 crap in addition to more obscure and bizarre RPGs. Logan and I loaded up. We walked away with some cool-looking stuff -- that will probably never hit the table.
By 2:00, Logan and I had exhausted our list of things we really wanted to do. The next event that was of interest -- Limeys & Slimeys -- wasn't starting until 7:00. We had a choice -- amuse ourselves with the few light games I brought or leave. We chose the latter. We cruised out around 2:30 with some souvenir Baycon dice.
Despite my complaints, my overall Baycon experience was positive. I think a few more interesting events are needed. More publishers doing demos would also be nice. Air conditioning in the open gaming room is a must (neither of us could tolerate the mid-afternoon temperature, so even if we had been cool with amusing ourselves for a few hours, there wasn't any place comfortable enough to do so).
It's still more fun and better run than Pandemonium, at least. I'd make the trip again next year.
// posted by Chris @ 1:02 PM 
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